December 2014, Part Two: Christmas Lights; Rock N Roll Ribs; Good Food

We have not forgotten our goal of at some point getting a 5th wheel camper trailer and using that for our travels rather than renting apartments. Every so often we go window shopping for them at various dealers.  We have begun to focus our attentions on the Open Range brand, and on the 16th we rode the hour or so north to West Palm Beach to a big Open Range dealer there.  After several hours there we went through West Palm Beach to, of course, see the sights.

Lovely tree-lined streets

Of course we needed to eat too, so of course we began looking for somewhere we have never been before.  Lane had us headed toward one restaurant when we both saw another that immediately captured our curiosity.  

Nicko McBrain, the drummer for Iron Maiden, and his business partner Mitch Tanne opened Rock N Roll Ribbs, "Where BBQ Meets Metal."  

Nothing fancy.  Just a basic place to eat, with interesting decor, and great food.

I promise there were more of these appetizers when the plate arrived.  I just forgot to get a picture 'till after I started eating.

I went for the cheese burger.

Lane opted for the ribs.  She absolutely loved them.

We definitely want to return to the Rock N Roll Ribs again.

After dinner we went to see the Christmas Lights at a nearby park.  You pay a per-car entrance fee and just drive through.  For anyone familiar with it it is similar to the Christmas lights each year at Tanglewood near Winston-Salem.

Santa chats with visitors waiting to enter the festival of lights.

Santa's Train Station

We are pretty restricted on how much "stuff" we can carry with us as we do this travel-nurse thing, so all the Christmas decorations and such had to stay at our home in North Carolina.  We did get a very small, compact tree for the apartment, though.  How could we have Christmas without a tree?

One of the days we were out shopping and exploring, we, of course, needed to eat.  And that always means looking for something new and different.  We had seen this place several times, and it is always very busy, so we had to give it a try.

Fast Food, but very tasty.

Lane was off on Christmas Eve, and had to work on Christmas Day, so she fixed a super great Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve.  I do a lot of cooking, but she does the really important stuff.

Roast turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, cole slaw, and tomatoes and dinner rolls.  Yum yum.

Lane made lots of goodies to take with her to work on Christmas day for all the staff to munch on. They included sausage balls, reindeer food, chocolate covered Ritz Bites, and chocolate covered peanuts.  I didn't get any pictures, but I did get to eat lots of samples.  They were great.  

When I picked her up at the end of the night she said there were several staff there that had never experienced the delight that is a sausage ball.  I guess these Yankee transplants have been missing out on real, good food. I'm glad Lane got to educate them a little and introduce them to a true Southern delight.

Merry Christmas to all from the Travel-Nurse and her House-Boy.

"You can't explore it if you haven't ever been there."

Brian Hallman

December 2014, Part One: Little Water - Big Water

Some days when Lane is off we load the girls up and take  them exploring too.  On December 4th we headed a little south to the town of Sunrise to spend spent half a day visiting Markham Park.  It's 666-acres contain the Fox Observatory, a radio controlled airplane field, a dog park called Barkham Park, biking and jogging trails, fishing and boating areas, a tennis and racquetball center, volleyball, a swimming pool complex with a mist pool, snack bar, lockers and showers/restrooms.

The girls had a blast.

We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.

Nice day at the park.

Two days later we got more ambitious and set our sights on The Everglades.  We opted for what we hoped would be the more scenic route, going in on US 41 and going west through the everglades. Then eventually connecting up with I-75 and taking it east back home after dark.  Figured there would not be much scenery from the Interstate.

Just before leaving civilization we picked up some sub sandwiches for a pick-nick lunch later.  Then off we went.

Daisy is always ready to go - anywhere - anytime.

After a while traveling east on US 41, Lane, our expert navigator, decided we should take a side road that she saw that would eventually connect back up with US 41.  What a good decision.  In Goggling it later, I found out that Loop Road is a scenic road that even shows up with a high rating on Trip Advisor.  It is a 24 mile road that is some pavement and some three-rut gravel.

This would be a great Duel Sport motorcycle riding.  Too bad the Suzuki died.

Up close and beautiful.

Every so often we came across individual residences or small groups of residences.  These folks are really living off the beaten path.

This says it all.

Nothing better than riding with your head out the window.  Ahhhhhhhh.

In the middle of nowhere we came across a state maintained graveled parking area complete with pick-nick tables and trash cans.  Perfect place for our late lunch pick-nick.

All smiles after a nice pick-nick lunch in the middle of nowhere.

After finally getting back on US 41, we turned due north toward I 75, on Florida road 29, a nice two-lane road with quite a few alligators out catching the afternoon sun.

And we say these signs all along the road.  They certainly caught our attention.

We got home long after dark.  Everyone was tired, but we had a great outing and saw lots of pretty south Florida scenery.





"You can't explore it if you haven't ever been there."

Brian Hallman