10 October 2014 - Now in Fort Lauderdale

We got up to another beautiful morning today and after breakfast started the road south. We drove about half the time on the Florida Turnpike and the rest on the I-95.  I was impressed by the quality of both freeways, wide, smooth, well-maintained and not croweded until the last 50 miles near Fort Lauderdale.  Then the traffic increased but never got overwhelming.  Like most places, some drivers insist on driving below the speed limit on the inside fast lanes.  Others think that the rest of the vehicles are marking cones to swerve around.  But in general, it was a very pleasant drive. After leaving Orlando we quickly left the crowded theme  park area behind and found ourselves in flat, wide open farm and wetland country. We passed acres of citrus groves, open ground covered with palmettos, long leaf pines and scrub bushes.  There were actually few towns or even turnoffs for about 100 miles. We saw swamp deer feeding alongside the turnpike, turkey vultures wheeling overhead and cranes and egrets feeding in the swampy areas near the freeway.  It was quite pastoral and pleasant.  Traffic picked up a lot as we neared Fort Lauderdale and then we turned off the freeway and entered the town. We drove down the main east to west road and it narrowed in the center of the city and looked a lot like Rodeo Drive in L.A. with upscale shops, expensive cars and ritzy looking people shopping in boutiques on both sides.  We then turned onto Seabreeze Boulevard, also known as State A1A and drove right to our hotel. It is situated along the ocean front and again we have a wonderful view of the water.

We can look north, south and straight out to sea and let our eyes rest, focused on infinity as the horizon.  It is a beautiful view.  Directly below our window is the deck and pool with a great view of people enjoying both the pool and the beach.  The wind was blowing in off the ocean and a bit from the north, but it was a warm wind and we did not feel any chill and the day was warm, about 88 degrees.  Ideal beach weather. Broken clouds and lots of sunshine.

 Looking to the south we could see a bunch of windsurfers tugging on para-sails and skimming over the waves. Off shore we saw several large cargo ships and then we noted one of them steaming for shore.  You can see the small bow wave as it chugged along. It looked like it would run right up on the shore, like ships in disaster movies, but I am sure it had a docking place in sight that we could not visualize.

 We enjoyed watching the skilled windurfers skimming over the waves.  A couple of them had boards with hydrofoil extensions and could lift up and slip over the surface a couple of feet above the wave tops.

We arrived in the early afternoon and had planned to stay here and not go further down the coast because we did not think we could get to Key West until late and did not want to spend the night in Miami.  Tomorrow we will go further down coast.   All the beaches we have found on the Atlantic Coast of Florida have been lovely and very inviting.  The water is warm and the sand soft.  Down south they seem more crowded than we found in Jacksonville and on the other besaches in the northern part. I think that if I had to choose a place to go in Florida, I would pick the areas around Jacksonville Beach, such as from Atlantic Beach and south.  I really liked that area. 

After we got situated, I felt that one more chance to frolic in the ocean should not be ignored.  So I put on my suit and Mom accompanied me to the sand.   Again, the water was warm, the waves a bit larger than during our visit northward, and it was great to contend with them.  This time I left my hat and glasses with Mom, put sunscreen on the bald spot and enjoyed myself.

I marched out into the waves and enjoyed feeling their power and the sensation of the sand shifting under my feet.  With the warm sun and the firm breeze, it was a great sensory experience and worth the time.  I once turned my back to check on Mom and right at that moment a wave hit me and knocked me off my feet.  Unfortunately she was not watching the moment and missed the opportunity for a hearty laugh at my expense.





Now witness the Sea Dragon draggin' himself back to the sea.   See?

We felt that for dinner we deserved to sample Cuban cuisine, since so many refugees from that troubled Island have settled in this area.  We were referred to the Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine Restaurant.  When we got there, only 2 other diners were present, so we got our pick of tables.  Mom was not too hungry so her meal consisted of an appetizer of mashed potatoes, stuffed with BBQ beef and then deep fried.  I had a dish with chicken, peppers and onions and a side of rice, black beans and fried plantains.  The food was good but surprisingly bland and I liked the fried plantains best. I had expected the food would have a much more Caribbean bent.  It was not anything to rave about and I told Mom that if their food was all like that, it was no wonder they had a revolution!

Tomorrow we plan to drive to Key West and reach the most southern point of the US and then start back home.   We have so enjoyed the beautiful and warm weather in Florida and the gorgeous coastlines.