To All Our Friends

20 Miles To Our Favorite Bistro

Today was an unbelievable 88 degrees in the middle of November. Some clouds but mostly sunny and nothing threatening our good ride. We went 20 miles south to Delray Beach along the ocean road called A1A. An absolutely gorgeous scenic ride.

Delray Beach is a seaside village located in South Palm Beach County right on the Atlantic Ocean and boasts 2 miles of beautiful beaches. It is known as a first class resort city, offering a friendly pedestrian atmosphere. But since we showed you so much beach last post, we decided to tell you about a favorite area that we like in Delray called Pineapple Grove.

Special to us in the area called Pineapple Grove Arts District is a Bistro called Brule. It is a combination gourmet market and bistro. Check out their website http://www.brulebistro.com/. We always enjoy stopping by for lunch as the selection is superb. And one has to finish off with an espresso fudge cookie.

Pineapple Grove has a special Mediterranean flavor with outdoor cafes and colorful buildings. As you can see the Vespas fit right in and always find like company. Today it was a soft blue beauty. It belongs to one of the owners of an Art Gallery and we had a nice chat about Vespas and Art. They really do go together.

In recent years Delray Beach has become the entertainment hub of South Palm Beach County with the proliferation of upscale restaurants nightclubs and art galleries and a distinct pedestrian friendly environment. The sidewalks along the busy Atlantic Ave are lined with shops, galleries and restaurants and lead east to the beaches. We’ll be talking about other eateries that we frequent here, but today was Brule Bistro.

Well we had to put one beach photo in, or you wouldn't believe that we were at the beach. Delray beach offers facilities for the whole family and the only thing lacking is ample parking. We could not pass up the chance to take a photo of this gas guzzling Hummer that was parked just in front of us at the beach. If you are a resident of Delray Beach you can purchase a yearly pass for parking. Another plus for beach goers is the availability of passes for beach lounge chairs, you can not only pay daily, weekly, or monthly, but you can get a pass for the whole year. That means you don’t have to haul your chair and umbrella to the beach so you can just jump into your bathing suit and onto your scooter and go. That appeals to us.

Beautiful Juno Beach

We went North this morning up to the town of Juno Beach, which is about 15 miles from our starting point of West Palm Beach. The weather was great, sunny and warm, like what’s new in South Florida?

Juno Beach has over 2 miles of beaches and wonderful facilities all along the way. A1A runs parallel to the beaches so we could ride right along the coast. We aren’t the only ones who love these beaches. The town’s coastline is one of the highest density nesting areas for sea turtles in the world with more than 1,000 nestings per mile. We were privileged once to actually watch one of the sea turtles make her nest and bury her eggs. It was very special. But it was one of the times we did not have a camera with us. They come ashore in the evening dig a hole and lay their eggs and then return to the ocean. Then very early in the morning there are patrols that find the mounds and rescue the eggs to a hatchery where they are safe until they hatch, then they are also returned to the sea. We are very protective of our wildlife and even street lights are dimmed or turned off so as not to confuse the turtles. Guess that is good fodder for another post.

We took a break for breakfast/lunch and hit one of the hot spots of the town, Juno Beach Café. When we got there the place was full, but by the time we left most had filled their bellies and went their way. We were a little late so we missed the live music, just watched the guy load all of his instruments into his car. Guess we will have to get there earlier next time.

Juno Beach boasts a really nice 990 Foot Fishing Pier. We didn’t fish but we walked the Pier and what a great view of the coastline from the end of the pier. The water was so clear that near the beach it was transparent and turquoise blue. It turns to a darker green as it gets deeper.

Across A1A there was ample parking and very nice facilities for the beach goers. We will definitely be back this way again.