Last Day in Palm Beach Gardens – Day 20

---

<strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">No Game Today - Tuesday – March 20^th



Today is the last day of the vacation in Florida and we have only one scheduled activity. However it is not until this evening. So we got up as usual and had breakfast, but there was a replacement cook and he wasn’t nearly as proficient as the main man. Even though it was a little slower, the food was good and we had plenty of time today.



We decided to go over to the Cardinal’s training complex and see what happens when they are not playing a game. We were told to park along University Street and walk to the gate in the back of the complex. Actually that was the player’s entrance and we were directed further down the fence to the next gate. By the time we got there, the few pitchers who had stayed in came had already completed whatever they had done, and all that was left were the minor leaguers.



The players were spread across 6 practice fields and mostly they were doing stretching and agility drills. They would eventually do some fielding and batting practices, but when we were there it was mostly exercising. There was also supposed to be a game between Memphis and Springfield, and a game between Quad Cities and Jupiter, but both of those would be sometime this afternoon. On the main stadium field, a game was scheduled between the Marlins and someone else, but we weren’t really interested in staying for any of that. However it was interesting to see the back of the complex, and it probably was good for us to get some exercise by walking around the fields.



Afterwards we went for a drive around the area. We eventually got over to Palm Beach and drove along Ocean Dr and past numerous very large, very exclusive, housing complexes. To the east, those will have had a clear view of the beach and the Atlantic beyond. To the west they will have a clear view of Lake Worth. This is certainly very posh real estate and we didn’t even try to make an “accidental” turn into one of their driveways. But we drove all around and saw a lot of the area. Just across the bridge back to the west, you quickly get back to ordinary single story plain houses with little yards and cars in their driveway. There is clearly a big difference between the HAVES and the HAVE NOTS around here.



We found a place for lunch which we had eaten at years ago, but it had moved to a different location. We remembered them having terrific sandwiches, and that hasn’t changed. Then we went back to the hotel to start getting ready for our drive tomorrow (doing one load of laundry, getting the suitcases packed, and more or less resting up around the room).



David did get to have a final swim in the hotel pool and Janet got to work on her needlework project for several hours. As he was coming out of the elevator, David saw Whitey Herzog come into the elevator. He did not have anything for an autograph (if he wanted one) except his swimming suit – guess that wouldn’t have been such a good idea.



We went to the final reception for our group at 6:30. It was in one of the banquet rooms just down the hall from our room. When we got there, just about everyone was already seated and the buffet dinner was about to start – oh well, we made it in time. The bar only had wine and beer (no hard liquor) and you needed the coupons which had been passed out previously, but we weren’t told to bring them tonight. Luckily David had a couple in his wallet. The food was pretty good, but not exceptional. Despite hoping for Whitey, there was no speaker for this reception. They took a bunch of pictures at the end and everyone headed back to their rooms. Most are taking the bus to the airport in the morning, but we intend to be gone before they get to send their luggage down for the bus.



Just about everything is packed and the last items will go in a bag in the morning. It is raining this evening and we hope it will be back to good weather tomorrow morning. We have had a good vacation but are looking forward to getting back home. There will be one more blog entry after we get home, but basically this wraps up the essence of our vacation.



We only took a couple of pictures today, but nothing worthy of posting in the blog.

---