Chilly check-ins...

Before heading back to Dubai, we dropped back into Delray for one more quick visit.

Unprepared for the lingering "arctic" weather but determined to enjoy the sunshine, we bundled up in some borrowed clothes and headed out to the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens.

South Florida and Japan have a century-old connection that started when Japanese farmers were welcomed to the region with goals of revolutionizing farming in the area.  These farmers formed the Yamato Colony in Boca Raton with aims of testing a variety of new farming models and experimenting with new crops.  Unfortunately, the results were disappointing and many in the Colony ultimately left for different parts of the US.

George Morikami was the only member of the Colony to stay in Delray after WWII and went on to become very successful, acquiring multiple acres of land.  In the 1970s, he donated the land to Palm Beach County in hopes that they would turn it into a park that would preserve the memory of the Colony and teach others about the Japanese culture.  The Museum and Gardens opened in 1977 offering a bridge of cultural understanding between the two countries.

The gardens are beautifully manicured and help visitors understand the evolution of the Japenese gardens over hundreds of years.  While many walk quietly and introspectively through the gardens, others take the opportunity to use it as a backdrop for about 100 Instagram photos and posts. 

Of particular note was the Bonsai (pronounced "Bone-Sigh", not "Bahn-Sigh" as we always thought!) Garden which detailed the extensive grooming and pruning process used to create these special trees, as well as the cultural centre which details more about the Colony and Japanese life.

After a chilly but wonderful afternoon, we warmed ourselves at the Osteria Salina, a new restaurant on the Delray strip.  The owner, in from the Hamptons to launch his newest venture,  was doting, generous and funny, clearly knowing how to charm a group he knew was likely to become very loyal and frequent customers.  As we devoured our generously comped dessert and after-dinner aperitiv, we felt satiated and happy - the perfect end to a fabulous trip!

The Captivating Cape...

After a great visit on the Atlantic side, we popped by Hertz to pick up our rental car and enjoyed the fastest and most gracious service we could imagine.  Did they really apologize that it took us a whole five minutes to get everything sorted?!

Starting off on a good note, our trip across Alligator Alley was a smooth and quick one, and we made it to Cape Coral in record time.  We were greeted by Geoff's parents and their new pup, George, who was so welcoming and adorable that we quickly started plotting how we could try to sneak him home in our suitcase.


When we could pull ourselves away from playing and snuggling with little but quickly growing George, we made the most of our time out and around Cape Coral.

Although George was initially a reluctant traveller, he slowly realized that car trips brought great things such as visits to the charming Sanibel Island and the welcoming Jaycee Park, where children and adults would faun on his every move.  He was probably almost sad to see Carol and Beth head out on their annual trip to TJ Maxx - little did he know that the store had lots of people and a great dog section!

Although the weather turned unseasonably cold due to the polar vortex sweeping across Canada and the Northern States, we didn't let it stop us.  We played our daily pickle ball matches (either with ourselves or whoever else was on the courts), and even beat out the masses who arrived oddly early to play tennis on New Year's morning.  Luckily, our chilly after-dinner walks were short and sweet as George couldn't walk far and often relied on Dan's comforting arms to carry him briskly around the neighbourhood.

We learned a lot during our visit - whether it was figuring out how to put together a wood puzzle (thank you youtube tutorial) to understanding that an air fryer is an absolute must-have kitchen item.  But, one thing we couldn't get our heads around was the appeal of the Sous Vide cooking method.  And no amount of Apothic Red could change our minds...

Delightful Delray

For our holiday trip to Florida, we felt lucky to have scored reasonably priced tickets on the non-stop Emirates flight from Dubai to Fort Lauderdale.  Such a quick and easy trip...

Until we actually thought about how long a flight that would actually be.  It turns out that the 16.5 hour trip is the 4th longest flight in the world!

But... the trip was surprisingly enjoyable - with a smooth flight and fantastic service by Emirates.  And the long distance provided plenty of time for short naps which actually seemed to help with the jet-lag.

It seems that the hardest part of the trip may actually have been for Beth's parents who ended up having to park 3 terminals away, when picking us up from the airport, just to find a spot during peak holiday travel season!

Once arriving at the house in Delray and pushing our way through myriad Amazon parcels (all addressed to Geoff, yet surprisingly few actually being for him), the rest of the trip was a breeze.

Paddling with our HBC ladles

The blow-up bed proved itself incredibly comfortable and the daily activities with family a true delight.

From our morning gym and tennis rituals to walks on the beach to our regular shopping trip(s) to Town Centre, we couldn't have asked for better weather or better company.

And of course, Christmas celebrations were a highlight.  From the most unusual Secret Santa stockings - for which we are now well prepared for Dubai's hot weather with our new iphone plug-in fan - to the most delicious dinner with Nancy in her stunningly renovated home, it is a holiday we won't soon forget.

