We left for Florida on a Wednesday. Our flight departed mid-afternoon from Milwaukee, which meant that I didn't have to reschedule a morning dental appointment! (Also, clean teeth for vacation!) Our flight landed in Fort Lauderdale around 7; Rusty claimed luggage while I picked up the rental car. Our Airbnb was in Lake Worth, about an hour's drive north.

We had no big plan for our trip, but a nice List of Possibilities -- art events, galleries, museums, restaurants, beaches, parks, sites. We woke up every morning and decided what we felt like doing!

On Thursday, just to get a feel for it -- and because "road trip" is very much a part of our Vacation MO -- we drove about half-way to Key West. We stopped in downtown Lake Worth for a quick breakfast, and this is the first thing we saw upon entering our chosen establishment:

A couple of Rusty's prints! These were among a few licensed to an Italian fine art publisher some years ago. It's fun to run across his art in the wild!

We drove a bit past Islamorada, stopped a couple of times (there really isn't much "beach" in the Keys), had some lunch, and then made our way back -- with a short visit to Everglades National Park. We hiked a couple of short boardwalk trails... and it was gorgeous! I wouldn't be opposed to returning and exploring more of that park.

Friday was our anniversary and I really wanted to do nothing more than relax at the beach. And so we did.

We rented a couple of chairs and an umbrella and soaked up the sunshine! I think we arrived around 11 and left around 3. We really lucked out weather-wise, so the beach was busy and people-watching was fun!

One of the things on our List of Possibilites was a visit to the Lake Worth Arts Center to see some surfboards. The last day of the exhibition was Saturday, and we had it penciled in on that day, but discovered by chance that the center was having an open house on Friday evening.

It was called 15 Surfboards by 15 Shapers. I don't surf, and Rusty's definitely more into body surfing, but his brother was super into surfing back in the day and even had a surfboard repair shop -- where Rusty worked for a while!

It was Palm Beach Art Week -- a big expo and a bunch of other events happening. The expo was also on our List of Possibilities, but on Saturday, we opted to go back to the beach instead! (We really lucked out with gorgeous weather!)

I did a little knitting and followed along as friends and family posted about their experiences at various Women's Marches. Rusty went swimming...

...with his phone. And the car key. Luckily, the key was fine... the phone, not so much. (Replacing that was first order of business upon our return home.)

We drove up to West Palm Beach on Saturday night for an alternative/benefit art fair. We ordered dinner from a yummy vegan food truck parked outside; there was food, drink, music, and lots of art! It was a beautiful evening and the event was very well attended... okay, a little crowded at times.

Sunday proved too windy to enjoy lounging at the shore, so we ticked another item on our List of Possibilities by visiting the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. We were interested in seeing both the gardens and an exhibition called Above the Fold: New Expressions in Origami. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed of the sometimes mind-blowing origami (click on the link for a few exhibition photos).

The gardens were lovely.

The bonsai were fascinating.

I'm wearing a pair of the more artsy & unique Green Bay Packer earrings in my jewelry box, because after the artsy stuff, it was off to find a "Packer bar" for the sportsy stuff. (It was official, with a framed proclamation and everything!)

I also changed into a more appropriate shirt on the way! We were definitely among friends... unfortunately, things did not go our way that day and the Falcons won. Oh well.

I've updated my Travel Map!

I ticked off Kentucky, as well as Florida, realizing that Kate and I did more than drive through KY when we went to Asheville; we stopped at a little museum there, too.

So, Florida! I'm still almost certain that I wouldn't enjoy being there in the humid summer months, but it was a pretty great place to visit in January.

_ _ _ _ _

Outtake:

Where do I look?

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!!

We went to Florida!

We visited the Keys and the Everglades.

Everglades National Park

We visited the beach.

We visited a Japanese garden and museum.

Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens

And we flew home again.

There were some other things, but I'll have to fill you in later. The weather was perfect (outside of a midnight tornado warning on our last night) and we had a great time!

I kept up on the news as best I could, especially in regard to the March(es) on Saturday. I was thrilled to receive emails and photos from TWO of the three recipients of my Pussyhat Project hats. So cool. I'm hoping to share that, too.

Meanwhile, re-entry is a bitch. On top of which, I drive down to O'Hare after work today to pick up Kate from her London-Paris-Edinburgh adventure! At least we'll have lots to talk about on the drive home.  :)