Sunday January 5, 2020
It was 86 degrees and sunny when we arrived in Fort Lauderdale a day before our Eastern Caribbean cruise. It had been dark and cold in New York when we left home this morning and the warm Florida sunshine was glorious!
We checked into a large hotel near the port which was filled with eager cruise ship passengers bearing too much luggage. Six ships were leaving Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow and the hotel was completely booked. The atmosphere in the lobby was akin to Christmas morning with a huge group of kindergartners. We checked in as quickly as possible and went out to explore the city.
There was a Water Taxi stop down the street from the hotel so we purchased a day-pass and boarded. Fort Lauderdale was built on the Inland Waterway and is laced with countless navigable canals. It takes almost four hours for the “taxi” to complete the entire circuit without getting off. We enjoyed the scenery for a while and got off at Flip Flop’s Dockside Eatery for lunch. Later we stopped again to browse at the Las Olas Street Art Fair.
By nightfall, a fierce wind blew and the temperature dropped to the 50s. By the time we returned to the hotel, torrential rain fell so hard it stopped traffic. Within a couple of hours the cold front passed and we went out for dinner wearing our heavy New York fleece jackets. We crossed the avenue to Kelly’s Landing – New England Seafood Restaurant for hot “Fish Chowdah.”
It was a perfect supper on a chilly night in Florida!