Fort Lauderdale

We’ve had a couple of days in South Florida before embarking on our cruise through the Caribbean, the Panama Canal and on to Peru. We spent a good part of the day yesterday traveling the Intercoastal Waterway via water taxi with fellow cruise passengers, Helen and Bob Rowe. It’s a very pleasant way to see the area and we were able to reach downtown Fort Lauderdale for a little shopping and lunch.

The lasting impression of the water taxi tour is the opulence of the homes bordering the waterway and the immensity of the yachts parked behind the homes. The commentary provided by the taxi drivers is a “who’s who” of America’s business and entertainment fields. They all seem to have homes here! (The luminaries, not the taxi drivers!) Not surprising, it’s a gorgeous place.

The first picture shows a home once owned by the “Six Million Dollar Man” Lee Majors. It was built for he and his bride at the time, Farrah Fawcett. The marriage came undone before the house was completed and Lee was left to sell the home. Apparently, there were difficulties selling it due to plumbing irregularities. According to our taxi driver (and stand-up comic), the place had Major Fawcett problems.

The following shot shows a typical waterside mansion, complete with yacht in the waterway. The homes are expensive but their prices pale in comparison to those of the yachts.

There seems to be a sailing regatta in progress this week. We saw a number of very sleek, fast looking sailing yachts, including this one parked at one of the piers where our water taxi stopped. We know these were serious racing boats because it was necessary to raise the middle span of the 17th Street Causeway  Bridge (clearance 55 ft)  to allow these boats to get through.

This bridge is a lower one, the Las Olas Boulevard Bridge crossing the Intercoastal Waterway and connecting the beach area to downtown Fort Lauderdale. Nothing unusual about it, just a nice bridge.

After an exhausting bout of shopping, we made our way back to our hotel via water taxi and enjoyed the sunset. In this photo, you can see the lights of the homes along the  shore and some buildings in downtown Fort Lauderdale a little further in the background.

We’re currently waiting to board our cruise ship later this afternoon. I hope to get many interesting shots over the course of our trip and I’ll try to put down the pina coladas long enough to post a few.