Move to Delray Beach

We recently moved south a few miles to the city of Delray Beach… known as a Village by the Sea.. We were living in downtown West Palm Beach and often rode south on A1A to Delray Beach. Delray Beach is a small town of probably a maximum of 75,000 people, but it has become a destination for South Florida tourism with its restaurants and boutiques and the many Festivals and Events planned throughout the year. The main street is Atlantic Ave and stretches from East to West, from the ocean toward I 95.

Along Atlantic Ave one can find everything to please the palette from a four star restaurant to a side walk café, a Kilwin’s ice cream and chocolate shop, and a bakery offering breads for every taste, and a Bistro called Brulee that offers healthy gourmet dishes to eat sur place or take home. This village is also a shopaholic’s dream with an array of boutiques and galleries. Here is a link to a great site with so much info about Downtown Delray Beach. http://www.downtowndelraybeach.com/

The Delray Tennis Center has been very instrumental in developing the downtown area as it offers top notch professional ATP tennis events. Coming in February is the 2010 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships (ITC), an expanded 9-day tennis extravaganza at the Delray Beach Stadium & Tennis Center Feb. 20-28 that includes both an ATP World Tour and ATP Champions Tour event. Both events will be held simultaneously over the 9-day Delray Beach ITC in February. Already committed to the ATP World Tour event are 2009 defending champions Mardy Fish and the No. 1 world-ranked Bryan Brothers, while tennis icon John McEnroe highlights an ATP Champions Tour card that also includes former Grand Slam champions Mats Wilander and Pat Cash.With James Blake, Tommy Haas, and Mardy Fish, the 18th annual ATP World Tour tournament will showcase three players who have played in the last four ITC finals. Fish is 13-5 in Delray Beach, Blake is 9-4 and Haas 7-3.

Of course the beaches are spectacular and a big draw every year. It is one of the few beaches that offer comfortable accommodations like beach lounge chairs and umbrellas. That was a big plus for us as we can pay a yearly fee and not have to worry about hauling all sorts of gear to the beach. We know that we have a double chaise lounge with nice pads and a big umbrella for the sun. So we can just tool over to the beach on our Vespas with a towel and a book and we are all set.

Delray Beach is a very nice place to live and a great place to visit.

This ones for Sarch

Every time we see a GoldWing, we think of Sarch, http://sarchsblog.blogspot.com/ , so we just knew he would enjoy these pictures.

We often visit Delray Beach. It is not only quaint and inviting but it is especially motorcycle and scooter friendly. They created a cycle only parking area right in the middle of everything. And if you look closely, way down at the end on the right you will see our little red and yellow tails sticking out of the row of monster machines. This weekend we were lucky to find two empty spots to park. We just love to stroll and look at each handsome cycle.

Every weekend one can find a long city block full of great looking motorcycles. South Florida is a rider’s heaven and Delray Beach seems to be a very desired destination. There are eateries to please every taste and budget, boutiques and shops, plus a nice walkway along the Intracoastal and the beach.

So many fun places to visit in this one small beach haven.

More Than A Hiccup in Paradise

Last post we talked about the sea pests, jellyfish and man-of-wars. Well would you believe now we have the shark brigade.

From Riviera Beach in Palm Beach County down to Delray Beach lifeguard stands were flying double Red Flags on the 22nd of January warning swimmers to stay out of the Atlantic Ocean while sharks do their annual feeding.

According to beach attendants, sharks were jumping completely out of the water with mouths open and eyes closed. There were hundreds of them and some were only about 10 feet from the shore. Nurse, Black Tip, Spinner, and the dangerous Bull Sharks were sighted as they chase the winter migration of small fish.

Shallow sandbars create warm water where the sharks hang out while waiting for a school of fish which attracts them toward shore or sometimes a boat comes by and scares them toward the beach. The sharks are more visable this time of year as the ocean is clear and calm.

Sharks and tourists all seem to come together here and that makes for a dangerous liaison. Visitors think if they stay in shallow water they are safe but sharks can grab you even in very shallow water. Not worth the risk.

Beach Attendants and Lifeguards are keeping the people out of the water until it is safe again. They are still setting up blue cushions on the beach lounge chairs for people to enjoy the beach, just cannot go in the water.

Here is a link to a very interesting article and video of Matt Lauer of the Today Show interviewing a couple of officials down here in South Florida about the shark situation. Be sure to launch the video. It is awsome. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7335074

Last Day of 2008 in Paradise

Don’t know where the time goes. Seems to fly by when we are not looking. We thought we would share with all of you what it was like on the last day of 2008 here in South Florida. Not trying to rub it in.

It was perfect scooter weather so we took a ride down A1A. From West Palm Beach going south the ocean road is two lane and scenic. The ocean stretches for miles on our left and on the right are palatial properties overlooking the ocean. Some have the ocean for their front view and the Intracoastal for their back yard. Further along, the road curves slightly west so that some homes are right on the ocean. These properties have impressive iron gates and walls facing the road. When you can see thru the iron gates there is usually a long winding landscaped drive leading up to their homes, which are rarely viewed from the road. We remember when some of the promiscuous Kennedy clan was in the news there would be aerial shots of their Palm Beach property. That is probably the only way it could be seen. Wonder if one could now google it and get a satellite view? Not much privacy these days.

Would you believe it? Above is a shot of Don King's property that was in our local paper just this morning. Seems he has it up for sale, $27.5 million. It is on 3 acres and stretches from ocean to intracoastal, has 32,000 square feet in a main house and guest house, and not to be outdone there is a statue of liberty facing the ocean and lit at night. If you want all the juicy details, here is the link http://www.page2live.com/2009/01/08/boxing-big-don-king-unloads-manalapan-digs/ It is an interesting read.

We stopped at Lake Worth Beach and took a few shots of all the people on the beach. There is a board where they post the temperatures and ocean conditions. The air temp was 79 and the water temp was 74. For us the water is cold but for many people it is fine. We have been in Florida too long.

We continued down A1A to Delray Beach. Below is a photo of the Colony Hotel located in the middle of trendy downtown Delray Beach. It dates back to 1926 and offers the historic appeal of a romantic "Old Florida" setting and with all the modern amenities for a perfect vacation.

The hotel also offers a private beach club for it's guests called the Cabanna Club, 250' of private sandy beach with complimentary beach cabañas, chaises and beach umbrellas right on the beach. There is scheduled Colony van transportation between Hotel and Club, a Saltwater pool, heated by environmentally sensitive Geo-thermal, and Hammock Garden, Serenity Circles and Shuffleboard courts.

We found this Santa on a motorcycle at Conner’s Pub.

The perfect place to have a drink and bid farewell to 2008.

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.