12/10 to 12/22 John Prince Park at Lake Worth

 John Prince Park Campground

Lake worth, Florida

December 10 to December 22

20 minutes - 11 miles

My next stop is "right up the street" in Lake Worth. The Memorial Park is named after John Prince, the county commissioner in the 1930s. He was responsible for getting developers and the state to donate more than 1,000 acres that later became Palm Beach State College's Lake Wroth campus and the Lantana Airport. It is the second oldest county park in Florida. In 1956, 48 acres were developed for use with tents and RVs. There are 352 sites that lie on the western and northern shores of Lake Osborne.  It lies adjacent to the airport so it will be interesting to see how that flies (yes, that was intentional). There is a noise abatement procedure that is adhered to by pilots. There is a new five section dog park called Lake Woof, pavilions, park ground structures, tennis courts, basketball courts, volleyball courts, boat/canoe/kayak launch, outdoor fitness center as well as the campground. 

To begin, I must include two updates from my last evening and my final day in Delray Beach. Chuck and Silvia picked me up and we joined Carlo's sister and husband, Roseanna and Giacomo at Il Girasole right up the street from the campground. And what a last minute treat that was. Aside from seeing and enjoying the company of Roseanna and Giacomo, the food was outstanding. Check out the extensive menu HERE. Even their wine list was impressive. Thank you, Roseanna and Giacomo. From the restaurant's website:

"In 1971, Luigi Esposito moved to South Florida from Italy to bring the true culinary tastes of Italy to South Florida. In 1981, Luigi and his wife Wilma opened Il Girasole in the heart of Palm Beach county. Il Girasole features superb pasta, veal and seafood dishes with a Northern Italian flair; as well as an excellent selection of wines."

L. to R: Giacomo, Roseanna, Silvia, Me, Chuck

The Gnocchi di Patate was terrific. Potato dumplings with Parmesan, Emmental and

Mozzarella sauce. Emmental cheese was new to me; I've never heard of it. I found Emmental cheese is a Swiss cheese that has a mild, nutty, and slightly sweet flavor with a creamy and slightly firm texture. The flavor can vary depending on the age of the cheese. The ageing period ranges from 2 to 18 months, depending on the variety. Younger Emmental has a milder taste, while older varieties have a stronger, more pronounced flavor. It's inclusion in tonight's melt-in-your-mouth dish added to the already delicate cream sauce.

And the second update...on the last day, I was to leave Delray by 11 a.m. Rather, I was confronted by one of the two nightmares of every RVer. If either your awnings or your slides do not retract, you're dead in the water. You're not going anywhere. For me, the slide came in on an angle and became wedged half in and half out, not budging in either direction.

     

It's Sunday noon and my feverish calls to TWO mobile repair fellas resulted in no call backs for the rest of that day...a lost day. Monday morning, around noon, my third call was to John of Busy Bee Mobile RV Repair up in Lantana at 8:30 a.m.  He arrived four hours later and within five minutes diagnosed but did not repair the electrical issue. His intent was to get the slide in and me out and on to my next destination. With the retracted slide in, off I went. Cost? $0.00. He is the fella I've already made arrangements with for other minor repairs I want completed. These will be done while at my next campground in Lantana and through my extended warranty. I'm very pleased, relieved and confident with the decision to go with John. 

A day late, I arrived at the John Prince Campground. As expected, the slide would not extend so, as we discussed, John will be making another "house call" here in Lake Worth. Ah, but the saga continues. When hooking up to shore power here, my surge protector gave me readings that indicated a poor circuit connection at the pedestal. I was not about to jeopardize the electrical system in the coach. A call to the front office had an electrical maintenance fella come by. He changed the circuit breaker and that problem was solved. And so on with the story.

To bring this saga to a happy ending, the next day, John and his assistant, Junior, showed up unannounced, completed the work and now the slide works fine. More about John and repairs in an upcoming blog post.

The road into the campground along Lake Osborne was long and...

...scenic including a small clump of mangroves.

J. Duvall McMillan Park protrudes into Lake Osborn from the eastern shore.

Without a vehicle, here's hoping my friends and relatives can follow directions and find me. From arrow to arrow, the distance is 1.2 miles from the entrance to my site.

This place is HUGE. This map show the distance just from the campground office to my site 98. This campground was a good choice as it is only seven miles to Chuck's house in West Palm Beach, one I will probably use in the coming years.

A breezy day, I'm waiting before extending my awning. The path of the sun, as you can see will give me the entire day of shade on that side. The high temperature today here in Lake Worth was 70º and tonight, should be a low of 60º. For me? Perfect! 

I have a "Lakeside Site" with beautiful views of  the 378-acre freshwater Lake Osborne. Five drainage canals discharge directly into the Lake. The site has plenty of room to the rear and sides. Sunrise will be at the center of the shoreline across the lake.

And at 7:00a.m., there it was. Clouds blocked the sunrise but around 9a.m. it peeked through for me.

Looking out my door, I'm on a curve and a big 'front yard.' Sites have 30/50 amp service, sewer, water and cable connections. Bathrooms/Showers and a small dumpster are across the road.

The cities of Lake Worth and Lantana occupy the eastern shore.

The photos above were the last of sunshine I saw for the rest of the week. Along came the storm from the Gulf which eventually made its way up the entire seaboard. Winds in excess of 20 mph and intermittent drizzle to moderate rain off and on for four days. Temps remained mild in the mid 70s. The sub-tropical winds buffeted Winnie constantly day and night. My awning remained retracted and nothing placed outdoors. The video below shows my bamboo 'chimes' providing relaxing indoor background noise as the winds outside sang a different tune.

