Ft. Lauderdale Florida!!!!!!

First, I must say that Ft. Lauderdale was one of the most diverse citites I have been to next to maybe Las Angeles, and Las Vegas, of course. It was very beautiful in most areas. Especially where we were........all the touristy spots. But, it wasn't unusual to see someone homeless sleeping on a bench just a mile or so from what they call Millionare Row. There was so much culture around us down there. Lots of different ethnic groups everywhere. It was pretty cool just to sit back and watch everything going on around us for awhile.

Jenny and I met up very easily at the airport. My flight arrived about an hour before Jen's, so I just sat at the baggage claim and waited for her to get there. It had been a long day for me already, and it was only about noon. I had to get up super early and leave our house at about 4:30 AM to make it to the airport in time. My flight left at 7:00 AM. UUUGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!





Plus, Ryan and I had just gotten home Sunday afternoon from Sandusky, Ohio. We went to Cedar Point to celebrate my birthday, and had a blast. Needless to say, I was exhausted, my back was aching, and all I wanted was a good nap. That three hours of sleep I got before heading to the airport was not the nap I had hoped for.





Jen and I headed into town after we checked into the hotel so we could find some food. We were both starving by that time!!! We found a nice little restaurant called Mangos where we ate some lunch. Just outside the window I noticed a sign that said Water Taxi. Jen and I were curious, so we walked that way after we finished our lunch. It turned out to be a great little tour. The Water Taxi took us through "The Venice of America" along the Intercostal Waterway in Ft. Lauderdale. The area where we toured is also known as Millionare Row. When we saw the homes and yachts, we understood why. It was unreal!!Jen and I really enjoyed that little part of our trip. We definitely got to see a lot of things we wouldn't have been able to see otherwise. Some of these homes were actually on little man-made islands. Almost everyone who lived there had a yacht. Some of the yachts were bigger than the homes. I could have fit my home in some of those yachts. One of them was over 3,500 square feet. That's three of my homes..............WOW!!!I don't specifically remember who lived in a lot of the homes. One of them used to belong to Nick Nolte. Most of them were big business owners such as the founder of HBO, Sunglass Hut etc.....
I thought it was really cool to see this house because this is where the movie "Cape Fear" was filmed. Not the old original, but the remake with Robert De Niro from the early 1990's.

It was absolutely amazing to be out in the middle of all that wealth. This is looking into downtown Ft.Lauderdale from the intercoastal waterway. The tour was about an hour. It was really nice. The water Taxi was really cool because there are several stops where you can get on and off the boat, and your pass is good for the whole day when you get one. The boats run up until midnight.

It seemed like it would be a great way for the old Florida snowbirds to get around after starting their days off with a stiff drink. Jen and I rode along with one guy who had definitely been drinking already, and all he wanted was to get to the next happy hour someplace. It was funny.

We all took turns taking pictures on the balcony. It didn't overlook the pool or anything, but it was beautiful in the morning with the sun shining down on the balcony. I think I got most of my tan from just standing out there so much.

John and I went out to playa round of disc golf while Jen was in trainging the first day. It was fun. Hot, but fun. Most of the holes weren't extremely difficult, but it's totally different when you lose a disc in Florida............there are a lot of places I wouldn't feel safe going after a lost disc. Like..............the water, where I lost my very first disc I ever bought. It was a Valkyrie, and I loved it like a part of me. I was bummed out, but it was my own fault for throwing that disc on that hole. I knew I was throwing near water, and I knew my disc would curve around to the right.......it always does. I had even brought a back up disc for exactly that reason. I thought maybe I would need it for a tough hole near some water, and I knew I didn't want to chance losing the Valkyrie. But did I think of that when I stepped up on the platform to throw?.............NO WAY!!! I just threw my favorite disc right smack dab in the middle of the water. Just like that. Damn. But hey, I had fun anyway. John gave me a bright pink disc to throw the rest of the game.................thanks Cuz!!!!

This is Jen acting goofy with her crab legs. She was a mess by the time she was done eating those things. Kind of like a one year old with their first birthday cake.....he he he!!!

This was taken at a really nice restaurant called The Rustic Inn that Jenny had found online. There was a whole page of the names of celebritites who have eaten there in the past. I had fun looking at that and wondering where they sat and what they ate. We sat outside by the water and watched some boats go by while we were eating. I'm not a big fan of crab meat or lobster, so I stuck to shrimp. I got some coconut shrimp that was to die for!!!!!After dinner at The Rustic Inn, we headed into Hollywood where the Hard Rock Cafe and Casino is located. The little shopping area outside of the Casino was really cool. Everything was really fancy, and much too expensive for my taste, but it was still cool to look around.

