Let’s Go To the Mall

Friday March 15, 2013

Our stay here in Lake Worth has been pretty uneventful.  We’ll get off the boat every other day to make it into town and take advantage of the wifi at McDonald’s, but otherwise we’ve just been sitting on the boat.  It is nice to finally be in an area that has temperatures in the mid to upper 70’s ever day, but that front that’s been blowing through all week zaps all heat away when we’re on the water and exposed to 20-25 knot winds every day.  I had grand plans of counting down til Saturday while lounged out in my bikini and working on my tan so I wouldn’t be a pasty northerner when I got to the Bahamas, but those plans have been zapped as well.  So for the most part we’ve spent our afternoons below deck while I’ll scan through photos and Matt will play chess on his touchpad.  I did finally get my Nook working again, I found out it just wasn’t charged enough, duh, so I’ve also spent my afternoons blissfully reading away.  After four months without it, it feels so good to be able to read a book again.

Our run into town Wednesday basically was only for McDonald’s and wifi, so I won’t even bore you with the details of that.  Let’s just say that I have a great husband for letting me spend three hours there while I uploaded posts, responded to e-mails, and Facebooked with friends.  Today however, we did have a few more errands to run than the usual.  Taking the dinghy with our three 5 gallon jerrycans, we ran up to one of the local marinas to fill up with diesel for the trip.  The tank on the boat is nearly full now, so only one of the jerrycans should need to be put in there to top it off while the other two will be used as reserve.  Then our next mission was to find the post office.  Currently our bookcase is overstuffed with volumes of Waterway Guides that we have no use for anymore since we don’t know if or when we’ll be back to those areas, and we don’t feel like storing them for four years ‘just in case’.  Instead of throwing them away or leaving them at a local marina for any other cruisers that want them, we wanted to make sure they went to our soon-to-be cruising friends back home, Jackie and Ron.  After all, how could we deny them something we know they’ll need after they just had a bottle of Kraken hand delivered to us?

Finding out that the address given to us for the post office was two miles from the main corner we normally start at, we began hoofing it down PGA Blvd.  All that wind that had been keeping me in jackets and sweatshirts at the boat was now blocked from all the buildings and it got warm out very quickly.  We were looking forward to swiftly delivering the package and finding an air conditioned McDonald’s.  Following Google Maps on Matt’s phone, which was not being as much help as we thought it would.  According to the address we were given we had already passed the building, but neither of us had any recollection of seeing the post office, even tucked away somewhere.  Getting very hot and hungry now, I suggested we run to the food court of the mall we had just passed.  That way I could get my wifi and my work done, and then we’d be recharged while hunting down the post office which seemed to be covered in Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak.  Walking through the parking lot there were BMW’s, and Mercedes Benz’s as far as the eye could see.  Walking in through Macy’s I was greeted with the initial pang of wanting to snatch up all the cute dresses, shoes, and purses in front of me, but as soon as we left the store the feeling left with it.

Coming out of that familiar mall territory we strolled into some very unfamiliar mall territory.  Instead of Hollister and Forever 21 there was Chanel and Burberry.  Louis Vitton and Gucci.  Not quite the kind of shopping mall we were used to.  Seeking out the food court we walked from one end of the mall to the other without finding it.  What we did spy though out of the corner of our eyes was an arrow pointing down a hallway to the Post Office.  There is no way we would have found it there from the street.  Getting the package sent out the backpack instantly became lighter and we checked another item off our to-do list.  Then finding that the food court was one floor up we ate our Sabarro’s while hooking up to the internet and getting as much done as possible since we knew we wouldn’t have access again for days.  I had scheduled a few posts to go up while we were traveling, and then downloaded images from passage weather, and also information from Noonsite on every possible port of entry we could make along the way in case plans changed at the last minute.  Getting information on West End, Berry Islands, Nassau, and Georgetown, I even downloaded Jamaica in case for any reason we decided to Q flag it through the Bahamas and skip them all together.  Once I was satisfied that I had done all I could do to prep ourselves to be without internet, we left the mall and headed back out on the street.  Not after noticing that at this mall, even the backs of stop signs were painted with pretty little leaf patterns.  It was obvious we were now in Palm Beach, mingling with the rich and famous.

Completing the rest of our errands, we picked up a few more things at West Marine, and then went to Publix to stuff our backpacks as full of pop as we could get them, along with a few other staples.  Walking back to the boat with extra bags dangling from our arms, we made our way back to the dinghy and then to Serendipity.  One other thing I had been looking forward to doing that night was to meet up with another couple of cruisers that we had been corresponding with for the past few months on the internet.  Katie and Ben of s/v Buckeye had just gotten back from cruising the Bahamas for the winter.  I was hoping that we’d actually be able to meet them in the Bahamas, but as luck would have it, we happened to be in their home port of Lake Worth right when they were getting back.  Chilling a few beer all day and preparing a bottle of wine, I was already to go out and mingle.

Sending them our location on Facebook, they told us they’d be in that evening.  After we had gotten back from our errands and were busy preparing dinner I got another message that they had just gotten in, but they couldn’t spot us anywhere.  At this point I climbed outside to hunt them down with our binoculars, but couldn’t seem to find them either.  After lots of conversation back and forth, we eventually found out that they were moored just south of the inlet, a good two miles from where we were sitting.  With it being so late in the evening, a dinghy ride over was out of the question, plus the issue of having to go to bed early enough to rise and get ready before the sun the next morning.  It was sad that we couldn’t meet up, especially since I was ready to pick their brains about Gulf Crossings and everything Bahamas.  Who knows though, maybe we’ll catch them again in a few seasons.  With nothing else to do for the night, we dazed out in front of the t.v. until it was time to go to bed.  I don’t know if it’s because we’ve been waiting so long and had already been delayed once more, but any nerves I had about making the crossing were now gone.  Wind and waves are forecast to be low, and I am ready for us to check into a new country!

*Sorry for all the recent cat photos, there really has been nothing better to photograph.