The weather notwithstanding, friends Jim and Missie, came up from Boynton Beach to pick me up. We met Chuck and Silvia at Elisabetta's Ristorante on Banyan Blvd in West Palm Beach. This was a special get-together because close to forty (40) years ago Jim and Missie were Chuck's "first employers." Chuck, in high school, cut their lawn and dated their baby sitter who just happened to live across the street. 

The restaurant is huge

Heavy plastic sheets were draped along the entire perimeter of the patio dining area and protected us from the windy, drizzly night. 

Read Lisabet Summa's fascinating story HERE. She’s now the corporate culinary director, responsible for the success of the group’s 18 restaurants.

L. to R: Jim, Me, Missie, Silvia, Chuck, the lawn boy.

An appetizer sampling featuring olives and a selection of the made-on-premises salamis. 

Chuck chose the, Luigi Einaudi, Dogliani Superiore "Vigna Tecc," a blend from the Dolcetto grape. From the Wine Spectator taster's notes: "A ripe and fruity red, featuring black cherry, blackberry, violet and earth notes. Velvety in texture, with terrific harmony and a lingering aftertaste of dark fruit and spice."

I enjoyed the Risotto Ai Gamberini e Funghi: Shrimp Risotto with Mushrooms.
Delicious; half of which came home with me.

Here are links to the extensive MENU and WINE LIST. Impressive. Certainly worth a look.

For a dreary Wednesday evening, the restaurant was packed.

Crappy Day Activity: Bake. Corn bread with raisins. Saving a piece for Ray.

Finally, the storm moved out leaving only windy weather for another day. But this good weather brought about a mess of 15 or 20 Iguanas that passed through my site and were headed toward the trees on the shoreline. The collective noun for Iguanas is "mess." The mess was moving and the mess is moving are both correct. 

Iguana are cold-blooded egg-laying reptiles that are 100% herbivores. They live from 4 to 40 years depending on the species and they can grow to 5-7 feet from head to tip of tail.

The adult green iguana has a spiny back. As they are cold-blooded, the spikes increase the surface area allowing a greater absorption of heat from the sun. They are considered an invasive species due to their impacts to native wildlife. Like all nonnative reptile species, green iguanas are not protected in Florida except by anti-cruelty laws and can be humanely killed on private property with landowner permission. 

The meat of adult iguanas and the eggs are eaten and considered a delicacy throughout their native range, especially during Easter week. The price of iguana meat found online is $60/pound. Large adults, too dangerous to be kept as pets, may have value as meat in ethnic markets that cater to immigrants from Central and South America.

This fella was the biggest one in the mess with a tail about three feet long.

Most climbed the tree behind my site as I approached. They're very fast runners. Some species clocked at 25 m.p.h.

As my stay here at John Prince Park came to an end, cousins, Norma and Cheri drove up from Boca to pick me up for an afternoon luncheon date. I chose to take them to Benny's On The Beach on Ocean Blvd in Lake Worth. Chilly and breezy as the day was, the warmth of the sun dining on the Pier proved to be a good choice. Menu options were good and portions more than adequate.

Benny's, a landmark Lake Worth restaurant since 1986 has been serving fresh seafood serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily "where diners have literally looked down on the Atlantic from above the sands of Lake Worth Beach, while enjoying American fare and seafood – from pancakes to paella. The only full-service restaurant on a pier from Dania Beach up to Cocoa Beach, Benny’s proudly serves “Beach Cuisine,” using fresh ingredients to create food meant to be enjoyed from a perch atop the ocean." Read about their HISTORY HERE.

"Owners Lee Lipton, Chef Jeremy Hanlon and Dylan Lipton have created a phenomenal restaurant offering incredibly fresh and flavorful food, refreshing cocktails and family friendly service for all of our guests, located directly over the ocean."

We were fortunate to get a table right along the rail and in the warm sun. I caught this photo in between the rough surf and high waves that didn't seem to deter folks from entering the water. Floridians were bundled and the two locals I was with couldn't comprehend how these northern tourists could stand such chilling temperatures. The water? B-L-U-E...a vivid blue. Most impressive.

I enjoyed (half) their FISH & CHIPS: "North Atlantic Pollock, a White Flaky Fish, Coated in our Florida Craft Beer Batter and Fried until Crazy Crispy. Served with our Florida Mango Tartar Sauce and French Fries."

And so ends another chapter of my Winter Adventure. I'm now headed into Christmas Week where I'll spend it in West Palm Beach with Chuck, Silvia and grandson Aaron, home from the University of Indiana. Perhaps this graphic on the left will bring you back to your childhood recollections of Jolly Ol' St. Nick. Silvia's family will fly in from Milan for a two-week stay. In preparation, I've subscribed to a course at Babbel and will attempt to learn conversational Italian...a long overdue bucket list item.  

But then there's the true meaning of Christmas and for that 

I wish you and yours a blessed and Merry Christmas and hope you hold dear the precious meaning and significance of this religious holiday.

Adoration of the Shepherds by François Boucher (1703-1770), a French painter in the Rococo style, perhaps the most celebrated painter and decorative artist of the 18th century. Credit: From The Catholic Household and posted by Dominic de Souza | Dec 20, 2014