Boca Raton, Florida

 

Tim had a conference in the swanky city of Boca Raton, Florida, so we made it a vacation!  We stayed at the Boca Resort, which is a very fancy hotel that is pink.  We arrived Friday in the early afternoon and checked in.  We had fancy bathrobes and a great view.  We explored the grounds, which were spotted with beautiful fountains, lighting-fast lizards and Tara Reid.  Yeah, we saw her at the bar...always a little surreal to see a movie star out and about.

 

We made our way to the beach via our resort's shuttle.  The beach resort was very modern and beautiful.  You had to show your resort card to get in anywhere or order a meal, as it was a "Members Only" club.  After we ordered a few drinks, we realized we would have to stock our room a little to save our paychecks, so we walked to the grocery and liquor store and squeezed leftover pizza into the mini-bar fridge =)

 

 

Saturday morning we woke up and took a cab to nearby Deerfield Beach, which was a pretty typical little beach town with a public pier.  We took out two paddle boards and the GoPro.   (If you have been debating about purchasing a GoPro, you should definitely do it, as you can make everyday activities seem epic simply by putting a camera on your head and jumping on swings, throwing a Frisbee, or taking a dive.)

Paddle boarding on the ocean was tough, but beautiful.  Afterward we rented bikes and cruised around some nice homes.  We took our bikes back to the hotel and asked where we could lock them up.  Since locking up bikes was likely unsightly, they checked them for us! 

Sunday morning we rode our bikes much further around the area and found a little diner, where our waitress recommended we check out a local turtle conservation project called Gumbo Limbo.  We pedaled about 15 miles that day to take it all in!  But Gumbo Limbo was pretty neat, as a lot of sea turtles wash up to shore with ailments and they do their best to help the little guys.  They take the turtles in and rehabilitate them, then release them to sea again.  Many turtles swallow plastic, which affects their digestive tract.  After spending a few days at the resort's beach, Tim and I witnessed a lot of plastic drink cups that were left behind on the beach be taken out by the tide.  Our oceans are big, but there is a lot of junk in them, and these turtles pay the price.  It was an educational little place that I'm glad we got to see.

We pedaled hard back to the beach to get some relaxation time in, then a huge storm cloud started to roll in.  The storm was going to hit hard, as the winds kicked up and thunder started rumbling.  The lifeguard called everyone out of the water and people flooded toward the shuttle bus.  Tim and I got on our bikes and rode right by the crowd!  We hustled to the other resort before the rain really set in, but we didn't quite make it in time.  It poured!  But we didn't care because we were in our bathing suits and on vacation.  We rolled up to valet and did a lap in the rain, then checked our bikes =) 

We watched the World Cup, dried off and mingled with some people from Tim's conference.

Tim had his conference for the next two days, but we still managed beach and pool time and enjoyed ourselves at the lovely resort.  It was a wonderful beach vacation!