Second Day in Fort Lauderdale

After breakfast, we headed out and walked east along the 17^th Street Causeway.  We decided to head to the beach and check out the views.  It was pleasant sunny day with a slight breeze. Along the Causeway, we noticed that the palm trees were more lush than last year.  They were definitely greener and so brown.  

Palm trees lined up along the 17th Street Causeway

Can you see the coconuts?  These same palm trees were bare last year

Here's a different variety of palms

We walked for about 2-3 miles and ended up at the southern end of Ft Lauderdale beach.  It was quiet here.  There was hardly anyone on the beach.  It was a bright sunny morning with blue skies and puffy white clouds.  It was a perfect day for walking around and for people watching. 

Fort Lauderdale beach!

A colorful playground.  Where are the kids?

An empty basketball court right on the beach

We headed down to the main beach area around Olas Blvd.  This area was hopping.  We started to see more people hanging out on the beach.  We saw many diners sitting outside enjoying their late breakfast meals. 

Bubba Gump's restaurant

Beach Bunnies!

We did some window shopping along the main shopping area along the beach front. 

We stopped in this surf shop to find some sturdy flip-flops

Walking past Bubba Gump's

A few people enjoying the beach.  Notice how pale the life guard is?

After a few hours, our stomachs started to growl.  We were getting tired and walking back was not a good option for us.  We decided to catch the local trolley and head back to the 17^th Street Causeway. 

As we made our way along the Causeway we signaled the trolley driver to stop and we jumped off the trolley and headed over to the Bimini Boatyard restaurant for lunch.  Hubby had an Ahi Tuna salad and I had Swordfish. 

On the way back to the Embassy Suites, we stopped off at the Fort Lauderdale Dive shop to pick up a hat for Hubby.  Yes, we had slowly figured out a few things we forgot to pack for this trip.  While at the Dive shop, I tried on a few masks.  I immediately found one that fit on my face and stayed in place without the straps.  When I pulled the mask off, you could hear the suction of air being released.  Great fit!  I passed up on this purchase as it would have been a “want” purchase and not a “need” purchase. 

Fort Lauderdale Dive shop is my favorite Dive shop as they are well stocked and the staff is very friendly and they are a wealth of knowledge.  They offer dive certifications and mentioned that the next time we’re in Ft Lauderdale to come down a few days earlier and get certified.  Now that’s a great idea!

We headed back to our hotel to get some rest and I had to do some last minute repacking.  At that point, luggage weight doesn’t matter when you arrive at the cruise ship terminal.  I transferred all the heavy items from our backpacks (e.g. magazines, a book, rechargers and cables, etc) to our luggage. 

For this trip I had managed to get Hubby to purchase Kindle-versions of his books.  He used to carry a backpack full of books for the cruise and I noticed he would read only one or two of them during the whole trip.  Slowly, he has weaned himself from carrying the physical books.  I did throw one in his bag just in case it was too bright for him to read his iPad. 

Hubby had mentioned he wanted to get some nice polo shirts in case we went to one of the dining rooms on the ship.  I remembered there was a Ross Dress for Less across the street from our hotel.  After a quick trip to Ross with two nice polos purchased and bagged, we were ready for dinner. 

We found a lovely sushi place a block from our hotel.  The menu was extensive and there were many items I wasn’t familiar with.  I let Hubby order for us.  We had tuna sashimi and an order of vegetable fried rice.  I have to admit something funny here.  At this sushi restaurant, I learned how to use my chopsticks correctly.