Welcome to Part 3 of my Florida lighthouse travels, where I actually explored 3 lighthouses over the weekend, one on the east coast and two on the west coast. Part 1 in March covered Jupiter and Key Biscayne and Part 2 in August was at St. Augustine and Daytona Beach. This time, it was the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse in Pompano Beach and the two on Gasparilla Island in Boca Grande. This was the most unique of the three trips, and included a lighthouse I had no idea was even open to the public. A couple weeks ago, while walking along Pompano Beach, I had the rare opportunity to get some great water shots of the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse. After a little research online, I found out that it also open to the public, and the next tour was this past weekend. Situated on a private Coast Guard base, they allow access to the lighthouse six times a year through the Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society. After boarding the tour boat along the Intracoastal Waterway, we made our 25-minute trek up north to the inlet and onto the lighthouse grounds. Built in 1907 and reaching 136 feet high, the 175 steps lead you up the narrow spiraling staircase to a gorgeous view of south Florida’s coastline. I felt very lucky to have this chance to actually go in it as I’ve seen it many times along my walks on Pompano Beach, but never thought it’d be open.
After the lighthouse tour, I made my way to Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek, where I played the 3 o’clock disc golf league there. It was the first round of golf I’ve played there since January, and it was great to catch up with some golf buddies I haven’t seen in a while.
Early Sunday morning, I headed across the state to the west coast, where I made a brief stop in the historic area of Punta Gorda. It started to rain lightly so I then continued on til I got to the Charlotte Harbor, which is about 2 and a half hours away from home. With the rain easing up, I got out my bike and rode a couple miles along the Cape Haze Pioneer Trail and then headed across the causeway and onto Gasparilla Island. This was the second time I’ve been here (the first time was a year ago), so I was a little familiar with the area. But I wanted to explore it more. So I parked my car at the north end of Boca Grande and biked along the paved trail that runs parallel to the main road. I got to the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse a hour before it opened, so I walked around the surrounding beach area, taking in the views and snapping pictures. Although you can go inside the lighthouse, you can only stay on the first floor, which is now a museum dedicated to the house and the island. They don’t allow any visitors up to the actual light or lookout deck. At a mere 44 feet tall, though, the 1890 lighthouse wouldn’t have nearly the impressive view as the one in Pompano Beach. As I biked my way back north, I stopped for lunch at the South Beach Bar & Grille, where I had a delicious Key Lime Shrimp Wrap. I then checked out the other lighthouse on the island, known as the Boca Grande Rear Range Lighthouse. Built in 1932 and standing at 105 feet high, this run-down non-accessible lighthouse is full of rust and pales in comparison to the look of the first two lighthouses of the weekend. It also didn’t help that the sun wasn’t making much of an effort to show its bright face. But I did enjoy biking around the quaint town of Boca Grande, with its many colorful shops and boutiques.
With just a few hours of daylight left, I next headed south to Fort Myers Beach, where I ended my weekend with a nice stroll along the light sands and a nice but cloudy sunset.
Living in south Florida for 10 years now, I’ve spent quite alot of time on the beach, but the majority of it is at night since I go so often after work. So I decided to spend this past weekend at two of the most famous beaches in the world – Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. You used to be able to park for free on the streets along Ft. Lauderdale beach, but now it seems more economical to park at Hugh Taylor Birch Park and walk across the street to the beach. So after getting to the park just 10 minutes down the road on Saturday morning, I hiked around the park a bit and then headed over to the infamous beach. I’ve been to this beach many many times, but this was the first time equipped with my camera. Since I didn’t want to risk getting my camera wet from the salt water, I didn’t go in the water but it was very hard to resist. I walked south all the way down to the Port Everglades Inlet, which is a main port for cruise ships to pull out of and a great place to see these mammoth vessels. After a nice long stroll, I headed back north towards the park, walking along the street and checking out the several shops along the way. I also made a stop at Beach Place, which is a nice little shopping plaza right across the street from the beach. As I got closer to the park, I headed over to the Bonnet House, a historic house and gardens. I’ve passed by here several times but had never checked it out, so I decided to investigate. Named after the bonnet lillies that are predominant in the surrounding waters, this beach cottage was built back in the 1920’s when Hugh Taylor Birch gave this area of land as a wedding gift to his daughter. who had just married famed Chicago artist Frederic Clay Bartlett. As I took the tour of this stylish house, I learned that Frederic’s third wife lived here until 1995, when she was 107 years old. The gardens were a treat to meander around, but I didn’t see any monkeys, which supposedly also hang out here up in the trees. I guess I was the only monkey around this day. Afterwards, I walked back on the beach for a while longer and then some more at Birch Park before driving over to downtown Lauderdale.
