Ft Lauderdale

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Got up at 5:30; only did one snooze. Too excited to sleep. Ken made coffee while I showered. We watched some news while we drank our coffee and ate our blueberry whole wheat eggos. Ken took a shower while I finished packing last minute stuff. I know we are taking too much stuff; it's so hard when you are going to a different climate.
We each have two carry-on size roller bags, Ken has backpack and I have my purse. Not too bad. It's a beautiful spring day in Atlanta. I have so enjoyed experiencing my first real spring in many years, but I also am experiencing the side effects of this spring. Even today I have sinus pressure and hope I am not getting sick. I dropped Ken off at check in with all the luggage and I take the rental car back to National; take the train to the terminal and meet him at the Air Tran counter. Southwest bought Air Tran so thankfully we don't have to pay for checking our bags. As we are headed to security Ken tells me as he walked in to the airport a CBS news reporter asked if she could interview him about the delays happening at airports. Of course he said yes! She asked him if he thought the sequester was an excuse for the current delays. He said yes the government could have moved money around-there is so much waste and that it is all political and Americans aren't fooled. She said well not everyone feels that way. He said well there are many Americans who aren't paying attention because they are too busy concerning themselves with Hollywood instead of their own country. I wish I would have seen it. He didn't get angry or loud, just calmly gave his opinion. Security was fast; actually the fastest I've experienced in Atlanta since I've been here. We got a Starbucks and headed to the gate. head sinus headache is worse so I bought some water and two sinus pills. We boarded the plane, we are row 17. Gosh the rows are tight, I'm glad it's only 1 1/2 hours to Ft Lauderdale. I tried to sleep and Ken played solitaire. It's so much nicer when you can lean your head on the shoulder of the person next to you. After an uneventful flight we landed, got our bags and a taxi. Our driver didn't know where the hotel was, he spoke only a few words of English. He didn't want to listen to me even though I could tell him which way to go. He ended up calling the hotel and it was obvious they could not understand him. Anyway we got to our hotel safely. It's called The Aqua Hotel. It is a newly remodeled hotel built in the 50's-one block from the beach. I had read about it on Trip Advisor and I am so happy I selected it. It is quaint, very clean and everything is new. The decor is white, gray and aqua. It really takes you back to the 50's- two pools, yards with wooden lounges, a barbecue grill, bikes and beach equipment to borrow. Maggie is the manager and she greets us with smiles. She is delightful and takes us to our room. We are on the first level near the pool. The room is so nice!!!

We put our bags in the room and Maggie calls us a taxi- we are starving and headed to Skyline Chili. We ask her if she wants us to bring some back for her; she has never tasted it. She is from Columbia and loves beans and rice but hasn't experienced Skyline. Sour taxi arrives and he knows where it is (yes)! I had a junior 4-way, Ken had a junior 3- way and we shared 3 coneys! it was so good. Afterwards we walked to Walgreens to pick up some salt nasal spray, Advil, Afrin and water. Ken called for a cab. As we were waiting I checked my phone for news. Fox News reported that Congress had voted to end (and fund) the Air Traffic controllers furloughs to end the airport delays. Did Ken's interview with CBS make it all the way to Congress???? Ha ha!

As we got back to The Aqua, I was feeling so tired-was it the drugs or my sinus headache. I wanted to lay down.....but the Atlantic Ocean and beach are one block away. The sky is blue and the temp is warm... So I put on my bathing suit (enough to make me sicker) and Ken grabs some chairs from the stash near the pool and we walk the one block to the ocean. We set our chairs just enough in the water to get our feet wet. The water is warm! We stay for about an hour enjoying watching the ships and fishing boats, kids playing in the waves and jet skis. I had been noticing these black things swirling in the water,thinking they were leaves. A young couple had one of these "things" up on the sand looking at it. It was strange looking all black, about that size of a fat mouse. It swam elegantly in the water, looking like a miniature sting ray. Someone asked the lifeguard what it was and he said he had never seen them before.

We decided to head back to our place, but on the way, we stopped at a little run down hotel and had a drink by the pool. Apparently the whole area has been run down and now people are fixing them up ( like our hotel ). The barmaids has piercings and tattoos in multiple areas. She weighs about 90 lbs. she is flirting with a customer and buys him a drink. There is a young couple at the bar; he looks wasted. There is an old guy by himself drinking water??? There is a young guy who is drinking a Bud and staring out at the ocean with a sad look on his face. There is an elderly couple sitting by the pool The old guy puts on his goggles and surprisingly does about 10 laps. I'm looking at the hotel....it reminds me of the kind of place where people on the run stop at for a rest. The curtains are sagging, rusty Air conditioners, multi-colored painted doors. It's kind of a sad looking place but seems sadder as the young guy by himself heads to room 230 alone and closes the door....it's the sad look on his face that gets to me, the barmaids friend takes off and the old guy drinking water stares into space. I'm ready to go back to our place. We rinse off the sand and salt and rest for awhile

We decided to go to dinner to a place Maggie suggested- The Patio Cafe, a few blocks away. Great night for a walk. The breezes are blowing off the ocean and I'm thinking it may be too windy to sit outside......will continue tomorrow

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Comments

[Emily]

My first Skyline experience was with you all in Ft. Lauderdale too I think! What an interesting day full of interesting people watching. You must find out what those black things were in the water!