To the Mall for Shopping and Walking

Parking Lot at The Gardens Mall
Palm Beach Gardens, FL
August 11, 2026

 Where to go on a day when the stress index temperature reaches 106 degrees? 

Well, to the mall of course! 

With school back in session, I have noticed more traffic. That was surely the situation as Chris and I made our way to The Gardens Mall yesterday. There are a number of places we like to go in the mall, among them are Cooper's Hawk, the Apple Store, and a women's shop for nice dresses, Lilly Pulitzer. We also frequent the Tommy Bahama store, but did not visit yesterday.

I had two appointments at the Apple Store, both for watches. The Model 8 I inherited from my Dad died during the cruise. It gets hot on the charger, but does not turn on. My older Model SE battery was down to 68 percent capacity. The SE was covered under AppleCare and after confirming my diagnosis, they accepted it for repair fully covered by my policy. Notice I did not say free--because it isn't free, I pay monthly for AppleCare.

Apple Watch Box
Tequesta, FL
August 12, 2026

My Dad's watch, however, was a different story. It was declared dead: a total loss and not repairable. Since it was not on my AppleCare, I was offered the opportunity to pay to replace it with a Model 8 with the replacement not eligible for AppleCare, OR buy a new watch which could be fully covered for not a whole lot more. I went with a new Series 11 watch and added it to my AppleCare. Upon opening the watch at home later, I was reminded that I have always been fascinated with the packaging of Apple products.

Following the watch adventure, we spent no small amount of time shopping at Lilly Pulitzer's. Chris found some new clothes which she will use to update her wardrobe. 

From there it was off to Cooper's Hawk for Happy Hour. It wasn't quite Happy Hour when we arrived, but who really cares? We are members of the Wine Club and we had wine to pick-up.  Coming after some shopping, time at the bar was a relaxing way to slide into the end of the day before heading outside into the intolerable heat.

The important thing about the excursion was that we were out of the house, but not out in the heat! 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL