West Palm Beach, Florida

Today was a tourist day. We headed to Vero Beach and then south all the way to West Palm Beach. Our goal was to stay as near the water as possible. Having spent much of our time along the coast of California in Newport Beach, we are used to roads like Pacific Coast Highway, (PCH) and Hwy 1 which run with an unobstructed views of the ocean, the beach and the sands. We were hoping Florida would provide a similar experience. What we found were most of the beaches were occupied by high rises, homes and in some instances, run down houses filled with abandoned cars and trash. A little south of Vero Beach the town of Stuart appears to be a more vibrant and more modern city. You could sense an air of excitement about the town as you drove through. Farther down still, in Palm Beach and West Palm we were met with more upscale housing, wider, cleaner streets and more diversity. That said, we still had to seek out the beaches and the sands. Small narrow roads dipped between huge houses offering parking for maybe a dozen cars. From there it was a short walk to the beach. We were hoping for a leisurely drive along the beach but were given a hectic drive through hotels and businesses with only glimpses of the beach and ocean.While we have lots more of Florida to see, I'm hoping to see more of the Atlantic as we head up the coast in a few weeks.

We found this small secluded beach outside Stuart in a place called Hutchinson Island. The ocean was calm and the beach nearly deserted. Beautiful area.

A fishing boat was anchored just off shore but this stretch of beach was completely deserted.

As I stated earlier, most of the area along the beaches are occupied by homes or hotels. This beautiful home was adjacent to the small parking lot available for beach goers. It was like having your own private beach.

Leaving Vero Beach, we proceeded south on Hwy A1A. In this picture the ocean is off to the right side of these high rise hotels and condos. I can only imagine the spectacular views offered from their rooms.

Hwy A1A slips along the coast between the ocean and several bays with the mainland to the west.

We started the day under fairly cloudless skies, but a storm was certainly brewing in the distance.

We stopped at a very nice restaurant on the boardwalk near Hobe Sound. I took the time to do a quick selfie !

The weather was holding but still appeared threatening.

As we caught up again with Hwy A1A, we drove east again to catch the ocean. The tree canopy here made the road look like a tunnel.

Just one of the many canals and inlets that we crossed.

On the inland side of Hobe Sound is the Jonathan Dickson State Park. We wanted to see their campground so we stopped in to visit. The park is huge and beautiful. They have two campgrounds, one inland a ways which is great for small rigs and tents. The outer one is newer and caters to any size rig. They have full hookups.

This walkway goes to the Hobe Lookout which you can see in the background on top of the 'mountain'.

The top of Hobe Mountain is the highest point in Florida, south of Lake Okeechobee rising 86' above sea level.

This park encompasses what was once Camp Murphy. Here, in 1942 the Army trained it's servicemen on the use of radar. It accommodated 854 officers and 5,752 enlisted men. The camp had close to 1000 buildings including a bank, movie theater and bowling alley. It was decommissioned in 1944 after the war and given to the State of Florida in 1947. It was opened as a State Park in 1950.

Continuing down the coast we arrived in Palm Beach. This portion of Florida A1A runs alongside the beach. There is a park running the length of this stretch of roadway, all with beach access.

Coming into West Palm Beach, we again moved inland and the high rise hotels and condos again dominated the shoreline. The streets were very wide and extremely clean with manicured plants and greenery.

Some of the boats anchored in the bay while crossing the bridge from Palm Beach Shores.

This statue stands watch over Singer Island welcoming all visitors.