Ft. Lauderdale!

After a sleepless night (for me at least) we were up and going exactly on schedule at 0650.  As mentioned, I had noted each bridge, distances between and calculated the timing based on a 5 knot speed...yeah, maybe a little control freakish.  But it worked!!  We made great time and even added in buffer to fill up on diesel and water and pump out.

Waldorf Astoria where we did not stay...our boat may not have 'fit in' there ;-)

Ah yes, the glorious sexiness of boating!

The rain held off during the morning which made the cold bearable plus we were able to oogle all the houses down the ICW.  The display of excess made even me a little uncomfortable...as we putted down the ICW in a catamaran, now in the second month of our 7 month trip, oh the hypocrisy ;-)  So of course we had to play the game of "I'd live in that one" and "Oh no, I would not live there" hahaaaa!  We bought a lot of fantasy houses and yachts today.

One of the "keepers"

Had their tree up already

Gotta have the house and the yacht, you know (boat may be the same size)

The little brother to the above fella...

So I liked this place but Mark said no

Hillsboro Inlet bridge, complete with SeaTow heading in

Uhhhhh, not exactly my decorating style but he did not hold back, let it fly my friend!

You cannot appreciate this person's sense of, ahem, style unless you saw it

Hey, they went 'green'

We arrived in the small mooring field at 1130 and started the process of attempting to warm up.  A few hours later we gave up on that and went ashore after a quick dinghy-by of Island Khaya who is anchored off the channel on the other side of the bridge.  I "may" have insisted on a mooring ball, knowing the wind forecast and on/off rain and storm predictions.  So ok, it's true, I pulled a Princess, I admit it; but I really really really wanted to sleep soundly tonight.  I told Mark today that I had to either get used to sleeping at anchor or not sleeping.  I'm hoping for the former and soon.

Hello Ft. Lauderdale!!

Our view from our tucked away little spot on the other side of the Las Olas Bridge (it is sorta loud but I'm used to earplugs at night).  Oh, those are the Canadians who went past us at Lake Worth Bridge and made it through every bridge yesterday :-p

We walked to Coconuts for early dinner and it was awesome.  Super cute and fun waitress from Milwaukee who just happened to go to college at University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh (B'gosh!) and worked at some point at EAA events while in school.  She moved here a year ago when a job managing two restaurants in the Miami Heat Arena became available--she used to do the same in Milwaukee.  She is very very happy to have taken the chance and moved here to South Florida.  She  works at Coconuts when there are no games in town.  Anyway, what a sweet gal.  They also had AMAZING key lime pie...it was outstanding.

Shockingly, our friend Chris is not in here--clearly a letter writing campaign is in order

Tarzan (nice trunks there Johnny)...who remembers Kit's line in Pretty Woman, "...so go rest up by Monty Hall or Esther Wilson (Vivienne: Williams) Esther Williams! Where you belong! I love that movie.

Fancy mojito and crab appetizer - delish and garlicky

We made our way over to the ocean and checked out that scene--not much happening but there are a couple of places along the main drag that I'd like to try out while we are here.  Of course we walked out on the sand, because, you just do that when you're at the ocean--it's like a rule.  Even with the clouds, it was neat to be at the ocean and see that wonderful color of the water!  It felt great to walk.  On the walk back we popped into The Quarterdeck for one quick night cap (ha, a nightcap at 6pm). 

The weather is supposed to be better tomorrow so it'll be a good day to get the bikes out and hopefully try my first jog since "the incident" in Charleston.  A trip to the flagship West Marine here (and Sailorman and Boat Owners Warehouse) is in my future I believe.  A small price to pay for a jogging partner.  Maybe we can try out one of those fun looking places on the ocean to replace any calories we foolishly burn by biking or jogging.  LOL! XO Suzanne

Now that was cool

Fuzzy city lights

We can have cool lights too!!  And I swear the wind has picked up but it's warmer!!