Day 3:
I woke up Wednesday, January 14th at 7:00AM. After getting ready, I checked my email on my iPhone and the realtor told me he would be picking me up that afternoon around 1:30PM-2:00PM and I told him this would work well, as I would have plenty of time until the early afternoon to relax by the pool. I then called my mother, who was very happy to hear from me and wished me a great day and the best of luck house hunting. When all of this was said and done, I went down to the breakfast buffet at 8:00AM and had another satisfying breakfast. After breakfast, I went swimming from 9:30AM-12:00PM and at this time, I met Agadirth, a delightful poolside employee who I think was some sort of manager and she had an absolutely lovely disposition, as she was very warm and loved that I was having fun in the pool! I saw her again the two days after and she is an employee who definitely puts the customer first, as she aimed to please all of the guests. After a wonderful swim, I went upstairs to shower and make myself a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. Right before I ate, the realtor called to inform me that he was running a half an hour late as he was with another client. I told him that this was fine and that this would work to my advantage as I would not have to rush as much. After I ate, I relaxed outside by the pool on a chaise lounge until about 2:20PM, which was when I recognized the real estate agent's car, a second generation (2004-2008) Lexus RX. At that time, I made my way to the pick-up area outside of the lobby and met the realtor, who was very happy to see me! Once we were on the way, we caught up as we had not seen each other in 2.5 years (we have spoken via phone and email though) and we talked about various topics, including living in Florida, music, politics, and our house hunt. We arrived at the agent's office in Boca and I discussed requirements for the hunt with the realtor, like budget, the number of bedrooms/bathrooms, and potential areas in order to narrow down some potential homes to look at. The realtor could not have been more thorough, but he mentioned that some of our requirements would limit our options slightly, such as a pet friendly community and not being in a paid-equity country club. Once the search was narrowed, we found three listings and while we wanted to see the listings that day, the realtor could not get an appointment, so we agreed to meet again on Friday at 1:30PM. After this, our realtor took me back to my hotel at about 3:30PM after a wonderful time as he is a great guy and I learned a lot more about the South Floridian real estate market. Since it was a beautiful day, I decided to walk into town and check out the famous Deerfield Beach International Fishing Pier, as I heard the views were amazing from it and at $1.00, it was not too costly! In addition, the person at the window mentioned my wristband was good all day, so I decided to come back at night after dinner. As seen below, I thought that the views were breathtaking and it was relaxing to be by the ocean!
-Looking north towards Boca Raton:
-Looking south towards Deerfield Beach/Hillsboro Beach:
-Further out looking towards Boca:
-Looking west:
-Looking northwest:
After relaxing at the Fishing Pier, I decided to take a look at the souvenirs in Beachcomber, a very nice small independent shop with a good selection of wares. I love all of the stuff they had and I found Jane, the shopkeeper and her coworker, to be very friendly and helpful.
Ultimately, I decided that I wanted to buy a t-shirt, as it looked good and at about $9, it was reasonably priced. However, I was unsure of which one to buy at the moment. Since I was hungry and would be going back to the pier, Jane told me not to worry and invited me to come back later, since the store was open until 9:00PM. I thanked her and then headed to Mississippi Sweets BBQ, where I enjoyed another delicious meal of a barbecued Paddlewheel (two grilled chicken breasts) with Tractor Treads (waffle fries) and baked beans. The food was excellent and the service from my very cheerful and efficient waitress Kyla was terrific! Not unlike the last time, the portions were large, so I took the leftovers with me and headed back to the pier at about 6:30PM. However, before going to the pier, I finally thought about which t-shirt to buy and went back to the Beachcomber, where I bought an XL light blue shirt with waves that said Boca Raton. Once again, the vistas were amazing and it was very relaxing, especially in the evening!
-Looking west:
-Looking north towards Boca Raton:
-Looking south towards Deerfield Beach:
-Looking west:
After another relaxing time on the pier, I went to Kilwin's for ice cream, as I remember how delicious their ice cream was from their store in Delray Beach and I had a sweet tooth. When I walked in, I found the atmosphere to be clean and cheerful and the employees to be very friendly! Since I did not quite know which flavor I wanted, I tried samples of Chocolate ice cream, which was sweet and robust along with Salted Caramel ice cream, which had a mild vanilla base enrobed in sweet and salty caramel. However, my sampling came to a pause after I noticed they had Banana Fudge Pie, which is a sweet and fragrant banana ice cream base with chunks of chocolatey fudge that was my favorite flavor whenever I went to the Delray Beach location. Since I also loved the Salted Caramel, I decided to order a large ice cream with a scoop of Banana Fudge Pie and a scoop of Salted Caramel. While the ice cream was a bit pricey at $6 in change, the very high quality and generous portion made up for it! After this dessert I was very happy!
-Ice cream:
After dessert, I went back to my hotel to relax for the rest of the night. When I got back, I saw that my friend Bernie, who I was meeting the next day texted me to ask what I wanted to do for dinner? I left the decision up to her and she decided that we should eat in Delray Beach on Atlantic Avenue near the water. I was more than happy to agree to this plan and offered to treat Bernie and her sister Melissa to dinner. However, Bernie insisted that this was unnecessary as her sister wanted to treat us to celebrate the victory of settling with Border Books after seven years due to a very bad injury on the job. I could not pass seeing Bernie and Melissa up, but I offered to treat them to dessert since their offer of dinner was so generous! Bernie also arranged to pick me up at 5:00PM with her dark blue Chevy Cruze rental car with Illinois plates, and this would work perfectly as I would still have plenty of time during the day to relax! I thanked Bernie and wished her a good night and I then called my mom, who was happy I had s great day and was excited for me as she was looking forward to the next day! Afterwards, my dad texted me, asking about my trip and was very happy I was having a great time. Once I spoke to my parents, I got ready for bed and since I was not completely tired, I watched the South Park episode where Kyle, Stan, Kenny, and Butters go to Casa Bonita (yes, it is a real place in Lakewood, CO) and Cartman tries to weasel his way into going when he finds out he is not invited. Were Cartman's actions worth it in the end after he scared the town into thinking Butters was lost? I don't think so but I have always loved this episode! I then went to sleep at 11:00PM, looking forward to another beautiful day at the beach and pool and more importantly, seeing my friends Bernie and Melissa!