Orlando, Melbourne, Jupiter, and West Palm Beach, FL

I'm a hairy beast
The only reason I include this is
to show off the weight I've lost :)

We found a coconut on our walk along the beach!

Anna enjoying some mochii in Orlando

My friend Herman once lived in Orlando. He lived there briefly while he worked as a stewardess. Well no longer and now it is my turn to experience it. When one thinks of Orlando they think of ??.... Disney World of course!! Well we didn't go :( That stupid money thing is getting in the way again but we would probably enjoy it even more when we have children and we will experience it then. We have to leave some stuff to do still in the future otherwise we will just be bored in Sacramento ;).

Downtown Orlando

Lake Eola Park in Orlando it was nice

I received a text from by friend who said Orlando is a horrible place that felt like a shady part of South Sacramento everywhere he went. Unfortunately, we did not experience this part of Orlando. For whatever reason we just ended up in more affluent neighborhoods for the most part. I too have heard that there are some shady places in Orlando but they were hidden from us and that is OK by me. With no Disney World activities we just meandered around the downtown area. We busted out the bikes and went in to a pub there. We got this thing called Irish Nachos. They were stupid good but the calorie count had to be in the 4 figures. We indulged in some yogurt afterwards and saw the sights. Nothing too much to see but it did seem to have a nice vibe to it. We rode our bikes back to Maander and headed to 24 hour fitness which is the first one we have gone to since Texas. There is only one in Orlando but we were happy we were able to get our work out on and a shower. When we were in Baton Rouge some of the people we met said the way you have to experience The South is by what you eat. I think we took that to heart because of our diets lately. We hopped on the scales at 24 and weren't too pleased with the results. I now feel like Anna and I are back on the wagon in terms of diet and we have been able to make sacrifices and just pay more attention to what we eat.

This is what covered the beach
we didn't see too many in the water
but didn't want to risk it

Seagulls yea

We ended up in a theatre for the night where they have the full restaurant menu and we watched a movie called Blue Valentine which I heard had great reviews. The movie was OK but depressing and the food was good as well. We really enjoyed our time there and I am convinced that a venue like this would be a big hit in Sacramento. If I had capital and know-how I would def start a theatre/restaurant. 

Scenery and you can see all
the jellyfish on the beach

We made our peace with Orlando with the knowledge that we can come back. We are going to the Keyes first so we could swing back around if we are so inclined. We headed back towards the Atlantic where we went to Melbourne beach. We drove A1A for awhile as well. The beach was super windy so we didn't last long at the beach. We went to Fort Pierce beach where there was tons of sea shells on the beach. They were so beautiful and they already had holes in them Anna and I got the idea of making necklaces with them. We started collecting the ones that stood out to us and we just couldn't stop and ended up collecting more than enough. On the beach they had washed up jellyfish. The lifeguard stand said that if you got in the water there was a risk of getting stung with a "medium" warning level. The water was at an amazing 70 degrees and I got my feet in but was not willing to immerse myself in because I wanted to avoid the Jellyfish, they were Man-O-War as well and I believe those are some of the worst jellyfish.

Me with my beach booty

This isn't the season for sea turtles
apparently. This guy washed
ashore and was just about dead, sad.

Anna and I worked on our tans and walked the beaches it was nice and relaxing and we truly feel like we are on vacation. Lot of people are here for the winter as well, you can tell. License plates from all over are here and there are a ton of old people. I don't blame them though because the weather has been great and the scenery beautiful.

Jupiter Lighthouse

Banyan tree at the base of the
Lighthouse

After staying in Saint Lucie we headed down to Jupiter. The only reason I knew of Jupiter was that a professional poker player who is actually pretty young is from this town. We kept trucking down A1A and the buildings and homes became more elaborate and we really got into some very rich area. Jupiter had a lighthouse so we decided to stop by and check it out. This is our first lighthouse on the East coast and it was well maintained. The area has a very rich history in regards to Indians and European early settlement. Because of the river that comes to the ocean here and weather it is a cradle of abundance for food. There were mounds by the inlet that now just look like normal hills but used to be hills as tall as 20 feet of shells because for thousands of years Indians would hunt the sea life and just throw all the shells in the same spots just piling up. The guide also informed us that a barrier island right by the lighthouse was, until recently, considered the community with the richest people. Apparently, there are a ton of celebrities that live there or have homes. I don't blame them this is an amazing area.

Anna in the doorway
showing off her new sun dress

Atop the Lighthouse.
Way out there is the Atlantic then Locksahachee river
to the left far side of river is the very rich neighborhood

We drove through Palm Beach and this is going to get redundant so I will just say that there is a lot of wealth in this area of Florida. We checked out the places we could, a lot of places are closed because the rich own it including beaches. The cost of normal items were much more and the average car that drove by was very nice. Maybe I haven't spent enough time in Socal but the luxury car dealerships here are all over the place and that isn't something I am used to. Anna and I have just been finding parks to chill and make meals it has been relaxing and we have been eating better. Our money situation is tight if we want to actually make it all the way back home so we are making sacrifices that area bit disappointing. 

The Lighthouse lense looking out

Another view out of the Lighthouse

Kiteboarding is popular here and we got to see that. We went to another beach and chilled and I had the intention of doing some serious swimming because of the warm water but this time it had even more Man-O-War and the Lifeguard stand said there was a "High" degree of danger. I am making sure that I get in the water at least once though while down here I'm sure it will clear up. We went to church this morning and Anna thought it was boring. The pastor just gave the congregation an update on a missions trip that he went on to Peru that he had just gotten back from. It was interesting to me but I spent most of the time imagining myself exploring the rural areas he went to. The people were nice and all but none welcoming enough to really get to know us. That's OK though it is always nice when people really get to know you. Shout out to Tommy, Rachel, and Jake :)

We just rolled into Fort Lauderdale. We went to the gym after church then headed south on Hwy 1. The rain was crazy today and there was lots of Lightning. We will probably hang here for a day or two hit up Miami and then get down the Keyes. Peace and excuse my pic with my shirt off :)

In West Palm Beach Nom Noming