Out on the water

On our dolphin tour during the week of Thanksgiving, we headed out to a small spoil island to walk around and look for shells. It’s a tiny oasis in the middle of all of these tall buildings.

The flag on the island was starting to look a little weathered.

We could see a kiteboarded across the waterway.

There were small sailboats all around the area. It was a windy morning and perfect to be out on the water.

I was looking the other way and heard my sister yell “Oh no, they went over.” I looked around and saw that the boat had flipped on it’s side. The 2 guys were working on pulling it back up. At first I thought they would need to be rescued but our captain said it happens fairly often and the guys on these small boats are good at getting them back upright. That has to take a lot of upper body strength to get that sail out of the water. (That big white complex in the background is Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater).

The guys in another boat nearby were leaning pretty hard to keep theirs from going over.

Nice view heading back to the marina.

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Scenes from south Florida

On the road to south Florida, this famous eyesore sits at the Yeehaw Junction right before the Florida turnpike exit.

Sitting poolside at Brett’s aunt and uncle’s winter condo, we had a nice dinner with the family, watching the dinner boats go by.

Construction cranes are everywhere here, including next to our hotel.

On the road to Hallendale Beach sits a big statue in the parking lot at the horse race track. After the statue, we turn right to head over the bridge to the beach.

We stopped by Hard Rock Hotel to see the new guitar shaped hotel going up. The last 2 are shots from the top of the parking deck. You can barely make out the skyline of the beach.

The road back to Tampa, we headed across Alligator Alley (I75). We never see alligators on this road though. Just miles of the above view.

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Road trip to south Florida

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We headed down to the Miami area for a long weekend in early March to visit relatives. On a cool cloudy day, we headed to a small craft show and farmer’s market in Coral Gables. Lots of old building on the street were the farmer’s market was.

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After running around Miami for the day, we came back to Hallandale Beach where Brett’s relatives live for a quick walk on the beach before dinner.

 

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The beach on the Atlantic side is very different from the gulf side of Florida. The water is greener but rougher and more waves. The sand is not as white as the gulf side. The entire stretch of beach in Hallandale is full of tall buildings. It wasn’t a nice day out but at least it was cool out.  We were one of the few people out on the beach.

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Brett’s aunt and uncle live on the intercoastal waterway. The boat traffic through here is usually busy but the clouds and wind must have kept most people at home.

We try to get down to south Florida at least once each winter. It’s any easy drive down from Tampa and very different from where we live. So many different places to eat and they have the best dim sum which is Brett’s favorite thing to eat. Dim Sum with the cousins before leaving on Sunday afternoon is our routine.

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