March 16 Friday Day 19

Addition to Yesterday March 15 we ended the day by going to the American Orchid Society sight in Delray Beach. The many varieties were overwhelming. We were able to see a chocolate tree with its fruit, situated alongside a vanilla bean - technically an orchid. The vine blooms one day a year, during that day it has to be fertilized. In Madagascar it is done with little brushes. The guide said that it is a male hormone and that if a female does this work she may grow facial hair.We also smelled a number of orchids that the guide asked us too. One had one inch sized brown and white blossoms. It was a real heavy smell of Shirleen thought vanilla and he said chocolate, I thought it smelled very sweet - more than any other blossom of any plant I had ever smelled.

The 16th, we started off to the Mounts Botanical Garden in Palm Beach. It was a nice time to walk. This is not a must see but as I said we walked the garden for he exercise.

We then went to the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach. They had an exhibition of Georgia O’Keefe. Last year we went to her home in the Arizona desert and her exhibit in Santa Fa New Mexico, this again was a fun exhibit to view, this was more of her still life portion of her life along with a portion of her pelvic bone collection and one of her favorite mountain in the desert. I am amazed by some of the colors she uses just beautiful. Other exhibits were of some of the masters, Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso and Gauguin. What else should we see but a ceiling made by Chihuly. This could only be viewed from the bottom with the sun passing through from the top which accentuated the colors.

We moved up A1A and Dixie Highway and Highway 1. As we traveled the outside Beach Drive we felt the food urge coming, we traveled a long way until we found something. Most restaurants are on Highway 1 not on the pavement close to the Atlantic. We found Schooners Restaurant – Tavern, they had sold fresh seafood since 1984 but only food now. With the wind blowing through this semi outside seating we had a cabernet and pino grigio, we had fish and chips and dolphin fingers and chips. Down the road we go. This is when we ran into the heavy rains, but no snow or hail.

We did not find a room at the Inn and had to go back south for 21 miles to find accommodations. We then went 11 miles further south for dinner. What we really wanted was a pizza, no such luck. We did find a nice outside seating at St. Lucie FL, where the Mets have their summer camp. We found the West End Grill, we took the outside seating and luck did have it there was a gas fired heater to heat up Shirleen. We ordered a bottle of [yellow tail] - The Reserve - cabernet sauvignon, we did not order the reserve but that’s all they had and compt the price. The flavor was full and flavorful. We did eat light, Shirleen a bacon cheeseburger and I the portabella burger, both with fine fries. Tonight at Comfort Suites at Fort Pierce FL. jerr