Pools...

Setai by Day and Delano by night. Easily the two best pools I came across. Man were they gorgeous...

Best Painting of the day

This was on an old 80's T-Top Vette. Baaaaaadass!

Shopping for Tangerine Cords on Worth Ave.

Jeanne and I went down to Worth Ave to check out the scene and do a little shopping. Wow. Palm Beach makes Fifth Ave and Rodeo drive look paltry. We went in one store and I asked if they had any Tangerine Cords. The woman said, oh I think we have a pair at the outlet. I asked how much she thought they might be, she said, "Oh, about $450." When I remarked that might be a bit steep for me, she said, "Well, they're 50% off." I passed. Stopped in at an art gallery where we saw some paintings by Hunt Slonem, and one of the Brooklyn Bridge by Marcos' Great Grandfather, the impressionist painter Theodore Butler.

More drinks at the Breakers

So Jeanne took me to the Historic Breakers Hotel to get drinks and see the sights. Beautiful. Really absolutely amazing. We went to the seafood bar to get a drink, and when they told us it was open seating, we went and sat down at a beautiful table right by the window. As it would happen, there were two couples waiting for that table. One guy came over, not too suavely or politely, and informed me they were waiting for the table. My first, New Yorker thought, was to tell him too fucking bad, especially because he strolled up just a little too entitled. But, as he had another couple with them and the waitress looked like she was about to die, Jeanne and I graciously got up and offered it to them. (Only after sitting there long enough to make it clear we did it at our pleasure) We had a nice half bottle of Patz and Hall Pinot Noir. Jeanne pointed out (mostly nicely) that although she was a woman, as the host, she should be poured after me. The Waitress tried to save face and off handedly pointed out that she never knew that having worked at the Ritz for eight years, she thought she was to pour the woman first. Jeanne laughed and said, "That doesn't mean anything." Then, as the waitress was about to melt, very nicely told her she wasn't trying to make her uncomfortable, but just to let her know, that even if the host is a woman, the host is always poured last. Also are photos of the absofrickinlutely incredibl gold room, and the ocean behind the automatic doors.

High rollers and the Valet

Here we are, stylin', as the Valet at the breakers brings back our Ford Escort station wagon. Truth be told, they loved us, they get tired of parking Rolls Royces.

Palm Beach and Lunch at Testa's

So, getting down to the Palm Beach area with my good buddy Jeanne to bounce around and have Lunch at Testa's. Cream of Crab soup and champagne, and then Turkey Clubs and Mojitos. Jeanne knows how to do Palm Beach!

Back to the Atlantic

After shooting around the Country for awhile I'm back to the Atlantic for the first time. Had to run in and dip my feet.

JB working on the diesel

JB and Sharon were supposed to join us for the superbowl, but on her way back from a show, Sharon's truck blew up while bringing back the horses. As JB pointed out, it's one thing to have a truck fail, but when you've got horses in the trailer, you've got live beings to deal with and it's not as easy as leaving a truck. So they had to rally a new rig and get the horses home and then deal with the truck when they had the time. Ergo, no superbowl.
The truck got towed home and we spent some time the next day crawling under it trying to figure out where the oil leak came from. Seeing as I'm the most diesel engine savvy New Yorker there is, I offered up my valuable opinion. We seemed to get a general idea of where it was coming from, but were still lost as to what the cause was. JB was praying it was something easy and not a huge engine failure. I ran to the local shop to get some Rotella T to see where the leak was. Turns out it was the high pressure oil hose. (Takes about 350 psi) Here's a picture of JB laughing while I tell him how official he looks pouring over the engine and the faulty hose. In the end, about a hundred dollar part, not too bad as life goes.

Amanda cooking dinner while the Giants WIN THE SUPERBOWL!

Not an easy feat, Amanda totally refused to pose for a picture while cooking. I think I took at least 20 pictures, almost all of them blurry. Here are two. It's her own damn fault for refusing to let me get a good picture...
I had to run in while the commercials were on. She deserves the blurry pictures cause she rooted for the Pats. Sucker.

Watching the Horses Breeze

So after Cafe Riske, the Yearling, the wine bar, and the Big Cat Farm, Amanda took me to watch the Horses Breeze. Yeah, I didn't know what that meant either. Apparently, when people are raising and breeding horses, they need to show them for the buyers. So this was a chance for us to check out the horses. Amanda is big into the horse scene down in Florida and took me to see. Turns out, funny enough, that my Cousin Todd (Yeah, I've got lots of extended cousins) who was kind enough to house me in Lexington Kentucky, was down in Ocala to watch his horses breeze. So, I gave a shout, thinking he might be there, and sure enough he was! Even funnier, was that when he met Amanda, he thought she looked familiar. She'd ridden one of his Horses for them! So this is some video of a horse breezing...

Monkeys too!

So at the Big Cat Farm mentioned below, they had monkeys too! Check it out. Here's the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8YxQ4PpRnw

Licked by a Tiger

So, out at the Yearling, at Cross Creek, we were sitting there listening to Mr. Willy play the blues when the woman at the table next to us got up and knocked into Amanda. She was all Southern sugar about it and said, "Oh darlin', I am so sorry, i was just gettin' up and I knocked the shit out of you, I am so sorry." We laughed and loved it, and on her way back she said, "I'ma see if I can't knock the hell outta this little girl again." Turns out, she runs a Big Cat Farm, taking in all sorts of Tigers and Lions, and all sort of animals that people can't take care of anymore. So she invited us to come by and take a look, and here's a video of me and Amanda getting licked by Tigers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftwhZS5nss0

I dunno, some wine bar..

Dunno what, or even where, it was, but we stopped in at some wine bar before heading off to Cafe Risque (some full-on strip joint in Micanopy FL) sorry boys, no photos or video allowed. However, If I go back through, I'll see what I can do. Anyhow, this is JB and Amanda at some unnamed wine bar.

Gator Skins and JB at the Yearling

This is the Yearling. It's at Cross Creek between Orange Lake and Lochloosa Lake. Try this link, if it works, to see where it is..
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=s&utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-google-gm&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=maps
First you got a Gator skin lit by a neon Bud Light sign, then you got JB under the Cooter Shell Lounge. This by the way is where that great link with Mr. Willy bangin' the blues was.

The Turtle

Probably shouldn't put this on the blog as the legality is questionable, but while canoeing down Juniper Creek, we noticed a huge turtle that didn't seem to be moving too fast. Turns out it was dead. Great big shell. We pulled over to look at it, and JB likes Turtle shells. Unfortunately, this one still had a rotting turtle in it. JB, as he said, was unprepared to take it, and thought he'd move it off to the side to rot out so he could get it later. Instead, I pushed him to wrap it up in some towels and take with. Good idea until we had to load it into my car; smelly doesn't even begin to cover it. There was also the little matter of the quite nice, but inquisitive, park ranger standing right next to us while we loaded up. Cool cats that we are, we chatted him up while loading the cooler full of forbidden beer and stolen rotten turtle into the amazing Subee Twobee (my valiant steed). We found out pretty quick though, that the turtle needed to be on the roof instead of inside the car. Anyhow, here she is before JB climbed a ladder and stuck her up in a tree where the dogs couldn't get at it while the unbelieveable amount of maggots that were already on it did their job. PS The next day the turkey vultures were swarming around up above the tree. Bets will be taken on whether it stays in the tree.