Saturday, August 27, 2011

Fort Lauderdale: Day Two

I don't think I mentioned yesterday how hot it is here. Yes, that's no surprise that southern Florida is hot in the summer but I guess I had gotten used to DC being a little cooler lately so I was somehow kind of expecting the same here. Duh.

Today I slept in late and finished watching a movie that I started last night. I finally went out when I realized I desperately needed food. I headed towards the part of the city I'd been in last night with the restaurants and souvenir shops but next thing I knew, I was walking down Las Olas Blvd, where supposedly there is shopping and restaurants. There definitely are shops and restaurants but I didn't really realize it was about 2 miles from my hotel. So it was a very long walk in the crazy heat when I was starving. I guess I didn't even get halfway to the end but I needed to eat (and drink) something. I ended up stopping at a place called Mango's where I got this amazing grilled chicken sandwich with a mango mayonnaise on it. So yummy, it was a great choice. Luckily, instead of having to walk all the way back (which would have been tough since I had started to get a blister!), I left the restaurant and ran smack into a trolley that runs for only 50 cents and took me back to the beach - in about 5 minutes. Next time I'll have to take the trolley both ways.

I got back to the beach and went directly to lay out on the beach for a couple hours. So nice. It wasn't even too crowded down in front of my hotel. Then I went to the hotel pool, which was fine but inundated with dragonflies (they have some sort of infestation down here - luckily the things seem to avoid humans), not in the sun and pretty small. I guess it's not so bad that the pool is situated in the shadow of the building so it gets no sun but I was hoping to get some sort of suntan.

Back to the room I went and took a shower and then got ready to get some dinner. But first I got sidetracked by the Internet. It hadn't been working at all this morning and I even called but they said the entire hotel was without due to a down server. Pain in the ass. Eventually I headed out and walked south a bit this time and felt relieved that I booked the hotel I did and not another one that I was looking at that had not a great location. I couldn't decide where to eat but there was a lot going on because Fort Lauderdale has this "Saturday Night Alive" thing every Saturday night in the summer. It brings in musicians and street vendors and offers some drink specials at various spots. It was fine but very crowded. It also was odd because there was someone singing and then you'd walk about ten steps and someone else would be performing. As you might guess, yes, you could still here the one that you had just passed. I decided to just go back to my room and order room service. My hotel is hooked up with the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. to get delivery to my room so that's what I did. It took forever, though. When I ordered, I was told 25-30 minutes and after an hour, the food still hadn't come. i called and they said that the weather had been awful with heavy rains and winds... umm what? I opened my curtains and realized it was pouring rain. So much for Saturday Night Alive, I guess.

Anyway, my food eventually came and it was good. I watched a movie and am now exhausted, ready for bed. Two more days in Florida!

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