Wednesday
Up at 5:00 am. 6:00 am ride to the Airport. 8:30 flight on American Airlines to Miami. All good and uneventful.
At Miami Airport we had a Budget Car reserved. Usually we use Alamo where we can go directly to the car without interacting with the counter. Budget doesn’t have that option. The counter was a mob scene. But Budget does have Express Check where you can go to a secondary counter in the garage. We found.another some lesser mob scene. So there was a thirty minute wait to get the car. We had reserved an intermediate size SUV (like a Ford Edge). We got a HUGE Chevrolet Suburban. Too big but acceptable. The we hit I-95 for the 29 mile ride from Miami Airport to our hotel in Fort Lauderdale. Yikes. 90 minutes! Bumper-to-bumper the whole way. And I couldn’t figure out how to use the navigation system in the Suburban. So I used Google Maps on my phone, but that app wouldn’t speak out the directions like it should. (I figured out later why.) So we did finally get to the Residence Inn Intracoastal in North Fort Lauderdale, but not without stress. We had a few drinks and a nice simple dinner in the hotel restaurant before hitting the sack. (Why is it called the sack?) Great views from our balcony.
THURSDAY
Our hotel is the Residence Inn Intracoastal Il Lugano located right on the Intracoastal just south of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. That’s where we used to spend a couple of weeks every year as our winter break from Boston. We had breakfast at the hotel and then decided to go for a ride. We drove down A1A all the way to where to meets US1 near the Cruise Port that we will depart from tomorrow. Lots of new high rises along the beach. Then we backtracked the same route, passed by our hotel, and drove north as far as Pompano Beach before doing another U-turn.
On the way back we stopped and parked in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea ($8.00 for two hours). Our main stop was the Village Pump, a local joint filled with Bostonians. We had Cape Codders and decided to stay for lunch. Elaine had a patty melt while I had a bowl of clam chowder and six delicious Blue Point oysters. We had a short walk around the beach area before heading back to the hotel for balcony time, nap time, and blog time. Tonight it will be a quick meal in the the hotel bistro and then bed. Gotta rest up for the gruelling cruise starting tomorrow.
All those springbreakers I imagine are down there. Have fun, can’t wait to see your ship! Weather looks good. ENJOY, cheers!
Cannot wait to see and read about cruise – love the itinerary!!
Fort Lauderdale is always packed for car rentals – drive up to beach sounded like fun though!!
Have a fabulous cruise!!
Hey, I didn’t get an itinerary. I forgot all about the cruise.
Other than the traffic jam, it all sounds good. Nice ride up and down the coast.
Check your email. You should have it now.
Let the fun begin!
Hey E&J, so we’re off on another cruise adventure. Can’t wait to take it with you vicariously. Look forward to the blog every day. That question about the sack just bugged me until I looked it up and tit dates from the days when mattresses were nothing but hay filled sacks. Even I am not old enough to remember those days. Related expression: hit the hay. 😀 🛌 💤
Nice to see you enjoying the beginning of another voyage. Of course you would find a Boston bar. Loved the picture of the two of you with your beers. Look forward to your trip adventures. Take care….Cindy
So excited for you to be going on a cruise. Bon voyage!