Vero Beach, FL

Time to head south to see my southernmost accounts which are, of course, in Florida. Most of the time, for this leg of a regular season, I start by flying down to Melbourne, 

 where I rent a car and drive further south. This part of Florida is beautifully undeveloped and for the most part, all you have to do is drive a mile or so off the main road to see country like this,

and this

and see wildflowers like these. Can someone tell me what kind of wildflowers these are?

I continue south to the beautiful town of Vero Beach, to call on Sheila Grange, head buyer at the 
Vero Beach Book Center. 

         These views were taken just a block away from the store, facing east toward the Atlantic.     

 If I get there early I'll grab a cup of coffee and sit in this little park for a while.

 I'm considering this house as a winter get away, but I just don't know, one too many palm trees?

This is what the store looks like. 
Oh look, Senator Bob Graham author of
The Keys to the Kingdom will be signing! 

When I'm presenting the list, Sheila and I sit up in her office, second window from the right.

The Book Center is one of the most successful in my region; it is an A+ stop for all the major writers from every publishing house. Tom and Linda Leonard opened the store in 1975. They wanted their community to have a top-of-the-line bookstore, and they have been so successful that the store has had to move and expand three times since then!

Here is a sampling of the folks that make the store run like a well-oiled machine. Sheila is on the left, then Cynthia Callander, Debbie Sentance and current owner and son of Tom & Linda, Chad Leonard. In front of Chad is Rosemarie Land and in front of her is Barbara Bogart.

Next stop, the quaint little hamlet of Palm Beach.