Another favorite local area of mine to hang out at, this historic area is full of many old houses from back in the early 1900’s, and is situated along the New River. This area is known as Las Olas Riverfront and features the fun Riverwalk. I also went over to the shopping district along Las Olas Boulevard that features many cool shops and restaurants.
After a fun Saturday at Ft. Lauderdale Beach, it was now time to explore Miami’s famous South Beach. Amazingly, this was the only fourth time I’ve ever been here, and the last time was eight years ago. I didn’t have too good of a memory from back then (the smell around the city was less than fragrant and the parking was horrendous), and really had no desire to go back. But I figured I’d give it another try, and did some research online on exactly where to go and what to check out. And I’m so glad I did, as I was not only able to find parking with no problem (and a much cheaper rate than last time), I went to a great park on the south side of town called South Pointe Park. With a beautiful view of the inlet and the skyline of downtown Miami, this park is ideal for biking and blading around and really made me wish I had brought my bike. I then walked north along Lummus Park, which runs parallel with the beach and includes a long wooden boardwalk. Not able to take it anymore, I headed off the boardwalk and onto the sand, where I enjoyed the beautiful waters and the bright sunshine.
I then spent some time walking around the popular Collins Avenue and the Lincoln Road Mall. I also explored more of the inland areas around Miami Beach, first going to Flamingo Park and then the Holocaust Memorial. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find any parking near the memorial and after driving around for 15 minutes, I decided to head on. As I drove out of Miami Beach, I took the Venetian Causeway. Again wishing I had my bike with me, I wasn’t able to stop and get any pictures of this beautiful area that has more great views of Miami. But it was a great way to end my weekend tour of south Florida’s hottest spots, and I will definitely be returning to South Beach soon…with bike in tow!
One thing I’ve always wanted to do was to fly to a city I’ve never been to before for just a weekend, rent a car and play all the disc golf courses within that area. So after looking into different cities and states to pull this off, I decided that Louisville, Kentucky was the perfect spot. And that’s exactly where I went this past weekend. My friend, Steve and I flew out early Friday morning, landing in Louisville around noon, and getting out to our first course at Iroquois Park, which is just ten minutes west of the airport. It took us a little while to get used to the elevation and the searching for our discs under the tons of fallen leaves. But we were definitely enjoying the cool weather and the first of many new courses on our trip. We then drove about 15 miles east to the other Louisville course at Charlie Vettiner Park. We had heard alot of good things about this course, and it did not disappoint, as we were digging the up and downhill shots interspersed through the course. After the first round, we had just enough time for at least another 9 holes. As we arrived at the tough 12th hole, which is a straight shot down a gully and then a bit of an uphill ending, I pulled out a disc I had found earlier on the course to throw as my final shot. Steve told me that if I get a hole-in-one with this disc, he will puke. Unbelievably, my shot went straight down the fairway and slammed into the basket 271 feet away, sticking for a day-ending ace. Luckily, Steve didn’t throw up either. We then drove south 30 minutes to Elizabethtown, where we got a hotel room and prepared for our next-morning round.
We started off Saturday morning at Freeman Lake Park, which we both could not get enough of. Absolutely picturesque park and a champion-caliber course, we were sorry we only had enough time for one round. We then went a bit up north to Radcliff, where we played the fun and hilly city park course. After a quick round at this short course, our next stop was right up the road at the Muldraugh course. The first hole was one of the most unique holes we’ve ever played – you had to throw through a small tunnel under the road (see video below). I’m proud to say we both made it through cleanly. This course was like a bigger and meaner version of the Radcliff course we just played. Another enjoyable course down, the next course in Brandenburg was right around the corner. Unfortunately, though, we didn’t see that corner and drove 20 minutes north the wrong way. Once we fugured out our error, we headed back south and finally found the course. Normally, we still would of had enough time for a round or even two at Meade Olin Park, but we had plans to play a glow-in-the-dark tournament at a course about two hours due west. So after only playing 10 holes at Olin Park, we made our way into Indiana to Mesker Park in Evansille. Thinking we were going to be late, we crossed a time zone and ended up arriving right on time with the time change. Steve’s friend hipped us to this night tournament, which was a doubles format. The course was covered in over 150 lit pumpkins, including a lit pumpkin on the top of each basket. Playing a first round at a new course is always interesting, but this was the first time I ever played a course for the first time at night…in the dark…where you could hardly see anything. Luckily, my doubles partner was a local and knew the course inside and out. And after a slow start, we finally started to hit on all cylinders and birdied our last 8 holes, which earned us a second place finish out of 28 teams and $30 each.
