A day in Ft Lauderdale Jan 25 2013

FORT LAUDERDALE JAN 25, 2013

After getting off the train, grabbing the taxi and getting settled into my room I head across the street to a Walgreen’s – this one is a 24 hour one – and grab some snack food, pop and a dozen beer – some local brand was $3.50 a 6 pack – with comped wi-fi for the stay in my room I get caught up on world events, emails etc. The first 4 beer went down very well – turned in and got a fairly good night sleep.

The plan for tomorrow is to see as much of the town as I can – haven't stayed overnight here before and my research indicates I should be able to see a great many of the local attractions using any combination of walking, free trolley or a water taxi.

In the evening there is a pre-cruise meet and greet planned.

I head out the door of the hotel in search of a place to grab a bite to eat and figure since the New River is right behind the Hotel I should be able to follow it into town. WRONG! It is mostly private property – after about 45 minutes of wandering around I finally spot a) a McDonald's for breakfast and the proper road to take me to the Riverwalk – I do have a map with me – once on the Riverwalk I start taking lots of pictures – after a mile or so I cross over to the other side and explore Old Fort Lauderdale and then start back along Las Olas Blvd – lot's of neat little shops – here I decide to start walking to the Atlantic Ocean – if I get tried I can grab the Sun Trolley which is free and serves as a hop on hop off service – I stop and pick up some Diet Pepsi and continue on my way to the beach – Fort Lauderdale is somewhat like Venice with lots of canals and very expensive homes – my now both my feet and stomach are sending my brain a message – SLOW DOWN AND TAKE IT EASY!

That is a concept that I have had a hard time conditioning myself to – finally I see the A1A highway sign and I knew the beach, shopping and restaurants were at hand – five minutes later I reach the beach – while there are many people tanning not to many are in the water – it is a cool time and also pretty good wave surge.

Finally spot a Sonic burger place where I have lunch, and relax for a while.

Then I continue along the boardwalk until you reach more private property and have to follow the road back – I finally start to see the Hotel so I knew it was just a walk across the causeway bridge where you can see the ships in port.

I am not finished walking – so I head out again as there are a few last minute items I want to pick up – pop for one – there is a dollar store, Ross – like Winner's and a Winnie Dixie – where I pick up some pop for the cruise – on the way back I check out the Publix and Total Wine stores.

Now it back to the hotel for a brief breather and then onto to the pre-cruise Cruise Critic meet and greet at Bimini's pub which is next door to the hotel – there is a large turnout – I stay about an hour – I am very tired and walk half a block to Shula's restaurant – yes it is named after Don Shula – have a chicken breast burger and fries but have trouble eating the burger as my dentures are bothering me.

Return to the hotel – enquire about a shuttle to the port – it's $6.00 – runs every 20 minutes – just sign up after 10AM tomorrow.

Then it's a quick check on the internet and the uploading and editing of some more pictures and saving them to a flash drive.

Hit the sack and asleep almost instantly.

Estimated I probably walked in total about 10 miles or 16 Kilos.

Next: The embarkation mess and finally aboard the ship.