Besides catching up with the latest news with my girlfriend, we crammed a lot into our visit with our friends.We drove down to Miami to see the sunset over the boats in "harbor". This was my first visit ever to Miami and the harbor area…Read More

Besides catching up with the latest news with my girlfriend, we crammed a lot into our visit with our friends.

We drove down to Miami to see the sunset over the boats in "harbor". This was my first visit ever to Miami and the harbor area . It is much more quiet and picturesque than I imagined it to be. We could have spent hours just enjoying the scenery and admiring the great "boats"

We visited the Las Olos Riverfront for some shopping and just looking at the buildings. Some of the stores were the same as back home but others were unique. And back home we don''''t have a riverfront atmosphere for any of our malls. The afternoon was very upbeat.

We walked along the ocean and also along the intercoastal in Boca Raton. I absolutely love to walk along ocean beaches. It is so relaxing and rejuvenating. Too bad I have my job in New York and couldn''''t live there! In Boca there are several interesting parks along the way. We stopped in and walked around looking at the vegetation and of course the ocean views. For information on parks

We drove up the coast and saw the beautiful mansions of Delray Beach (of course most are hidden by shrubbery). This is like window shopping without worrying about the temptation to buy since not many houses are for sale (and all are out of my price range).

We spent an afternoon at Las Olos Arts Festival (see separate entry).

We spent an evening at South Beach (see separate entry).

Finally, I can''''t forget one amusing incident: During one of our walks, an older lady got us in a conversation. About 1/2 hour later, I was a little impatient since we had slowed our pace to hers. I finally realized what she was doing. She spent each morning pretending to be on a walk and she starting a conversation with her selected "targets". She then talked to them in hopes of selling her house! I guess I should be flattered that she thought we could afford a house in Boca.

Jet Blue is a relatively new low-cost air carrier with its own terminal at JFK and direct flights to about a dozen cities, including Oakland, Ft. Lauderdale, and Long Beach, CA, or just smaller cities, such as New Orleans and Seattle. Their edgy and somewhat…Read More

Jet Blue is a relatively new low-cost air carrier with its own terminal at JFK and direct flights to about a dozen cities, including Oakland, Ft. Lauderdale, and Long Beach, CA, or just smaller cities, such as New Orleans and Seattle. Their edgy and somewhat ridiculous ads had caught my husband's (and my) attention, so when we had occasion to go to Florida for a weekend, we decided to check them out!

Wow!! Just about from start to finish the experience of air travel was dramatically different.

If you've made it to this page, then you're relatively web savvy. The Jet Blue website is easily navigable as well as fresh-looking and stylish. Tickets are easily purchased and information is easy to find and read.

The Jet Blue terminal (I think it's 6) is bright and open. And as flights are thoughtfully scheduled, the wait to check in was speedy as can be without cut corners. The staff is smart, helpful, and efficient. (If the plane is late, it's because of crowding at JFK, not Jet Blue.)

Once through the ample and fast-moving safety checks, the terminal has a few different food options as well as a couple decent gift shops. There's at least one bar but no smoking anywhere.

Jet Blues' new Airbus planes are entirely coach seating, and they're covered in leather, which is both more attractive than usual coach seats and stays cooler. The onboard staff was efficient and smart, with a good collective sense of humor.

Beverage orders are taken with pen and paper and then delivered via a restaurant drink tray. A small snack is served, and as far as I know, they serve no real meals on flights, so bring a sandwich or other manageable picnic. The snack choices were animal crackers, blue potato chips, pretzels, garlic bagel chips (stinky!), or chocolate chip cookies.

HIGHLIGHT? Without question, the aspect of Jet Blue that will bring me back as a frequent customer (aside from great prices) is the individual DIRECT TV (with basic cable stations, though no broadcast) on each seatback. There's at least a channel of interest for anyone: My husband was able to check college basketball scores and also watch "Superfriends" cartoons, while I learned a fabulous leg of lamb recipe on FoodTV and later caught an interview with Joe Torre! Three hours went by in no time.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND JET BLUE!!!