We had originally planned to drive back the 2 hours towards Louisville after the tournament, but we were both too tired and wanted to play a few of the other courses in and around the Evansville area. So after staying the night there, we hit our first course on Sunday morning at the University of Southern Indiana. Yet another scenic and hilly course, with many fun and challenging holes. We weren’t sure which course we were going to hit next, but ended up back across the Ohio River in Kentucky about 15 minutes away in Henderson, where we enjoyed the new Atkinson Park course. We then got back on the road as we headed east towards the airport but staying in Indiana to our next course in Corydon at the Fun Farm – a recreational complex that has go-cart racing, paintball, and…oh yeah, disc golf too! We both agreed this was our second favorite course after Freeman Lake, and it lived up to its name – fun! With just enough time for one more round before we flew back to Florida, we stopped by Garry Cavan Park in Georgetown. A bit disappointing, as the layout of the course wasn’t as nice as the previous courses we had played, but we still enjoyed our last round of our trip. And just for good measure, I almost got another hole-in-one on my last throw, as my drive bounced off the basket. Overall, the trip went very smoothly. We couldn’t say the same about the flight home, as we barely made our connection in Atlanta. Due to a late start in Louisville, we got to the gate in Atlanta right as the plane was supposed to take off. Thinking for sure they were going to give away our seats (happened to me when I flew back from Virginia a few months ago), we were both shocked we actually got on our flight, but very thankful at the same time. And now that I’ve finally done a weekend disc golf trip in another state, I’ve already planned the next one – Memphis in May – look out, Elvis, here I come!
Hole 1 at the Muldraugh Disc Golf Course in Muldraugh, Kentucky:
After taking a couple weekends off to recover from my Hawaii trip and catch up on things at home, I was ready to start exploring more of Florida again. And what better way than my typical North-South weekend. My first adventure on Saturday was at John Prince Park in Lantana, which is about half an hour north of home. I’ve been to this park many many times before, but have yet to blog about it. So here ya go – one of my favorite places in south Florida to go biking, where I once again enjoyed another fun ride along the 4.5 mile paved trail that goes around the beautiful Lake Osborne. I used to go to this park on a more frequent basis, where I would pretty much spend all day biking and hiking around and even camp out at the campground, usually getting a site right near the water. I’d usually then drive about 20 minutes northwest to Okeeheelee Park in Greenacres.
So why make this Saturday any different – bet you can’t guess where my next stop was. Okeeheelee Park also boasts a fun 5-mile paved bike trail that meanders around several lakes that are full of fishermen, boaters and water-skiers. After another bike ride, I rented a kayak and paddled around one of the lakes for an hour, stopping for a few minutes at an island in the middle of the lake. Unfortunately, the island’s ground is too full of sand burrs to walk around on it barefooted, but I have explored this island before…with shoes on, of course. I then checked out the nature center there, where you’re greeted by a barred owl, who seems to watch your every move. They also have a cute little burrowing owl, who is just as attentive but much more elusive, usually ducking down into his little cubbyhole as soon as you make eye contact with him. I then enjoyed the serene nature trail that leads to a lookout where you used to always see deer hanging out before poachers killed them last year. It’s just not the same without the deer.
I had originally planned to spend more time up north but since I had plans to play some glow-in-the-dark Halloween disc golf back near my neck of the woods, I drove back down to Pompano Beach, where I took a nice long walk along the beach to the Hillsboro Inlet, where the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse shines right across the water. I did the exact same walk on Friday night, but it was just too dark to get any really good pictures, so this time, I made sure I went with plenty of daylight to spare. As I was taking photos of the lighthouse, I asked a jet-skier if the beach where the lighthouse was was public. He said that it was a private beach, but if I wanted to hop onto his Sea-Doo, he’d take me across the inlet to get some closer pictures. So we drove across the way, where I was able to get some nice up-close shots of the lighthouse. I told him about my blog and to check it out, so Mitch, thanks again for the ‘water-taxi’ ride – the pictures came out great! I ended the evening by meeting up with a couple disc golf buddies and playing a quick round of night disc golf.
