Florida

Driving along any street, whether that be Fort Lauderdale, Pompano, Deerfield, or Boca, the one thing that I enjoyed seeing were all these palm trees.  Someone once told me that these trees are being imported from the Caribbean.  I wonder if that is in fact true?

On my morning walks, I noticed how many old trees were in the village where I was staying.  This particular tree was one of my favourites.  It reminds me of a book my daughter used to read when she was little called The Giving Tree.

Deerfield Beach.  

The skies were so blue, the sand was so white and there was a little breeze in the air which made for very comfortable tanning weather.

  Don't you just love the ocean?  An old friend of mine from Kelowna went to Greece for her honeymoon and would refer to these skies as "Santorini Blue".  Something that has been stuck in my mind for almost 20 years.

I was on my way to Boca Beach and just as I was approaching the bridge, it started to raise, so I had to stop and wait for the sailboats to pass.  It was quite the long wait!

Here's a great shot of Boca Beach.  The water was much calmer over here.

 Ocean Drive (A1A).  This is one beautiful scenic drive from South Beach in Miami all the way up to West Palm Beach.  I haven't driven the A1A any further north so will have to put that on my things to do when in Florida list.

I just love some of the architecture!

Here's a canal in Pompano.  People living in the City of Lighthouse with homes backing onto the canal are so fortunate to have such a lovely view.  I would love to wake up to this every morning!

Things were not always so rosy during my 14 day stay in Florida.  It rained one day.

I was lying on the beach and out of nowhere came these clouds.  Then came the wind and all of a sudden it started to pour.  I got in my car and was half way back to the village, when the sun broke out and it was just another wonderful day in the sunshine state.

Something I haven't seen before are these rip currents.  The beach was often red flagged and there were danger spots where people weren't allowed to swim.  On the sign it said rip currents can kill.  The way to identify a rip current is by the dark pockets of water.  If you get caught in one, do not panic and swim against the current.  Swim parallel to the beach.

Here is the rental car that got me around town.When I initially saw it in the parking lot, all I could think was there's no way I was going to drive around town in this little box.  On that note, I've learned to never say never.  After 2 weeks with this Nissan Cube, I grew to enjoy my travels.  $230 per week was a great deal.  I filled the tank once before returning the vehicle for $39.  Thanks Budget !!