As soon as the shops were open we were on the move. Strange, I am not sure I have ever been on a Burlington Transit bus but Broward County Transit got us around this day. We have used public transit in numerous cities around the globe but never at home. Hmmmm! After purchasing a day pass ($3.00 for seniors) the #40 bus took us to the Galleria Mall in search of a belt for Gail, or at least that was our excuse. No luck with the belt (we didn’t try Neiman Marcus) but when we passed Santa’s place he quickly came out for a long chat–business was slow at 10:30 AM.
The #36 bus was next. That delivered us to within a few blocks of our next destination, this time for my shopping, Yes I admit it. I have a pair of spiffy new dance shoes on order at home but I thought I would look for another pair for casual and practice. There was a dance wear shop in Ft Lauderdale and I found what I was looking for.
We found a little Italian pastry shop for lunch. The young lady from Verona served us a great quiche, fruit salad and coffee. The guy sitting next to us was wearing a Ferrari logo on his hat and, apparently, actually owned one. I suppose that should not be too shocking in Ft Lauderdale.
We returned, bus #11 this time, to a stop near the hotel where we completed our planned shopping with a wine store stop. Once the packages were back at the hotel we set out again, this time using Ft Lauderdale’s Water Taxi service. The $18 fee was not as good as the bus pass but it was good for the whole day.
The houses and the yachts along the canals are extravagant, even under tow.
The taxi dropped us off at the somewhat famous Las Olas Blvd shopping area. Still no belt but there was a nice top on sale. We walked on to the Riverfront area to pick up the water taxi again expecting to see an active area with numerous shops. That was how we remembered it. What a change, it was desolate. The only people were boarding or leaving tour craft, the stores were vacant except for a pizza place, an Irish Pub and a cart selling tour tickets and a few snacks. Apparently, the landlord had raised the rent to the point that the vendors simply moved out. Anyone heard that story before?
We had dinner back on the beach strip before returning to the water taxi for a tour of the canals after dark. Many of the homes and a few yachts displayed Christmas seasonal lighting displays. We encountered a little megayacht, “Pacific,” whose ownership is relatively unknown. Check this link.
Friday we board the Ocean Princess and away we go.
It’s still nice and warm!