Since I hit some old stomping grounds on Saturday, I ventured out to some new parks on Sunday in the Miami area. First up was Snake Warrior’s Island, a natural area in Miramar, which is just north of Miami. I’ve known about this place for a while, but had yet to check it out til now. And I was very impressed with how nice and pretty it was, as I walked around the surrounding lakes along the paved path. I was also amazed at all the history of this area, as it was known as an Indian village back in the early to mid 1800’s.
I then headed south into Miami, where my next new park was A.D. Barnes Park. I first heard about this park only 6 months ago, and I enjoyed another nice hike around the park and the lake within it. It also has a nature center, but it was closed, so I wasn’t able to check it out. After an hour or so there, I drove about 5 minutes west to Tropical Park, which I’ve been to twice before, but never really spent alot of time at. More fun hiking trails and lakes to meander around, this park also features a very nice memorial to all the fallen police officers in Miami-Dade County. Since I was so close to the disc golf course at Indian Hammocks Park, I met a good friend at the course, where we played a couple rounds.
As we spent our last morning and few hours on Hawaii, we talked over a fresh Hawaiian pineapple about what a great vacation we had and how it was one of our favorite personal trips ever (right up there for me with Alaska and Croatia). After we dropped off the rental car, we parted our separate ways as C-Lo flew back to Virginia and I made my 11-hour trek back to south Florida. Someone told me on the flight over that they’ve actually seen passengers crying as they leave Hawaii. And although I was able to keep it together, I was very sad to say goodbye to the closet place to paradise I’ve ever been to. Usually, after an 11-day trip, I can’t wait to get back home. But C-Lo and I were actually discussing how we could move here and live, as we both fell in love with Hawaii. We’re already talking about going back next year. Aloha!
We spent the morning and early afternoon of our last full day in Hawaii at Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. Perhaps Hawaii’s biggest attraction, it was quite a moving and emotional place, considering the events and the outcome of that fateful December day. And as we boarded off the ferry and
stood above the sunken Arizona, with part of its hull still sticking out of the water and oil still leaking from it, it’s hard to imagine what happened back then as it is so peaceful and quiet now. I was especially touched by the few Pearl Harbor surviors who now volunteer their time to share their stories and pass on their knowledge. We were very lucky to see them, for as time continues to pass, there won’t be any left.
We then went aboard the USS Bowfin submarine, which was quite cool in its own way. A shuttle bus then took us out to Ford Island and the Pacific Aviation Museum. Situated in one of the hangars that housed many of the planes from World War II, the ultra-cool exhibits described life back then with fascinating stories and many of the exact same planes from the war.
After the moving Pearl Harbor experience, we drove over to the Bishop Museum, which is also known as the “Smithsonian of the Pacific”. This incredible museum is a fascinating look at Hawaii’s history, and the exhibits are both amazing to look and very interesting to read and learn about. There was also a cool, dinosaur exhibit with very realistic life-size dinosaurs that both moved and made noise. We then enjoyed the science wing, where we finally got to experience a volcano, albeit a made-man one, but you could actually control its eruption.
We then drove out to the Punchbowl Cemetery, where over 900 of the Pearl Harbor casualties are buried and honored. A beautiful and serene place, with gorgeous murals on a memorial wall depicting the many US battles, and a lookout over Waikiki that is nothing short of amazing. And to top it all off, a rainbow was shining over the cemetery. As we drove away, we took a nice little detour up into the mountains along the scenic Tantalus Drive. After a while, though, it started to rain, so we headed back down the mountain and went back out to Waikiki Beach for one last Hawaiian sunset, complete with yet another beautiful rainbow.
We saw a cool beachside restaurant and decided to have dinner at the Shore Bird Restaurant & Beach Bar. Even though we couldn’t get a table right next to the beach, we still got some pretty good seats at this barbeque-style joint, where you order your meat raw and then cook it on the mammoth grill, complete with assistant chefs to help you along. A great last meal to bid adieu to Waikiki and Hawaii. After one last walk around the city, and one more sit-down with newspaper man (I told C-Lo he’s going to expect your company if you give him another dollar), it was then time to pack, which kept us up til 1 in the morning.
Although disc golf wasn’t necessarily on the agenda, I knew of a disc golf course on the University of Hawaii near Waikiki, where the local golfers meet every Sunday morning for a quick round. I figured I’d play it by ear, and if things worked out, we’d go check out the course, especially since I hadn’t really planned anything for this day. But after a drizzly morning and a phone call from the front desk that our rental car had a flat tire, the thought of disc golf quickly disappeared. After getting the spare put on, we drove out to the airport to trade in our car for another one. Since we hadn’t finished all our souvenir shopping yet, we then headed over to the Swap Meet at Aloha Stadium, which is known for being the host of the NFL’s Pro Bowl.
