Day 2 Part 2:
After spending time on the beach, I decided to head to the hotel pool for a change of pace, where I went swimming from 11:30AM until 12:30PM, as the swimming in the ocean and walking along the beach made me hungry. Since I was hungry, I went upstairs to my room briefly to get my leftover Paddlewheel (Grilled Chicken Breast) from Mississippi Sweets, a bag of Fresh Express Shreds shredded lettuce, sweet and pleasantly tart strawberries, a bag of Popchips that I took with me, and a Diet Barq's Root Beer. All of these components made for a satisfying lunch and even more satisfying, I enjoyed picnicking by the pool while I talked to fellow hotel guests Steve and Phyllis, a delightful middle-aged couple I met who hailed from Southern New Jersey. After my lunch and a wonderful conversation on various topics, I went back into the pool at around 1:15PM, where I swam some laps, played catch with a lovely Ukrainian family from Albany, NY, and just relaxed in the refreshing water! The temperatures in the low-80s and clear skies only added to the enjoyment.
-Special thanks to Serg, a fellow traveler who took pictures of me in the pool:






-Perfect day to be poolside:

After a marvelous time in the pool, I got out at around 4:00PM, as I wanted to dry off and take a shower before I headed to Boca Raton to try Ichiyami, a fairly new but well-regarded sushi buffet in Mizner Park. Since I did not want to get to Boca too late, I made sure to allow myself enough time as I wanted to catch the 5:30PM BCT48 (Broward County Transit) bus which runs west via Hillsboro Blvd from the beach to US-441 to connect with the BCT10 bus northbound at Federal Highway (US-1), which runs from the Central Terminal in Fort Lauderdale to Mizner Park. I left my room at about 4:45PM and as I headed up to Hillsboro Blvd via a walk along the beachside promenade. Since I missed the 5:00PM bus, I waited until 5:30PM, but this was no big deal as I enjoyed talking to Chris and Pam, who told me that the Broward County Transit buses have gotten much better over the years. I was looking forward to this as aside from NYC Transit, which is excellent, the buses in Nassau County are not great as the service is not that reliable. While the bus was a few minutes late due to the drawbridge having to open on Hillsboro Blvd, it was a quick and efficient ride to the Federal Highway (US-1) stop. First impressions, the bus was clean and in good shape, the driver was friendly and drove well, and it was pretty efficient. In addition, the All-Day Pass, which is $4, is not a bad deal! The BCT10 bus was a little late as well, but this was only due to the fact that there was some rush hour traffic on US-1. The bus arrived and soon enough, I got off at Palmetto Park Rd and I was in Mizner Park, which was beautiful as always with its many shops and restaurants, clean and brick lined streets, and interesting sights.





After a stroll down SE Mizner Blvd, I arrived at Ichiyami.

I entered Ichiyami, which was spotless and sleek and was greeted by the host, who was welcoming, jovial, and well dressed with a nice button down shirt and slacks. While the restaurant was about 3/4 full, I was seated immediately in a plush booth towards the front of the restaurant. Next, Yoyo (yes, that was her real name), my bubbly and efficient waitress, came to take my beverage order for an Iced Green Tea. Finally, I was ready to hit the buffet, where the food was fresh and always well stocked. First, I started off with some sushi.


-Salmon,Tuna, Octopus, and Red Snapper:

I have to say that this was an excellent start to my meal. The salmon was very fresh, buttery, and melted in my mouth, the tuna was soft and moist, the octopus was not too chewy, and the red snapper had a clean and mild flavor. While this sushi would fall short of the best sit-down restaurants, it was still excellent, especially for a buffet and would put some sit-down restaurants to shame.
-More buffet action:

-A variety of rolls and some sashimi:

While I don't remember the names of all of the rolls, I thought that they were well constructed and had delicious fillings. A couple of standouts included the Spicy Tuna Roll, which did not have mayo (great as I am allergic to eggs) and was pleasantly spicy as well as Ikura, with Salmon Roe that popped in your mouth.
-Hibachi Station:

Next, I decided to try the Hibachi Station, where the friendly hibachi chef allows you to choose your meats and/or vegetables and prepares them to your liking with your choice of sauces. I settled on chicken and some various vegetables with teriyaki sauce, which had tender and juicy chicken along with crisp vegetables in a salty and slightly sweet teriyaki sauce.

I then checked out the other hot food dishes in on the buffet.

From the hot buffet, which had an assortment of Chinese and Japanese dishes, I decided to try Chicken and Broccoli, Spicy Shrimp, Steamed Fish, Chicken Teriyaki, and String Beans. Overall, I was very happy with these hot foods as I found them to not be overly greasy like some other Chinese food I have had and well prepared. The Chicken and Broccoli had tender and moist chicken with well cooked broccoli, the Spicy Shrimp were well cooked and delightfully spicy, the Steamed Fish was flakey and moist, the Chicken Teriyaki was pleasantly sweet and salty, and the string beans were cooked well with a slight crispness to them.

After filling up on sushi and hot food, I decided to have some dessert. Since the dessert was mostly small cakes and pastries and I did not feel like having ice cream, I had a couple of sweet and tart orange slices, a couple of cubes of refreshing honeydew, and a couple of sweet and jiggly Jello cubes.

While I was enjoying my dessert, the same host who greeted me came to check on me and asked me if I enjoyed everything? I told the host that I had an excellent meal, which made him very happy and I told him that I wished the restaurant great success, as I felt that the food was delicious, the service was excellent, the restaurant was clean and had a nice atmosphere, and the value for the money was excellent, being $22 in change for dinner. I can safely say that Ichiyami joins the ranks of Mississippi Sweets BBQ and The Whale's Rib as restaurants I will definitely return to. After a wonderful meal, I walked to Federal Highway (US-1) and Camino Real, where I would take the 9:00PM BCT10 bus towards Central Terminal in Fort Lauderdale back to Deerfield. Once I disembarked in Deerfield, I decided to go into Publix as I wanted to get more strawberries as I found them to be delicious and I also picked up some bananas, since they looked good as well. After a pleasurable time getting lost in the supermarket like the English punk rock band The Clash, Diana, my bubbly and talkative cashier along with Kenny, a friendly bagger who bagged my groceries perfectly, checked out my items. I had a wonderful time shopping and Publix, I made my way back to Hillsboro Blvd eastbound and walked the 15 minutes to my hotel as the BCT48 bus was not running at this hour, which was 10:00PM. Now, for those who were worried for my safety, please don't worry! While Deerfield Beach has iffy parts, like near Dixie Highway, the area where I was in was very safe, with well-lit streets and plenty of people still out and about. The area by the beach is very safe! In addition, I met a very nice French Canadian couple, who were also walking back from Publix and we talked about how wonderful the area was and they agreed, as they loved the beach and the plethora of good restaurants nearby. While it was certainly nice not being alone, it made for an interesting walk and before I knew at, I arrived back at my hotel fifteen minutes after I left Publix. After a wonderful day by the beach, pool, and having dinner in Boca, I was pleasantly tired and went to bed at 11:00PM, looking forward to another wonderful day!