West Palm Beach
I loaded up the crew and made them go on a sight seeing tour with me all around West Palm and Jupiter. There were several places that I was pretty curious to check out while we were so close. We drove right past Mar-A-Lago, the well known resort club and Donald Trump's home since leaving office. We were stopped at a construction point on the road right in front of the gate, and we were able to see all of the levels of security and secret service guarding the entry. We enjoyed cruising around West Palm and checking out the Mediterranean Revival style mansions. Perfectly manicured hedge fences line property edges, and the stonework is just insane. The beach was quite beautiful as well. We drove by the most exquisite looking golf course I'd ever seen - who knew grass could be so green?
Jupiter
After West Palm, we took a little drive north to Jupiter. Stuart really wanted to see the town where Rory McIlroy lives in Florida (me too!) A charming brick-red lighthouse sits at the entrance of Jupiter Inlet. Our first stop was a turtle rescue hospital - the Loggerhead Marinelife Center (blog post coming on that soon!)
Next, I basically forced Raymond to be a total creeper and drive us through the entrance to the Bear's Club - the exclusive golf course community created by Jack Nicklaus and home to Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, and a whole bevy of PGA pros, as well as all-time great Michael Jordan.
We drove over the intercostal waterway, which was the same Indian River we'd been fishing a week prior up north by New Smyrna. At this point in Florida the water is a beautiful coastal blue - quite pretty!
A drive down Jupiter Island took us right by Tiger Woods' house, which was pretty cool. The Jupiter Island Beach looked so inviting, so we decided to stop and explore for a bit. The low tide revealed several beautiful rock structures scattered across the beach. I loved watching the waves crash along the shore, some hitting the rocks just right to shoot up into the air.
We spotted more Bentleys, Porches, and Rolls Royces cruising the streets than I'd ever seen, and maneuvering around them in our huge truck took some finesse. I was very thankful we made it out of town without a hundred-thousand dollar insurance claim.
Our little day trip around the coast was really enjoyable, but it was so nice to retreat back to our campsite to relax in the evening.