Thousands of vendors lined up outside the perimeter of the stadium, selling everything under the sun and more. It was quite amazing and overwhelming too, but we did get some great deals on many items as we loaded up the car after spending a few hours out there. I figured since we have yet to see the southwest section of the island to venture off that-a-way. Known for its poor and rough reputation, not to mention its not-so-pretty landscape, we set out for find out for ourselves. As we drove along the Waianae coast, we were both shocked by the villages of torn tents and beaten-up cars strewn along the beach and the stunning beauty of the coastline. Driving about as far as you can, we checked out Makua Beach, where the pounding surf was producing some of the biggest waves and rock crashes we’ve seen all trip.
As we came upon Makaha, one of Oahu’s poorest and roughest areas, we saw a plate lunch area. so we pulled over and had a fabulous Hawaiian feast on the beach, which included a pork and beef dish wrapped in seaweed. As we left, we noticed on the mountainside a gorgeous rainbow peaking out from a valley. We pulled over several times to get a photo of it, while the locals expressed their disapproval of us in their area. A ittle further down the road was the town of Waianae, where we ventured off on the beaches there too. Overall, we found this area of the island to be quite beautiful and charming and the locals quite friendly.
After getting back to Waikiki, the sun was starting to go down, so we hung out on the beach to watch the beautiful sunset. C-Lo and I then went out to the International Market Place just down the street to finish up our shopping, and while out walking around, we saw a few street performers, including one guy all decked out in a newspaper suit, sitting completely still on a bench. When C-Lo dropped a dollar in his newspaper-covered bucket, he motioned her to sit down and read the paper with him. It was quite entertaining as I got some great photos and video of the two of them. C-Lo then went back to the room, while I wandered around some more, making my way to the immaculate Hilton Hawaiian Village resort. About as impressive as the Turtle Bay one, it reminded me alot of the high-class Disney properties in Orlando.
Another island-hopping day trip awaited us, this time to the island of Kauai, also known as the Garden Isle. If getting up at 4 in the morning for the Maui trip wasn’t bad enough, we had to rise and shine at 3 am this time. It didn’t help that we both got a nasty sunburn from yesterday’s water adventure at Kailua. After meeting the shuttle bus at 4 am, we flew over to Kauai, where our tour guide greeted us. We loved the Maui trip, so we were hoping this was going to be as good, if not better. The 10 of us set off on our excursion as we traversed up a mountain road towards Waimea Canyon. Since we were making
good time, our driver drove up further pass the canyon lookout to another higher lookout that had some spectacular views of the canyon and its surrounding areas. We then made our way back down the mountain, stopping at the famed Waimea Canyon, nicknamed ‘the Grand Canyon of the Pacific’. Another stunning panoramic view rivaling the Pali Lookout on Oahu, this incredible landscape really showed off how beautiful of an island Kauai is. The shining sun and the bleating mountain goats (we could hear them but couldn’t see them) only added to the mystic of this magical place.
Unfortunately, the goats and the sun started to fade away, as the clouds rolled in and a slight drizzle took over the island. We continued to stop and here and there, taking more photos but the weather wasn’t cooperating as we had hoped it would. We made our way to the other side of the island, where we enjoyed a riverboat ride along the Wailua River. We were serenaded by a fun little Hawaiian band while we cruised over to the famous Fern Grotto, a fern-lined cave that has hosted over 19,000 weddings over the last 50 years. Up until a few years ago, the cave was open to the public to go in and explore but after 42 straight days of rain in 2006, the cave got flooded, and to this day, is still full of water. As we made our way back to the dock, we floated by several beautiful areas where many a movie has been filmed, including ‘Outbreak’ starring Dustin Hoffman, ‘Six Days Seven Nights’ with Anne Heche and Harrison Ford, and another little-known Harrison Ford flick called ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (you may have heard of it?).
A popular blowhole called the Spouting Horn was next on the agenda. And she was more than eager to show off her mighty power, as spout upon powerful spout shot skyward, sometimes as tall as 50 feet. Next up was at the Opaekaa Falls Lookout - a 150-foot waterfall that looks like 2 waterfalls right next to each other. Our long day and trip was nearing an end as we drove by the sacred site of Holo-holo Ku Heiau. Though our tour guide wasn’t as funny as our Maui one, he definitely knew his facts and told us many fascinating tales of not only the Garden Isle but of Hawaii itself and its famed history.
