Walk Into the Future

Tag: Jupiter Florida

  • 2026 Freedom 4-Miler

    “Please ignore the faces I make while running.”

    (Unknown)

    My Walk into the Future continues to provide me with new adventures and places to explore.  This is not a huge surprise since that is one of my goals in life and why the blog title is Walk into the Future.  Adventures await around every corner if you just open your eyes to the possibilities.

    I ventured over to Orlando last year for my first 4th of July race.  I didn’t know if I would enjoy the experience since this was a July race in Florida.  It was hot but not unbearable.  I decided to find a different 4th of July race in 2026 and signed up for the Freedom 4-miler in Tequesta, Florida.  The 4-mile distance was new for me, and I never ventured down to Tequesta before, so this was a completely new adventure for me.

    The Village of Tequesta is the northernmost city in Palm Beach County.  I passed the exit on my way to West Palm Beach, but I’ve never got off on exit 87B to explore this village.  The Freedom 4-Miler was my opportunity to run a new distance and get a chance to get to a new city.  Tequesta is only a 50-minute drive from Fort Pierce, but I decided to book a hotel down there the night before the race to eliminate me having to get on the road at 4:30 am to make the start line.  I’m a Marriott person and had enough points for a free night’s stay so this was an easy decision for me.

    The drive down I-95 was uneventful, which was great for me.  Packet pickup was held in Constitution Park, and this gave me an opportunity to get a feel for the village.  It was a cute little park, and packet pickup was very basic.  Get your Bib, T-shirt and a few goodies and leave.  There was not an EXPO feel, but the folks were super friendly and seemed to be happy to see all the runners.

    The Village of Tequesta is only two miles from the Jupiter Inlet, so I headed over there and found a seat at Square Grouper.  Yes, Jupiter has a Square Grouper, and I wanted to check it out to see if it is different from the Fort Pierce version.  Both locations have similar setups, but the Jupiter version has a boat dock, and a lot of folks pull up in their boats which I thought was a major flex move—well played rich people! 😊 I stayed at Square Grouper long enough to get a few pictures of the lighthouse and a fisherman feeding a pelican—true story!

    I headed to Duffy’s Bar and Grill to get in some carb loading.  I didn’t need anything huge for the 4-mile race but wanted to ensure I had the fuel needed to run a good race.  I stuck to the tried-and-true meal of wings, fries and plenty of beer.  I don’t have a Duffy’s close to me, but the food was pretty good, and the beer was ice-cold, baby!  My hotel was across the street from Duffy’s, so I made my way over there to get off my feet and rest up for the battle to come on the racecourse.

    I didn’t know how popular this 4-mile race was until race day.  There were 1,000+ runners registered for the 4-miler.  Most of the runners were from the local area with a few other cities mixed in. 

    I have never raced the 4-mile distance, so this was going to be a personal record (PR) regardless of how I performed.  😊  I didn’t enter the race with a preset time in mind but wanted to test my fitness in the South Florida heat and humidity safely.  I posted up in the middle of the start corral to keep from being blocked my slower runners—mission accomplished.

    The course was mostly flat, and I enjoyed that the most.  I started the race with a controlled pace and wanted to maintain my form throughout.  Unfun fact—it was HOT at 7:15 am and there was not a lot of shade for runners.  Okay, enough complaining about the heat.  My controlled pace turned out to be that I completed Mile #1 with a 10:00 minute pace.  I slowed a bit on each subsequent mile, but I didn’t fall apart considering the conditions.  I was able to find a smile on my face in the last mile because there were cameras and people everywhere.  You never want spectators to think you’re not enjoying the pain of a hot race. 😊 Mile #4 went by at a 11:47 minute pace which was fine with me considering the temperature and humidity levels. 

    I crossed the finish line with a smile and newfound respect for summer racing.  I collected my race medal, iced towel, water and headed over to the race village to cool down. There were a few vendors in the race village, but I made my way over to the table serving pancakes.  I got my short stack and found a sit under a tree in the park to enjoy the moment.  I noticed at this point that my run shorts, t-shirt and socks were completely soaked by my sweat.  I’m sure I lost about 5 pounds by sweating this much.  No worries, Jayla!  I always go to get a large meal after my races and today was not different. 

    I made my way to First Watch after showering and cooling down.  I got my traditional First Watch meal, the Trifecta with bacon, scrambled eggs, blueberry pancake, cheesy grits and coffee.  Yep, this is my meal every time I visit a First Watch regardless of the location. 😊

    My first visit to the Village of Tequesta ended with a quick visit to Publix to pick up items for me to grill later.  It is the 4th of July and what better way to celebrate than some good BBQ prepared by me! 😊

    Fun fact, I was the fastest runner from Fort Pierce for this 4-Miler! 😊

    Happy 4th of July!  America is 250!

    How did you celebrate the 4th of July?

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “Running is a mental sport, and we’re all insane.”

    (Unknown)

  • Square Grouper Jupiter

    SG1

    “Seas the day.”

    (Storyteller Travel)

    Summertime is conference season for everyone working in Higher Education Career Services.  We have multiple organizations that provide fantastic opportunities to network with colleagues.

    The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), Southern Association of Colleges and Employers (SoACE) and Florida Association of Colleges and Employers (Florida ACE) are three of the organizations I have membership or participate in professional development.  My current role aligns more with NACE these days, but I stay up to date with SoACE and Florida ACE.  I have a lot of my tree branches who are extremely active with the regional and state associations.  I am proud to say one of my tree branches is the current President of SoACE.  I have others coming up through the ranks so happy to watch them grow daily.

