Considering the wild and crazy day we had yesterday, we slept pretty well. However from experience, we know that we will be feeling the time change sometime during the day. But we were up and ready to head out for breakfast around 8am.
Every time we stay here, we head for an old-fashioned 6am to 3pm diner called Joe's Café. It has to be one of the busiest restaurants near Port Everglades and the numerous hotels in this area. It is most popular with cruising families with young kids. They even serve a kid's favorite peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a beverage (maybe) for $6. It was a miracle we were seated right away since the place was almost full. With lots of hot coffee and hardy breakfasts under our belts, we headed back towards the hotel with a few shopping stops along the way. In the Harbor Shops complex, we made a pass through TJMaxx, finding a few things we needed. Then another stop at Ross and the Dollar Tree, coming out with some useful items. One of us could not resist buying one of Ross's over-sized tote bags with a blueberry design for the whopping price of 99 cents. Oh what fun we have.
Back at the hotel, one of us wrote the rest of yesterday's blog, while the other went on a picture tour of the hotel. One of us was feeling somewhat jet-lagged, so to fight it off, we went out for a slow hike up the top of the C. Clay Shaw Jr. Bridge on 17th Street. By 3pm, the weather had warmed up nicely and we changed from long jeans to shorts. With the sun out, it must have reached the mid-70's. Simply delightful. Possibly the decision not to have lunch also made us a bit tired. Having an early dinner was a better idea. The hike did revive us.
One huge change we noticed right away was the near-completion of the Omni Hotel and Broward County Convention Center located at the base of the bridge. Much to our surprise, the hotel appeared to be opened for business, judging by the limos, buses, taxis and buses picking up and dropping folks off at the grand entrance. The majority of the landscaping was done with mature palm trees of many different varieties. They must have cost a fortune. Deeper into the garden area, was a fountain with a shallow pond complete with either a marlin or a sailfish sculpture. Actually there were two sculptures…..one in the fountain/pond and another standing tall. Closer to the waterway was another faux grassy area with paths along the water's edge. Some fellows were fishing from there. We project that by next year, this huge complex will be completely finished.
Slowly, we climbed the bridge all the way to the middle area where there are benches. From there, we could see the cruise ships docked in Port Everglades. There were five of them today starting with two Celebrity vessels, the Ascent and the Reflection. Two Royal Caribbean ships docked were Liberty of the Seas, and Radiance of the Seas. The last one was the Disney Dream. They were scheduled to depart between 3pm and 4pm. It was obvious to us that they were running late. The best part was being able to sit and watch the boat traffic in the waterway while taking in some of the warm sun.
Time to move on, we headed down to the bottom of the bridge, crossed the street and began the ascent up the other side. Hopefully, we will see the bridge traffic stopped and witness the bridge going up. We have heard that the local drivers hate to be stuck for the bridge-lifting, but it was posted that it operates on the top of the hour and the half hour. It appeared to us that they will not lift the bridge unless there is a tall-masted vessel or huge yacht to pass under. That was the case at 3pm where a large catamaran passed under. For us, it is always thrilling to see the bridge sections rising up while the boat traffic passes under it. It was also a good excuse to test the benches on this side of the road. One thing for sure, if you like boating, this is the place to be.
From this side, we would see the remodeled Pier Sixty-Six Hotel, an iconic blast from the past. It has been under construction for several years now, and it looks close to being done. Many more condos or time shares have been added to the property. A couple of these condos had see-through jacuzzies on their verandas. We made it back to the hotel by 4:30pm and decided to go to dinner at Duffy's once again. Without having lunch, we were pretty hungry by now. And to entice us back, Duffy's sent another $10 coupon.
What a difference from our first dinner here. There were plenty of diners there, but not the loud crowd. We enjoyed salads and a shared chicken and cheese quesadilla. So good with sour cream, guacamole and salsa. For a real treat, we split one fried cheesecake with ice cream and whipped cream. The cherry was mine. Never had fried cheesecake before, but it sure was tasty. We were back to the hotel by 6:30pm ready for another restful night.
Looking forward to seeing our group leaders and several repeat world cruisers like us tomorrow morning. The day will be ours to enjoy again, and then we meet up with our group for dinner. If we end our dinner early by 8pm, we'll go back to our room to watch the football game with the Seahawks and 49ers. Should be a hum-dinger!
Bill & Mary Ann
