Fort Lauderdale (South Beach & Ocean Drive)

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21^stJanuary 2014 FORT LAUDERDALE



Distanced travelled 4270 Nautical miles



Arrived at Port Everglades on a warm sunny morning with temps of 72F/22



Fort Lauderdale named after Major William Lauderdale who commanded the first detachment who built the first fort. Known as the ‘Venice if the USA’ because of the great number of waterways. The port is the gateway to Everglades National Park and its unique eco-system and array of wildlife. Most trips off the ship were to the Everglades combined with some shopping.



Our trip was on our own to South Beach and the Art Deco area of Miami.



The coach trip from the port to Miami took us through the industrial areas to the business district and the playground of the rich and famous e.g. Star Island



Arrived at South Beach with about 5 hours to explore the area, which really consists of the beach (sand & sea) and the iconic Ocean Drive the home (of those who remember) of Miami Vice (TV series)?



Whilst it is easy to dismiss the beach, it is where the locals far & wide come to play. They certainly cater for all and it is all spotless and we loved the Art Deco lifeguard stands.



Ocean Drive is something else. It is a street (or a number of blocks) of hotels and restaurants all in the Art Deco style. The few pictures that I have posted do not do it justice and although some of the colours are now being toned down, they are still eye-catching.



Today’s cultural lesson. History says that Art Deco started in 1925 at the Paris Exhibition originally called ‘Les Arts Decoratifs’ hence the international abbreviation ‘Art Deco’. The ‘rule of three’ that characterises Art Deco refers to the three basic elements of a buildings geometric facade, the centre element being the most dramatic and on either side two usually similar elements or structures.



We walked the length of Ocean Drive, having stopped at one of the many coffee bars. The predominant language here is Spanish, with a huge Hispanic culture hence sometimes called ‘the capital of Latin America’. We did some window shopping in Lincoln Road shopping centre before running the gauntlet (of street bars/restaurants) back down Ocean Drive for our pick up point.



We will find out on most of our trips that they are a small glimpse of the culture and lifestyles of the places we visit. It would have been nice to sit and ‘people watch’ for a couple of hours or even better to see Ocean Drive lit up at night, to maybe cruise Ocean Drive in the 1938 Oldsmobile parked outside the Park Street Hotel where we did ‘people watch’ for a few minutes.



Next stop Aruba!!

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