    The Florida ACE annual conference was held in Jupiter, Florida this year and several of my friends and tree branches attended.  I was not an official attendee for this conference since I was just returning from the NACE conference in Portland.  I received several texts and emails from my folks in attendance that they wanted me to come down for the conference to say hello.

    Decided to drive down to Jupiter for the last day of the conference which was a Friday.  My current school is closed on Fridays during the summer so got up with the intent to catch the last portions of the conference and get a chance to catch up with my folks.  Jupiter is about a 50-minute drive south from Fort Pierce so made my way down.

    Arrived at the conference location and located the Florida ACE group on the second floor.  They were wrapping up the conference with awards and door prizes, so I hung back to avoid disrupting the conference, but my friends spotted me towards the back of the room.  Got a few smiles and waves but this did not distract from the conference.

    I was able to see and catch up with friends once the conference ended.  It was great catching up with people I have not seen in a while.  Some of this is because of COVID and some was because I moved down to Fort Pierce.  Either way, this was a fantastic opportunity to see some great people and reconnect! 😊

    The original Square Grouper is in Jupiter, and I had never visited this location before.  I am a regular at the Fort Pierce Square Grouper and wanted to check out the OG location for myself.  FYI, one of my friends refers to the Jupiter location as the OG (Original Gangster) location so decided to join in on the fun. 

    Google maps got me to the Square Grouper in about 10 minutes from the conference hotel which was down the street.

    Made my way into the OG location to see how/if it was different from the Fort Pierce location.

     The bar setups were very similar, and the food menu was the exact same—not surprising.  The difference I saw was what was beyond/behind Square Grouper.  The Fort Pierce location sits on the Fort Pierce inlet and is great for watching boats on the water.  The Jupiter location has a dock directly behind it with boats sitting.  Not a horrible look but the views are almost night and day for me.  Love the freedom and great pictures I get at the Fort Pierce location. 

    I’m sure the Jupiter location has a group of regulars who love their views, but I would not trade the Fort Pierce view, vibe and feel for anything.  Plus, the Fort Pierce Square Grouper is 15 minutes from where I live as opposed to having to drive 50 minutes to Jupiter.  FYI—the Jupiter location seems to get better live music options since it is closer to south Florida and the Miami music scene. 

    https://squaregrouper.net/events/month/?venue=jupiter-inlet

    Happy I made the stop in Jupiter to see what the OG Square Grouper has to offer.  Need to explore more in the Jupiter area since the beach is so nice down there.

    Irie!

    “Life takes you down many paths, but my favorite ones lead to the beach”.(Good Housekeeping)

  • 1000 North Jupiter, Florida

    1000 North

    “The smell of the ocean never gets old”.

    (Pinterest)

    I am always searching for new adventures and ways to leverage my Walk into the Future journey.

    Most of my Florida exploits are centered around me heading north to familiar locations:  Jasper, Jacksonville, Orlando, Melbourne, and Tallahassee.  I have never been a huge south Florida fan, so it never crosses my mind to explore locations down there except when outlet malls are involved.  I love outlet malls! 😊

    Decided to get out of my travel comfort zone and venture south to explore Jupiter, Florida last weekend.  I always heard great things about Jupiter but never made a true effort to visit the area to see what it truly had to offer.  The reports about this area are all true; the city of Jupiter and the beaches are well worth a trip down there.

    Google maps identified Jupiter was only a 58-minute drive down I-95 from Fort Pierce, so it is extremely close to me so no real excuses for never going there.  Got up early on Saturday morning with the intent of driving down and enjoying a day of dining, sightseeing, and walking on the beach.  Mission accomplished on all phases of my plan.

    1000 North

    A good friend in south Florida recommended the 1000 North restaurant as a place to get some great food, people watch and catch nice water views.  I never heard about this place, but it turns out to be a very popular spot in Jupiter.  It has a diverse ownership group that includes Michael Jordan and several other well-known professional athletes.  Did not know this fact until I got there and saw the setup.  Nothing over the top but they only have complimentary valet parking—a nice feature but not something I am used to.

    There are multiple dining areas to include a members only private dining room.  I stayed downstairs with the regular folks and got a seat outside with a great view of the marina.  The atmosphere was fantastic and got an opportunity to people watch.  There were several large groups outside and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and the great location. 

    The menu provided an eclectic selection, but I decided to get the grilled chicken club with sweet potato fries.  Never had a fried egg on a club sandwich but it was a very good addition to the sandwich.  I would get this again on a return trip to 1000 North.

    https://1000north.com/

    Left 1000 North with the intent to explore the famed Jupiter beaches.  Made a quick 5-minute drive east from the restaurant and I was at the beach.  It was cool by Florida weather standards, but the beach was crowded with folks.  Got a chance to walk the beach for a bit and get some great pictures to document my exploration for the day.  I did not bring my beach chair or towel, so my walk was the activity for the day.  I will make my way back to Jupiter beach so I can enjoy a full day at the beach and relax. 

    Outlets

    My trip to Jupiter put me about 20 minutes away from the Palm Beach Outlet mall.  I could not miss an opportunity for outlet shopping so made my way south.  I did not need anything but that’s not the point—there are always good deals at the outlets, so it is never a wasted trip.

    Hit the Nike store first looking for new running gear.  The Nike store is extremely small, so the selection was limited I did not pick up anything during this visit.  Visited the Columbia store and added to my t-shirt collection here.  Walked around a bit more and visited a few more shops before calling it a day and heading back to Fort Pierce.

    Nice little day trip for me to add to my Walk into the Future journal.  I look forward to heading back down soon for a longer beach adventure.

    What areas will you explore this summer?

    Irie!

    “In Florida we salt margaritas, not sidewalks”.

    (Thewanderlustwithin.com)