Between Ocean Drive and Surf Road

That’s been our address for this carefree week of sun and sand – can you think of any better location?
We’ll be moving into the next phase of our adventure this weekend but before doing so, I had to bounce the beach ball down memory lane one last time:

The concierge at our hotel had very tactfully told us that Fort Lauderdale Beach is still a haven for itsy-bitsy, teeny tiny teens in their bikinis. Hollywood Beach, where we are, is more of a ‘baby boomer beach,’ she said. (You get the picture).

But I still wasn’t going to be deterred from getting to the  beach from my “Where the Boys Are” movie.  And I did as evidenced by the photo below.

Please note, that while I may look like a boomer; below that wind-blown hairdo and tee-shirt was a bikini-clad college girl humming the movie’s theme song. . .

You can imagine my joy when the taxi boat guide announced that Connie Frances had been on this very same beach less than a year ago “singing her heart out.”
And then she added, “. . . she was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the movie’s  release.”  

I knew then, that it was time to head back to the ‘boomer beach.’

Note:  To hear the song sung by Connie, visit the post, “Where the Boys Are”

Florida’s Wacky, Winding Waterway

No matter where we go, we try to use  public transit as much as possible. And kudos to Hollywood/Ft. Lauderdale for offering some great  public transit and tourism  options, including a great water taxi.

We headed north to Ft. Lauderdale one afternoon traveling  the Intracoastal Waterway on the Water Taxi  catamaran.  Tickets are $20 ($16 for seniors, 65+) for a full-day pass.  Although their posted schedules were loosely adhered to, we filled an afternoon exploring but a small section of this 3,000 mile waterway that links Norfolk, Virginia to Brownsville, Texas. We learned it has once stretched from Maine to Texas and was built during World War II as a safe means of getting our war ships repositioned.

Our crew pointed out nature and history, along the way but the most unexpected sight occurred just as the taxi was pulling in to pick us up: two docks south a man literally jetted out over the water. A Kodak moment for all.

We went through Port Everglades where Holland America’s Neiu Amsterdam was the only ship in port and later watched it head out to sea. 

We transferred to a Ft. Lauderdale taxi just past the port and in typical tourist fashion, photographed  mansions and yachts belonging to “‘the other half’” en route to Ft. Lauderdale Beach. . .you know, the beach in the movie I’ve been telling you about.  More on that next time.

Hello to Hollywood

 

We’ll soon be saying Hello to Hollywood. . .Florida that is. This Hollywood is snuggled between Fort Lauderdale and Miami way down there on the state's southern tip.  

We’ll be snuggled between the Atlantic Ocean and Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway at the Hollywood Beach Marriott thanks to  Joel, who found another of  ‘those deals’ for which he’s famous for sniffing out.  And of all places; he found a hotel deal on the timeshare website I’ve mentioned before, Interval International. 

We checked calendars, noted the gray skies that darken and dampen our Pacific Northwest spring and it took no more than a matter of minutes to book a few extra days in Florida sunshine: the departure point for our Great Spring Adventure.

Our ‘boutique-style’ hotel, as its web site tells us, is on the city’s famous Broadwalk (yes, it is a ‘Broadwalk’) that has been named one of the best beach ‘boardwalks’ by Travel + Leisure Magazine.  We plan to keep the D2G alive with daily walks along the 2.5 mile brick walkway .

It is also close to Port Everglades from where our Celebrity ship will set sail for Barcelona.  Celebrity is one of 13 cruise lines – and some 50 ships -- that use this port.  We will be joining the estimated 3.8 million passengers who’ll pass through this place in 2010-2011.