Spouting Horn in Po’ipu, Kauai:
Upon our return to our hotel in Oahu, we were ready for food again, and heard of an excellent restaurant at the Embassy Suites but neither of us could remember where we saw it. So after a nice stroll around downtown with no restaurant in sight, we asked a local where it was. Go figure – it was directly across from our hotel, and took like a minute to get there. We finally found Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine, which was recommended by a couple on the bus tour. The food was incredible and the best meal we’ve had on our trip, and though it was a bit pricey, it was oh so worth it.
After dinner, C-Lo took it easy while I meandered around downtown Waikiki to do so more gift-shopping and sight-seeing. As I walked along the beach back towards the hotel, while soaking in the nighttime atmosphere, a steady mist poured down on me while I looked out into the ocean. With a hotel spotlight casting a palm tree shadow upon the turquoise water, I happened to look up into the rain, and it almost seemed like it was snowing over the ocean. As badly as I wanted to get my camera out to take a picture of this, I also knew that would probably mark the death of my camera, and I had a few more days of photo-taking to do. Once again, an underwater camera may have just done the trick.
Since we still hadn’t seen all of the South Shore area, we headed back that way for a fun day in Kailua. We took the Pali Highway there, where we stopped at the . A spectacular panoramic view awaits you as you gaze out upon the breath-taking scenery that shows off Oahu’s natural beauty. You can see for miles as the lush green mountainside is accented by the stunning blue water and several small islands, including our favorite, Chinaman’s Hat.
After pulling ourselves away from here, we continued our westward trek with our next stop at Lanikai. We pulled over at a small rest stop to take in the gorgeous views of the beaches here, and then arrived at our final destination – Kailua Beach. I had heard this is one of the prettiest beaches on the island, and it did not disappoint. As we were immensly enjoying the view, we saw quite a few kayaks out in the water, and thought about getting one. Then we noticed a few people standing on surfboards and paddling around. Intrigued, we decided to try this instead. Since C-Lo had her mind set on more snorkeling, I rented a paddleboard, and set off my new water sport. Not quite sure what to do at first, I had no problems standing up and keeping my balance on the board, but the paddling part didn’t seem quite right. C-Lo also wanted to try it, but she wasn’t as successful in her attempts to balance herself. But it made for some fun comic relief to many of the beachgoers. She decided to stick to the snorkeling, while I finally figured out how to paddle properly. I paddled my way out to a small island about 500 yards or so offshore, where I attempted to walk around on it, but the sharp rocks made barefoot-walking near impossible and my foot was still hurting from my snorkeling faux pas.
While off on my little adventure, C-Lo made friends with a young Hawaiian couple, so when I returned to the beach, I had a few eager students to test out my paddle-surfing teaching skills. Apparently, the first lesson was balance. I’ve gone windsurfging enough to feel very comfortable standing on a surfboard, but the others weren’t so experienced. As I tried my darndest to help them stay on, I couldn’t help but laugh at all their silly attempts to stand up. They eventually figured it out, and were able to stand up for a short while. I gave everyone a fun little ‘gondolier’ ride, where I stood up and paddled them around the water while they each took turns sitting on the front of the board. After a couple hours of non-stop fun and sun, it was time to part ways with our new friends and get some food. We had some excellent pizza at Bob’s Pizzeria, another local favorite. Since we’re in Hawaii, I just had to try their Hawaiian pizza. It was primo!
We then went to Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden, which is so big, you can drive from parking lot to parking lot while checking out all the various plant life. And with the rain starting to come down, we stayed in the car the whole time as we drove through the massive garden. With the sun brightening up the sky again and an unsatisfactory viewing of Chinaman’s Hat from Monday, we next drove about half an hour north back to Kualoa Park for some sunny pictures of the charming little island. It seemed closer this time than last time, but we also didn’t have to worry about getting totally drenched. As we snapped picture after picture, we wished we had a kayak to cruise out over the calm waters and get even closer photos. Still, it was a great way to end an extremely fun day. As we drove back to Waikiki, we stopped for dinner at a tasty Korean BBQ joint.
After spending yesterday on the South Shore, it only made sense to check out the North Shore next. We commenced with a drive through the middle of the island, where our first outing was at the Dole Plantation. There were several things to do there, such as a train ride or a maze, but we elected to check out the pretty and colorful garden and enjoy a great (and sweet) pineapple smoothie treat as we shopped around in the bigger-than-normal gift shop.