Though we could have lived without the Idiot Test game show, we found new hits with Spontuneous and What Do You Meme...although we are pretty sure Steve hopes the latter one never becomes am annual holiday tradition...

One last drop in...

To start off the new year, we headed back to Delray for one more quick visit with Beth's parents, Fred and El, before heading on to our next destination.

Although it was only a few days, we crammed in a lot of work and conference calls as well as some personal activities such as a daily family excursion to the gym, tennis lessons, a visit to the Swatch store, dinners at both good and not quite as good restaurants (two thumbs up for the Farmer's Table!)  and a fair bit (Ed: this is a relative term - most of the male population would term this "barely acceptable") of passionate American Football watching.

Beth was even able to sneak in a visit with her friend, Nikki, who was also in Delray visiting family.  As if no time had passed, we gabbed away for hours as we played with her smiling son, Lex, and then swatted off pesky flies while eating lunch at a nearby Japanese restaurant.  How could I have forgotten to take a photo to commemorate our visit??

For our last afternoon in Delray, we headed over to Clematis Street in West Palm Beach to walk around and have lunch.  We had stumbled onto this street when driving Steph and Saj back to the airport and had fallen hard for it.  Vibrant and attractive, it was a place we wanted to spend more time.  In retrospect, perhaps it is more of a nighttime spot!  Although we took a gorgeous drive along the ocean's edge to get there, the street itself was a little less remarkable this time.  During the day, without the sparkling little white lights and the buzz of the bar scene, the spot seemed somewhat rundown and overwhelmed with people scoping out your car suspiciously and asking for money.

Nonetheless, after having spent a fair bit of time figuring out the system to pay for our parking online, we opted to make the best of it and wandered down the bustling street to find a quaint French restaurant that had several veggie options and a nice outdoor patio.

Our views of Clematis Street definitely improved when we had a chance encounter with former Canadian Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, who just happened to be walking by our restaurant.  After El spotted him, Fred started waving as if he and the Prime Minister were good friends.  This likely pressured Mr. Chrétien to come over and say hello.  We had a brief and friendly encounter and were left with a very positive impression of both him and this cool street!

On our drive back we found that the legendary Omphoy hotel that we had been searching for on our drive down had been taken over by Kimpton and was now called the Tideline.

After a short but great trip back to Delray, we packed up our bags and headed for the airport.  Next stop:  San Diego!

Conga-ing into the new year...

Although we had a dinner evening booked for New Year's Eve, the intense rain throughout the day forced us to reevaluate our plan.  The half hour walk to and from Havana Nights for some dinner and duelling pianos would not be enjoyable and, due to the weather and notable date, the eight cabs in Vero beach were naturally already booked.

As such, we booked a table at the Costa D'Este restaurant for its festive five course meal.  Naturally, the vegetarian option was not completely inspired but we were happy with our more bland option when we saw Steph and Saj presented with a quail course that left the animal so in tact it looked like they too might consider turning vegetarian.

Nonetheless, we had a wonderful evening of fun conversation, mostly good food and awesome tunes.  As we shut down the dinner area and moved to the "dancing" area a few minutes before midnight, we were greeted by the sounds of Gloria Estefan's greatest hits.  We forgot just how many she had! Interestingly, the dance floor was full of passionate dancers during her songs but quickly emptied after the regular top forty hits were put into the rotation.

Unphased by the nasty-tasting champagne we were served, we danced the night away. Geoff showed such enthusiasm and passion for each song that came next in the rotation that the DJ must have felt like the best DJ in the world!  What a great way to kick off the new year!

Heading north...

We were thrilled that our friends, Steph and Saj, were able to make it down to Florida for a few days to visit over the holidays.

The New Year's Eve timing made booking a hotel in Miami a tad tricky so we opted instead to head north to Vero Beach.  The town itself is small and a touch sleepy but we hoped that this would actually appeal to Steph and Saj who were likely a little sleep-deprived after recently becoming parents of twin girls.

Vero Beach's main street was short but boasted lots of upscale and attractive seaside shops.  The real attraction of the area , however, was our hotel, the Costa D'Este.  This chic waterfront boutique hotel was built by Gloria and Emilio Estefan and offered a clean, modern look and a wide variety of perks including frozen grapes at the pool and free sunglasses cleaning, neither of which we either saw or experienced during our stay!

Although the weather was fairly rainy and grey during our visit, we were lucky to be able to get in two hours of tennis each morning before the skies opened and rain poured down.  The public tennis courts where we played were quiet and in good condition and the club manager who helped us daily was charming and friendly, even though he charged us a completely different court rate each time we visited.

During the downpours, we spent our time enjoying long meals and coffees, dreaming up new entrepreneurial ventures including a promising baked potato food truck, and going to the spa.

