The best beach, eats, and drink of Jupiter.. .And turtles.
BEACH
Loggerhead Park in Juno Beach:
Take a left out of FAU at the Donald Ross Road exit and head east. Go left at U.S. 1 and head north. Make a right into Loggerhead Park and park.
Top reasons it’s the best:
1. Turtle nesting season starts March 1st and this park has a “Marinelife Center” where you can visit and learn about sea turtles.
2.It’s clean and there’s lots of space to pick a spot on the sand.
3.There’s a decent amount of parking that’s all close to the beach entrance.
SEA TURTLES
Loggerhead Marinelife Center
14200 U.S. 1
Juno Beach, FL 33408
(561) 627-8280
If you’re going to be spending a bunch of time on Juno Beach, there are a couple of things you should know about a very prominent figure in that area: the sea turtle.
SEA TURTLES FUN FACTS
Nesting season starts March 1 in Palm Beach County.
Juno Beach is recognized as the most active nesting area in the world.
All species of sea turtles are listed as endangered.
Five species of sea turtles nest on Juno Beach: Leatherback, Loggerhead, Green, Hawksbill and Kemp’s Ridley.
Leatherback turtles start nesting first in March. They are named for their smooth rubbery shell and can weigh up to 1,500 pounds.
Lights along A1A are turned off during nesting season so that the turtles coming ashore can nest and the hatchlings returning to sea don’t become disoriented by the bright lights.
[source: www.marinelife.org]
BY THE WAY
It’s pretty much illegal to approach or disturb or touch a nesting or newly hatched sea turtle in any way.
But, if you just so happen to be on the beach at night for whatever reason and see a nesting turtle, don’t freak out or shine any lights on it. As long as you can handle just sitting in the dark and watching it from a safe distance, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
If you can wait until summer, the Marinelife Center has “Turtle Walks” a couple of nights per week starting in June. Groups of up to 40 people accompany an “experienced Loggerhead Marinelife Center scout” to the beach at night to naturally observe a turtle laying her eggs.
Go to www.marinelife.org/experiences for more details.
to report an injured, dead or harassed sea turtle call: (888) 404-3922
EAT
Thirsty Turtle
13981 U.S. 1
Juno Beach, FL 33408
After checking out all those sea turtles at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, where else to go but the Thirsty Turtle for some great grub just down the street?
Decorated in wood and swordfishes, it closely resembles an Ale House, but their menu has a lot more appetizing seafood dishes to choose from. If you go fishing that day, you can bring in your cleaned catches and they’ll cook it up for you.
Besides the huge wraps and combination seafood pastas, their chicken wings are hands-down amazing.
They toss these nonbreaded and fried beauties in a honey-garlic barbeque sauce that you can get mild, medium or hot. To make it even better, if you dip them in bleu cheese or ranch, you don’t lose much of the glorious glaze in the dressing because of its thicker consistency.
You’d better have a stack of napkins before you get started because things will get messy, like your face.
TEASER: If your mouth is watering but you don’t live anywhere near Juno Beach, they actually have a west Boca location at 9908 Yamato Road.
DRINK
Pirate’s Well
9477 Alt A1A
Lake Park, FL 33403
(561) 629-7020
First of all, the place is decked out in pirate stuff, which makes me want to start commandeering all of the decorations right off the walls. Best of all, they have ridiculous drink specials that no college student can pass up.
Tuesday nights are 25-cent pitchers of Bud Select, and Wednesdays are $3 Captain Morgan, $2 well drinks and $1 16-ounce PBR cans, from 9 p.m. till closing at 3 a.m. both nights.
Even better: From at 9 p.m. till closing on Thursdays, you can get PBR on draft for 5 cents. That means you can buy the whole bar a round and still not break the bank. The only rule is no pennies.
There are live bands Tuesday through Saturday night, a Jagermeister-decorated pool table and other phenomenally cheap drink specials throughout the week, which makes The Pirate’s Well worth visiting with a designated driver.
