Our time at Fort Lauderdale/Miami came to an end and we were invited by one of our new friends 'Randy' to visit him in West Palm Beach, approx 2 hours north up the coast. Upon our arrival to his beautiful Bed & Breakfast establishment - the Palm Beach Hibiscus, the manager Pat took us on a 'trolley tour' of the City Beach area before showing us to our room. An exquisitely decorated premises with a king size, four poster bed, and a much welcomed soak in a claw foot bubble bath !! Highly recommend dropping in if you are in the area. www.palmbeachhibiscus.com
We were then given the tour around Palm Beach (in Randy's BMW convertible) viewing the mansions of the rich and famous. Donald Trump's and Rod Stewart's homes were just some of the ones we got to see. In some of our photo's you will notice that some homes have the shutters and security blinds down as they have moved to their 'northern homes' for the summer and return to Florida for the winter time.
Oh to have that much $$$. The world famous 'Breaker's hotel' was also on our tour. Pictured above is the main entrance. Hotel picture featured in the gallery. First opened in 1896 by Henry Flagler - oil, real estate and railroad tycoon - rooms started from $4, which included 3 meals per day. They now range up to the vicinity of $3500 a night!
We also got to drive down Worth Ave (similar to Rodeo Dve in Beverly Hills). Top designer stores and boutiques line this very, very wealthy street. Being in the BMW convertible, we got many glances from the pedestrians window shopping on the sidewalk. It was a huge laugh to us, to be in the 'role reversal' position. We are normally the poor backpacker on the street thinking ' wow - look at them!'
We finished off the day, with dinner, with his family, who had also spent time at the Driftwood (Fort Lauderdale) with us. Randy had asked Makalea and Jackson what food they had missed the most from home and he cooked it for them. A beautiful chicken stir fry!
The next morning saw us served with amazing 'blueberry pancakes, fresh fruit and coffee' at the
B& B from Pat. Superb start to the day for our drive up to Orlando. Home to Walt Disney World!!
Signing off - Team Connor USA.
XOXOX
