We had a lazy morning with nowhere to go in a hurry. It sprinkled lightly off and on throughout the morning when a dark cloud floated by. We made phone calls home and relaxed outside with Auggie drinking our juice and coffee. During his walk with Auggie, Bob came across this empty egg shell, probably belonging to one of the Muscovy ducks that live here. I guess something ate it last night.
Around 11:00 we left for a trip to Los Olas Boulevard and the Riverwalk area. The Riverwalk is a mile long brick-lined promenade along the New River. We parked near the New River and strolled along the Riverwalk oogling the boats docked there.
We found the spot that we had once docked in our own boat with some friends of ours. It brought back fond memories.
On our walk we came upon something very unique. It was the Cycle Party vehicle. A group of people sit on this vehicle and drink while pedaling down the Riverwalk and Los Olas Boulevard. It costs $40 to ride and you pay for your own drinks at each of the bars where it makes a stop. It’s a 2 hour trip that would be great for a bunch of friends who wanted to party and see the sights. It’s like a pub crawl by bicycle.
It begins and ends at the Briny Irish Pub where we were standing when we saw it. This pub is quite unique with its decor.
Since we were there anyway, we stopped to have some beers and calamari while watching the boat traffic.
It was quite busy for a Saturday with boats traveling up and down the New River. The Briny Irish Pub was situated in the perfect spot to see it all.
We even saw a 120′ yacht being towed down the river for service. We had a great seat and vantage point for all the action.
The Goodyear Blimp even flew by. I wonder what it was filming and where it was going??
The Jungle Queen Riverboat made a trip down the river while we were sitting there.
This silver Pershing made a grand entrance going through the bridge and had everyone’s attention.
We read today that Ft. Lauderdale is known as the Venice of America and the Yachting Capital of the World with 300 miles of navigable waterways—the Intercoastal Waterway, the New River, and all the canals. The number of yachts that we’ve seen since being here is a true testament to that!
From the Riverwalk we made our way to Los Olas Boulevard which is considered the crown jewel of Ft. Lauderdale shopping and is an eclectic mix of shops, restaurants, bars, and galleries. We walked along the tree-lined boulevard doing some window shopping. We walked up and down the street until our feet couldn’t walk anymore.
We stopped at the grocery store on our way back to the campsite and got back around 2:30. We relaxed outside on our “patio” with a cocktail while Auggie ran himself breathless hunting down geckos. We saw this lizard on the Riverwalk earlier this afternoon. It looks like he lost part of his tail. I wonder what Auggie would have done with him!
It sprinkled every now and then as we sat in the shade of the awning. We had brats on the grill for dinner and watched the Preakness on TV. There’s nothing better than that! Auggie and I took our evening walk as the sky turned blue and pink. The weather on this trip has been great so far.