The restaurants in Vero Beach were quaint but a little light on vegetarian options.  One restaurant - which surprisingly never had any menus available - actually told us their chefs were too busy to be able to make anything vegetarian!  Luckily, Geoff knew well the art of getting someone to take seriously the need to offer at least one vegetarian meal on a menu.  He watched and learned, however, as Steph artfully negotiated with the waiter to remove the extra costs that had been added to our bill for the kitchen's work in creating those options!?

After our meetups with Steph and Saj in Paris and then Vero Beach - two of the least friendly vegetarian  locales - perhaps next time our meetup should be in India, a true vegetarian haven!

West to the Cape...

We are lucky that our parents all spend the winters in Florida and live only a few hours drive from each other.

As such, we picked up a rental car and headed to Alligator Alley to cross over from the Atlantic Coast to Cape Coral near the Gulf of Mexico.

We would have made it door to door in under three hours save for a short detour to Sports Authority to fix Geoff's tennis racket that had broken during an intense game of doubles tennis with a rowdy group of 70-year old New Yorkers.  Anxious to have the racket fixed in time to play on Christmas Day, we headed into Fort Myers, through some more modest parts of town.  The areas were so off the beaten track we were excited when we finally saw a Dunkin Donuts, which presaged some semblance of civilization.

Arriving safely at our final destination, we settled in for a great few days with Geoff's parents, Carol and Dan, and their growing pup, Jackson, who at just over one year weighs 130 pounds!

Dan and Carol have done a superb job of updating their house, very successfully undertaking many handyman projects that most of us would be nervous to do.  The house was looking so much better than it did just one year ago!  Having undertaken the big changes, they asked us to help with the smaller more decorative updates to help accent the space with some new furniture and decor.  As such, for the next several days, we hunted for mirrors, lights, cushions, and other features to finish off the space.

In between the shopping, we found lots of time to play tennis and pickle ball, create new games for Jackson to play (much to the lanai netting's chagrin), and even go to the farmer's market.

On our final day, we headed into Fort Myers to visit the Edison and Ford Winter Estates.  Good friends, Edison and Ford spent time together here over the winters.  Edison was eager for the remote and quiet backdrop and Ford bought a place to be closer to his mentor, Edison.  The houses have been kept in stellar condition, allowing people from all over the region to see where the lived and learn more about the botanic and varied research Edison undertook.  Our decision to take a tour unfortunately gave us insights more into today's football stats than Ford and Edison but thankfully we had arrived early enough to do some reading at the museum before the tour had begun.

We hope that Carol, Dan and Jackson enjoy the warm weather for the rest of the season and we cannot wait to see how their house has continued to evolve when we next visit!

Banyan tree planted by Edison - now  covering more than 1 acre!

Shop till you drop?

To belatedly celebrate sister Karen's birthday, the ladies had arranged a getaway trip to South Beach. Admittedly, it was a fairly girly getaway with shopping, bubbly and beach time, making room only for a small amount of testosterone with a mandatory lunch at Houstons, a rugged and tough steak and rib joint (Beth will not disclose what "vegetarian" meal she ate at this establishment).

It was not intentional but shopping played a much bigger role that expected in our night away.  It started with a very long mall trip to Town Center (where Karen made it to only three stores in three hours and Beth managed to circle the mall twice) and then an unexpected stumble onto a fabulous shopping street in South Beach that boasted an unbelievable Club Monaco sale.

Although the drive was a little slow, we were lucky to have a great driver at the helm (thanks, Karen!) and enjoy an in-car tour guide of the area as El told us stories and tidbits about her and Fred's honeymoon years ago.   I had no idea that the public bus system would have played such a prominent role in their trip...

The Betsy Hotel was a lovely venue for the festivities, offering doting service and a bottle of champagne to celebrate Karen's birthday.  The Delano Hotel's outdoor patio and the SLS Hotel's Bazaar Restaurant  (where even the hotel staff aren't sure what the initials stood for!) provided great and creative dining options (who would have thought of serving plantain chips in a plastic shoe??) and we gossiped away catching up on months of action and activity.

Although Beth's strict "one in -one out" wardrobe policy left some difficult choices upon her return home, the wonderful conversations, laughs and shopping with reckless abandon made it all well worth it!

To Florida for the holidays...

Having been away for most of the year, it was such a treat to be able to reconnect with family for the holidays.

We arrived in Florida for the holiday season excited and surprisingly well-rested.  We had been lucky to "win" the brilliantly designed "upgrade auction" in Etihad Airways where passengers can bid for the empty business class seats.  Perhaps because of our success in the auction we were surprised to be unexpectedly upgraded for the second leg of the trip on American Airlines. We were almost oblivious to the jet lag after such a restful flight!

After a couple of days catching up with Beth's parents, sister Karen and her family arrived and the full house and holiday festivities kicked into full gear!

Whether it was quirky evening family games, tons of baseball trivia and "words of the day", valiant attempts to fly small drones and also get our nephews to eat carrots, to lengthy family dinners and a new tradition of "elf boxes", it was a great gift to spend the holidays with our loved ones.