We then drove west across the island to Hale’iwa. As we drove through this quaint little town, we stopped by another cool gift shop for some more souvenir shopping and then checked out its pretty beaches. As we continued our trek up the north coast, we noticed a bunch of people hanging out on the beach. So we pulled over next to the row of cars to see what the commotion was about. And right in front of us, sunbathing on the beach, was a Hawaiian green sea turtle. Commonly known as Turtle Beach, where these giant creatures love to hang out, a couple volunteers had a roped-off section so you couldn’t get too close or touch the turtle, as it is generally against the law to disturb them (at least it is in south Florida). This particular ’celebrity’ was named Brutus, and though he didn’t do any tricks or hardly even move, it was still exciting to see one so up close in the broad daylight:
After bidding adieu to Brutus, we were hoping to spend some time at popular Waimea Bay, but the parking lot was full and we could’ve been there for an hour just waiting for a spot to open. So we had to pass on there, but a short jaunt up the road led us to Waimea Valley Audubon Center. Boasting one of a few waterfals that you can actually swim under on the island, we were ready to get wet. But the heavy rains over the past few days muddied up the pond that the waterfall filters into and there was no swimming allowed today. We still enjoyed the easy-going 3/4 mile hike up towards it and took in the many beautiful gardens along the path. As we hung out at the waterfall area, C-Lo befriended the bored lifeguard, who was busy making grass baskets. Hey, what else are you gonna do when there’s no one to ‘guard’.
Food was next on the agenda, so we had lunch at Ted’s Bakery, a local favorite just past Sunset Beach. We thoroughly enjoyed the tasty but messy garlic shrimp and their famous cream pies. C-Lo had the chocolate one while I enjoyed the Bavarian peach pie.
We then continued our northward adventure at the exquisite (and expensive) Turtle Bay Resort. We got our parking validated so it didn’t cost us anything to check it out, but we could tell just by walking around it, you needed some serious dough to stay here. The landscaping and ocean views were incredible, with many a surfer enjoying the pounding waves, and the resort itself was a marvel to look at, in particular the pool area. As we imagined how cool it’d be to stay here, we started heading back down south.
Since the sunset was coming upon us soon, we thought what better place to watch it than at Sunset Beach. But after spending a few minutes there, we decided to continue a little further south to Shark’s Cove for our sunset view. Although sharks are known to swim around here, they are not aggressive and this reef has become one of the best spots on the island for snorkeling and diving. While C-Lo laid out on the beach, I investigated the area some more, taking in all the natural beauty this place had to offer. Even though the clouds covered up much of the sunset, we’re still glad we made our last stop on the North Shore here.
A couple weeks ago, while walking along Pompano Beach, I had the rare opportunity to get some great water shots of the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse. After a little research online, I found out that it also open to the public, and the next tour was this past weekend. Situated on a private Coast Guard base, they allow access to the lighthouse six times a year through the Hillsboro Lighthouse Preservation Society. After boarding the tour boat along the Intracoastal Waterway, we made our 25-minute trek up north to the inlet and onto the lighthouse grounds. Built in 1907 and reaching 136 feet high, the 175 steps lead you up the narrow spiraling staircase to a gorgeous view of south Florida’s coastline. I felt very lucky to have this chance to actually go in it as I’ve seen it many times along my walks on Pompano Beach, but never thought it’d be open.
half hours away from home. With the rain easing up, I got out my bike and rode a couple miles along the Cape Haze Pioneer Trail and then headed across the causeway and onto Gasparilla Island. This was the second time I’ve been here (the first time was a year ago), so I was a little familiar with the area. But I wanted to explore it more. So I parked my car at the north end of Boca Grande and biked along the paved trail that runs parallel to the main road. I got to the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse a hour before it opened, so I walked around the surrounding beach area, taking in the views and snapping pictures. Although you can go inside the lighthouse, you can only stay on the first floor, which is now a museum dedicated to the house and the island. They don’t allow any visitors up to the actual light or lookout deck. At a mere 44 feet tall, though, the 1890 lighthouse wouldn’t have nearly the impressive view as the one in Pompano Beach.
As I biked my way back north, I stopped for lunch at the South Beach Bar & Grille, where I had a delicious Key Lime Shrimp Wrap. I then checked out the other lighthouse on the island, known as the Boca Grande Rear Range Lighthouse. Built in 1932 and standing at 105 feet high, this run-down non-accessible lighthouse is full of rust and pales in comparison to the look of the first two lighthouses of the weekend. It also didn’t help that the sun wasn’t making much of an effort to show its bright face. But I did enjoy biking around the quaint town of Boca Grande, with its many colorful shops and boutiques.
