Florida: West Palm Beach by Car

Day 310 to 313
No Boat Travel

My daughter-in-law, Heather, attended a conference in West Palm Beach scheduled from May 16 to May 19. We arranged to visit WPB while she, her husband, and daughter were there so we could have some family time together. Clark and I arrived back in Florida from our Bahamas side trip at the beginning of the month, so we continued north until near the date of the conference and then rented a car and drove back south to WPB to meet them.  It took two weeks to move the boat to St. Simons in Georgia. The car trip to WPB from there took just over five hours.

West Palm Beach, FL

West Palm Beach, FL

We stayed at the Residence Inn which is in the heart of the "City Place" district in the city where many restaurants and stores form a hub of attractions for tourists visiting the city. With a sometimes cranky baby, we did a lot of walking around WPB and got to see the local sights as we worked on getting her to take her naps.

City Place, West Palm Beach, FL

Fountain near Il Bellagio Restaurant in
West Palm Beach, FL

Topiary Car on Street Corner

City Place Shops & Restaurants

Trinity Church in West Palm Beach, FL

Tree-lined Street in West Palm Beach, FL

Unfortunately, we got hit with some bad weather while visiting West Palm Beach. On Wednesday of our stay, WPB got more rain in two hours than they normally get in a month, so we experienced some flooding on roadways until the rain could run off. Of course we chose that day to drive the car out to a shopping center outside of town to pick up some items that my son needed.

Our hotel had an outdoor pool which we managed to dabble in a couple of times. The first day we went there, we were just ready to get in the pool when it started to rain. My son jumped in anyway but did not stay in long, which turned out to be a very good thing as shortly after he exited the pool we saw lightening and heard thunder simultaneously. It was soooo loud! We started to collect up our things and forget the pool, but as quickly as it came, it went, and we heard no more thunder and saw no more lightening. Chris took Lillian into the pool for a photo opp but she was not impressed and the picture taking did not last long.

We tried the pool again the next day and had to dodge rain storms yet again. However, on that day I even managed to get in the pool. The heat and humidity in WPB for most of our stay was stifling, and so, even at 86 degrees, the water felt wonderfully cool. 

All too soon our too few days together came to an end - so sad! We hope to see them again shortly if we can move the boat north quickly enough. They will stop in Savannah and Charleston to tour those cities before continuing home to Connecticut. We will target to get to those stops while they are visiting  there if the weather will cooperate and let us do so. Meanwhile we took some pictures to add to our album.

Lillian in her Sun Suit at the hotel pool

She decided she did not like the hat!

Lillian, Heather, and Chris at City Place in
West Palm Beach, FL