We were up early – at least early for us – so we could tour along the coast before the traffic got terrible. The trip turned out to be one we probably will not do again anytime soon but was worth doing once. There is water everywhere in Southern Florida and any water near the ocean has lots of boats. After we got home I noticed I did not take any pictures of rows of yachts but they are there and I will capture them later.
 
 
Of course the first water we saw was the lake behind our apartment that stretches from swimming pool to swimming pool. When we went looking for a way down to the actual waterfront we found ourselves in a cul-de-sac that had three or four houses for sale. This obviously empty modern beauty caught our eye. The last picture shows the canal or waterway behind the building and you can just see a good size boat anchored behind some house.
 
 
Another attempt to get to the sea got us to another dead end. The first picture was taken from a dock that reached out into a lake. The boats here were smaller and the houses across the street seemed small and older – I am sorry I did not take a picture. As I was walking back to the van a man came out of a house and he obviously was wondering what I was doing on his dock. I told him I looked to make sure there was no sign saying stay off and we had a nice conversation. I found out that this humble home sold for close to a million dollars before the bubble broke. They now sell for closer to $500,000. As I started to leave I thanked him and gave him a pass-along card.
On our way home we took a side road called Old Griffin Road. It was obviously an old main road – (New) Griffin Road is a 6 to 8 lane modern main road – and ran along a beautiful tree lined canal with lots of places to park and take pictures. The last two gives a good idea of how peaceful the area and how modest looking most of the houses are. They probably sell for a million dollars or more.
Seems like there is water everywhere in Florida! The first place we served was Interlachen, which means many lakes (or something like that)and it was true. It appeared to us that nearly everyone had water attached to their property someway and many were worried about the possibilities of alligators. Kept their pets and small children away from the water! Our waters were in the rural area, but we enjoyed them. Sounds like you are having a good experience, even if it isn’t in an “exotic” place. One of our converts in Florida told us and still says that we were sent there just for her and she needed our quiet ways to help her accept the gospel. Her husband, a fantastic man, was being very pushy and she was pushing right back. Now they are sealed and regular temple workers. Florida was a hard mission for us, but the rewards were fantastic!
We know that there was some special reason we were sent here at this time and we hope that we are paying attention enough to the spirit to recognize it when it comes along.
Thank you for sharing that story about how the gospel changed that couple’s lives. It is experiences like that which inspires us to keep serving missions.