One thing I’ve always wanted to do was to fly to a city I’ve never been to before for just a weekend, rent a car and play all the disc golf courses within that area. So after looking into different cities and states to pull this off, I decided that Louisville, Kentucky was the perfect spot. And that’s exactly where I went this past weekend. My friend, Steve and I flew out early Friday morning, landing in Louisville around noon, and getting out to our first course at Iroquois Park, which is just ten minutes west of the airport. It took us a little while to get used to the elevation and the searching for our discs under the tons of fallen leaves. But we were definitely enjoying the cool weather and the first of many new courses on our trip. We then drove about 15 miles east to the other Louisville course at Charlie Vettiner Park. We had heard alot of good things about this course, and it did not disappoint, as we were digging the up and downhill shots interspersed through the course. After the first round, we had just enough time for at least another 9 holes. As we arrived at the tough 12th hole, which is a straight shot down a gully and then a bit of an uphill ending, I pulled out a disc I had found earlier on the course to throw as my final shot. Steve told me that if I get a hole-in-one with this disc, he will puke. Unbelievably, my shot went straight down the fairway and slammed into the basket 271 feet away, sticking for a day-ending ace. Luckily, Steve didn’t throw up either. We then drove south 30 minutes to Elizabethtown, where we got a hotel room and prepared for our next-morning round.
Mesker Park in Evansille. Thinking we were going to be late, we crossed a time zone and ended up arriving right on time with the time change. Steve’s friend hipped us to this night tournament, which was a doubles format. The course was covered in over 150 lit pumpkins, including a lit pumpkin on the top of each basket. Playing a first round at a new course is always interesting, but this was the first time I ever played a course for the first time at night…in the dark…where you could hardly see anything. Luckily, my doubles partner was a local and knew the course inside and out. And after a slow start, we finally started to hit on all cylinders and birdied our last 8 holes, which earned us a second place finish out of 28 teams and $30 each.
scenic and hilly course, with many fun and challenging holes. We weren’t sure which course we were going to hit next, but ended up back across the Ohio River in Kentucky about 15 minutes away in Henderson, where we enjoyed the new Atkinson Park course. We then got back on the road as we headed east towards the airport but staying in Indiana to our next course in Corydon at the 
After taking a couple weekends off to recover from my Hawaii trip and catch up on things at home, I was ready to start exploring more of Florida again. And what better way than my typical North-South weekend. My first adventure on Saturday was at 
So why make this Saturday any different – bet you can’t guess where my next stop was. 
Since I hit some old stomping grounds on Saturday, I ventured out to some new parks on Sunday in the Miami area. First up was 
first heard about this park only 6 months ago, and I enjoyed another nice hike around the park and the lake within it. It also has a nature center, but it was closed, so I wasn’t able to check it out. After an hour or so there, I drove about 5 minutes west to 
Although disc golf wasn’t necessarily on the agenda, I knew of a disc golf course on the University of Hawaii near Waikiki, where the local golfers meet every Sunday morning for a quick round. I figured I’d play it by ear, and if things worked out, we’d go check out the course, especially since I hadn’t really planned anything for this day. But after a drizzly morning and a phone call from the front desk that our rental car had a flat tire, the thought of disc golf quickly disappeared. After getting the spare put on, we drove out to the airport to trade in our car for another one. Since we hadn’t finished all our souvenir shopping yet, we then headed over to the 
As we came upon Makaha, one of Oahu’s poorest and roughest areas, we saw a plate lunch area. so we pulled over and had a fabulous Hawaiian feast on the beach, which included a pork and beef dish wrapped in seaweed. As we left, we noticed on the mountainside a gorgeous rainbow peaking out from a valley. We pulled over several times to get a photo of it, while the locals expressed their disapproval of us in their area. A ittle further down the road was the town of Waianae, where we ventured off on the beaches there too. Overall, we found this area of the island to be quite beautiful and charming and the locals quite friendly.
beach to watch the beautiful sunset. C-Lo and I then went out to the 
A popular blowhole called the 
restaurant at the Embassy Suites but neither of us could remember where we saw it. So after a nice stroll around downtown with no restaurant in sight, we asked a local where it was. Go figure – it was directly across from our hotel, and took like a minute to get there. We finally found 
