$$$$$Jupiter Island$$$$$

We finished up our stay at Jupiter with a boat ride on the Manatee Queen to see many of the huge homes on Jupiter Island. We had driven the length of the island but couldn't see the biggest homes behind the high landscaping. As you drive down the road many of the homes have the owner's name at the end of their driveway. From the number of times we saw this sign, the Service family owns a lot of property on the island. Jupiter Island has the highest real estate value for private homes of any place in the US with a median value of $2,064,687 for the less than 700 homes and condos. It is the winter escape of the super rich and famous and several capitalists, some whose names we did not recognize. Among the few names you should know are entertainers Celine Dion and Alan Jackson; golfers Greg Norman, Nick Price and Tiger Woods and capitalist Marshall Fields who all live there for at least part of the year. Some guy named Bill Gates is building a place there to escape the cold dreary Washington winters. Many of the homes are way over the top with Tiger's being worth over $200,000,000. It really makes me happy that Congress continued the tax breaks for the wealthy so they have enough money to get out of the cold Northern climes. However, some of these rich folks are not spending that tax savings on paying their help, as income info on the island shows four families making less than $15,000 a year. So much for trickle down economics.

Here we are celebrating the new year with a great meal. We were really glad we could spend so much time with Jack and ML. We look forward to returning in the future. Did I tell you we played euchre and the guys won all three times?
Driving on to the north end of Jupiter Island you pass under these beautiful banyan trees. I'm sure they spend more on landscaping here than what is budgeted to run many cities in the US.

Here is Captain Brian of the Manatee Queen. Left is a treasure hunting boat and pieces of eight that Brian wears. He offered to sell me that coin and other treasures that have been found in wrecks near here.

Much of the island has red mangrove growing along the shore. These are a few of the birds we saw including an osprey carrying a fish.

Top is all you can see of Tiger's house. Click here for an article and aerial view. Bottom is the home of Greg Norman. About 25 % of the residents are foreign born.

A few more of the homes.

The house top left has a revolving dining and bed room. Bottom left is a more modest home that is worth a couple million. Top right is the construction of Bill Gates home and bottom right is the home of Marshall Fields.

The sunset shines on Jupiter Island. The house on the left was the modest home of Canonsburg's Perry Como.

The Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse. We climbed it on our last visit and it is a worthwhile stop. The tree is one huge banyan. We really like the Jupiter area and would consider it for longer stays if we could find a reasonably priced place to stay.

We decided it was time to get that iceberg off the top of the blog and show a spectacular tropical sunset.