Fort Lauderdale (Port #63) – Farewell Chris & Susan; Mar12-13

Mar 12 – Mon
On Monday we left the Suntex Marina at Hollywood and headed for our next stop, The Bahia Mar Yachting Center in Fort Lauderdale Florida.
We had an early morning wake up (7am) and departed by 8:30am due to the Windfinder Pro predictions of 35mph wind in the afternoon. There was also thunderstorms threatening all day. We wanted/needed to try to get to Fort Lauderdale on Monday, because Chris/Susan were departing from Ft Lauderdale on Tuesday.
The ride was short and uneventful, docking went smoothly.
We arrived about 10am Monday morning, we did the normal boat wash down, and by 2pm the winds did kick up ferociously with a heavy downpour of rain (I luv & trust these weather/wind Apps !).

After the rain storm cleared we scoped out the marina facilities.
As expected, the harbor hosts a shit-load of VERY LARGE SHIPS !
There are so many photos we could send, but this will summarize it.

About 4pm we went for a walk along the Atlantic Ocean on the Fort Lauderdale Boardwalk & Beach.
We had made 5pm reservations at a place called The Casablanca Café, but took a leisurely 2 mile stroll to get there, taking in the new sights of Fort Lauderdale : Beach, Traffic, Lots of College Kids, Lots of Cops.

We arrived safely at The Casablanca Café, a restaurant occupying the first house ever built in Fort Lauderdale Beach. We were lucky enough to nab seats in the upper deck to have dinner & watch all the craziness down below.

Casablanca Café = Also known as the Jova House was built in 1927 for its original owner, Mrs. J. J. Jova. The two-story masonry dwelling, commissioned by Juan Jacinto Jova, was designed by architect Francis L. Abreu, Jova’s grandson. It was the first home constructed on Fort Lauderdale Beach and is the oldest remaining structure.

The food was amazing. Jonell had a fancy chicken dinner & I had the Lamb Chops !

After dinner we took the slow 2 mile walk back to Bahia Mar, along the way we stopped for some drinks & music at a place called Sangria’s Café del Mar. We enjoyed some great Mexican music, some incredibly fast butt bouncing dance, and a few little Margaretas.

 
On Tuesday we sat out on the dock in the morning, reminisced about the week long trip, and said farewell to Chris & Susan.

We have not done this for a while, so here is an update on our GPS Tracker.
Starting to head north , Uck !
Except for the Fresh Water, I can’t wait to get back to that.
We are a little more than 1/2 way by # of ports, but more than 1/2 way by distance.
We are in port #63, we expect to visit about 120 ports before the trip ends.