"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report #3 Day Two in Ft. Lauderdale January 2, 2017 Monday Cloudy, sprinkles, and 81 degrees 75 Pictures

We did something today we rarely do…..sleep in later than usual. Guess the time change caught up with us quickly this time. The only thing we needed to do was get to the little café for breakfast before they stopped serving breakfast. And we did. Today was sort of a holiday, because the kids were still out of school, and many businesses were still closed for a long weekend. What we forgot was that this little café fills to overflow on weekends, and today was no exception. There had to be about a dozen folks waiting outside on the sidewalk to enter. Hoping they were all together, we slipped inside to find, yes, they were, but they had a table for two ready in a few minutes. Sold…..we were seated, had hot coffee, and ordered one of their specials right away. Group of six to ten were waiting the whole time we dined. The food is good, and the price is right. Nice for the younger families that live in the area.

After we ate, we went to Burlington's to pick up a few things we actually forgot at home. Then, we stopped at Publix, one of the local food stores, and picked up some room snacks and a few more incidentals. It sure looked like it could rain, but according to the news this morning, the showers were scattered and brief. Did not need umbrellas after all.

Back at the hotel, we were happy to find our room had been cleaned while we were gone. At another hotel where we used to stay, the rooms did not get serviced sometimes until 4pm. And that's probably why our travel agency does not stay there anymore. That, and because HAL also used that hotel, making it impossible to get an elevator to get down to the lobby on check-out morning. On our last stay there, we had to walk down the emergency stairwell, because we did not want to wait over ½ hour for the elevator.

It would have been nice to relax at the outdoor pool, but the weather was not co-operating. So we decided to hike the canal road to check out the local wildlife. You never know what you might find along this huge waterway. A huge sign warned of alligators and poisonous snakes. OK……we'll watch every step we take very carefully.

What we did see were many sizes of iguanas, trying to soak up any heat from the occasional breaks in the clouds. The smaller lizards dashed in and out of tree roots, where they successfully hid from predators. At one point, it began to drizzle. Thinking it would get heavy, we took refuge under a big palm tree. Always a good idea to look up, because these iguanas hide up high in these trees. From previous experience, we know that you can get different types of sprinkles standing under these huge lizards. So gross. Lucky for us, the drizzle ended, and that was the end of any rain we would get today.

Florida is a haven for birds, especially water birds such as ducks, geese, ibis, terns, and gulls. We even spotted a few raptors, like hawks, hunting in and around the ponds and local lakes. What we did not see were any alligators or poisonous snakes, thankfully. There was no shortage of toads, frogs, and turtles, especially in the evening when you had to be careful not to step on them.

If we had walked on the canal trail longer, we might have seen the huge fish that sometime jump in the current. As we neared University Avenue, we headed left towards the Westfield Mall. Guess it was over a mile to reach it, but at least we found it with a little help from a seven year old map we brought with us. Since then, another complex called The Fountains, has filled in the space from the canal to Westfield's. It was there that we saw a Barnes and Noble, where we searched for a few reference books……a couple on birds and one on trees of the world. Nice to see how many folks are still buying and reading "real" books. Yes, downloading them on hand-held devices is convenient, but we like the real deal.

At Westfield's, we located a Red Robin's for a much appreciated light lunch with at least three refills on our sodas. With the muggy overcast skies, it is easy to get dehydrated. The best thing was that there was a continuous breeze all day, keeping it pleasantly warm. Since we will be coming back here tomorrow, perhaps on the complimentary shuttle provided by our travel agency, we resisted any more shopping.

Walking back, we headed towards Pine Island Road, which turned out to be a much more direct way to go. By the way, we noticed that we were among a handful of people that walk here. Everyone drives to their destination. That way they are never away from air-conditioning for long. Just a different way of life here, although, we did notice that the local gyms were full of exercising folks yesterday. They prefer to get their exercise in a cooler place. Makes sense.

One of us took advantage of some internet time, while the other took another walk around the lakes. There are many walking paths to see even more wildlife. While looking out the hotel window, there was a huge rainbow in the downtown area of Ft. Lauderdale. Guess the isolated showers were still hanging around.

Before we knew it, the skies were dark, and it was time for dinner. Once again, we hiked to the sport's bar and ordered cobb salads. No dessert tonight. We should mention that we have been experiencing computer problems, which continued to shut down while typing and go unresponsive. Hopefully it is something temporary, because it's frustrating.

Tomorrow will be another busy day, ending with a cocktail party and dinner in the hotel's ballroom. But that won't begin until 6:15pm. Plenty of time to enjoy another day in Ft. Lauderdale.

Bill & Mary Ann

The front entrance of the Renaissance Plantation