We were all a little disappointed with the Casino. John wanted to play roulette and I wanted to play craps. They didn't have any tables though. They had black jack and poker tables and lots of slots, but even in the slots, I couldn't find the one I wanted to play. So, we just walked around and looked at all the music memorabelia. That part was pretty cool.They had a whole display case of Peter Frampton's stuff. They even has the voice box he used on Frampton Comes Alive. It was super cool to see that!!!!After we got back to the hotel that night, we started watching Youtube on Jen's computer. She made it through an hour or so of the entertainment before she passed out. John and I stayed up cracking up laughing until Jen rolled over and said "it's 2:30, so you think you'll be wrapping things up by 3:00?" It was hilarious!!! Sorry Jen...................
The next day, I got up and headed down to the pool for a few hours. It was awesome. I had the whole pool to myself the entire time I was down there. I laid out in the sun for a long time and jumped in the pool every once in awhile to cool down. I finished reading Slaughterhouse Five and started reading a sweet book called Marley and Me about a crazy Golden Retriever. It was so relaxing.That afternoon when Jen got done with her training, we headed over to Ft. Lauderdale Beach. The beach was gorgeous!!! The water was not as clear as I would have liked it to be, but it felt really good. It wasn't dirty exactly, it was just full of seaweed and stuff like that. So, we never managed to get too far out in the water. I get nervous in saltwater when I can't see my feet. I'm scared of all those crazy ocean creatures!!!!The strip along the beach is called Breezeway Blvd. It was a pretty cool area. It was a lot more happening at night when all the bars started filling up. There were lots of little gift shops along there, but Jen and I got there a little late to shop around in most of them. They all seemed to close really early. We did stop in a surf shop where Jen got some cute new flip flops and I talked tattoos with some cutie with long curly hair and lots of bright tattoos. We hit it off right off the bat. I loved him!!!!! ;-)
Jen grabbed my camera while I was playing in the water and snapped some shots when I wasn't looking. I like this picture of us laying in the sand together. It would have been nice to have been able to spend more time on the beach, but time wasn't really on our side. Jen had training all day the two full days we were there, but it was nice while we were there.Funny how I hate feet, but I always want to take a picture of my feet when I'm on a beach somewhere..........................
We decided that Breezeway Blvd is where we needed to go for our last night out on the town, so when Jen and I got done at the beach, we went back to the hotel to pick up John so we could all go out one last time. We all walked around looking for someplace good to eat and listening to all the live music coming from the nightclubs. Some of it was really loud and overwhelming when you were trying to talk to eachother, but it was still cool to walk around and hear everything that was going on.

We walked past an alley that had a bunch of pirate statues lining the walkway and a sign that said "pirate bar is open." So, we decided to check out the pirate bar. It was pretty fun. The bartender, Jenny, was really good at playing the pirate girl role. She talked really loud and said "AARRRGGHHH" a lot. When the clock struck 9:00, she yelled "nine o'clock and all is well!!!" She was fun.There were white walls troughout the bar that all the tourists have signed, so we had to make our mark too. Some guy named Jesse bought hats for all the girls in the bar that had rinestone skulls and crossbones on them. They're actually pretty cute. Jen and I wore ours together for a few minutes until Jen couldn't take it anymore. It was already obvious we were tourists. I mean, we took pictures of our food for crying out loud....but wearing matching hats, well, that was just a little too much. I love my hat though!!!!We had Jenny the bartender take this picture for us. I think it's almost frame worthy......LOVE IT!!!!

By the time we got back to the room that night, we were all pretty beat. I sat up and read some more of my book while Jen and John drifted off to sleep.

Jen and I woke up the next morning and decided to get another hour of sun out by the pool. It was kind of overcast when we first went out, but it cleared up and we had a little sun to enjoy before we had to leave.

I was originally supposed to fly home on a seperate flight than Jen that had a layover in Memphis, but when we got to the airport, I asked if they had any seats available for the direct flight back to Indy. I totally lucked out. They had one seat left......and I got it!! I was so happy to be on the same plane as Jen. Even though we couldn't sit together, we got to say our goodbye's in Indy instead of Ft. Lauderdale. That was nice. Plus, I got home about five hours earlier than I had originally expected. I was really happy about that.

I took this picture as we were flying out of Ft. Lauderdale. It was beautiful flying over the coast.

I was ready to get home. I really missed Ryan while I was gone, and kept asking myself in my head why I would go somewhere without him. I really did have a blast, but it's always more fun if my baby's around. One night away from him now and then isn't so bad, but a big trip like that.....I don't know. This may have been my last vacation without Ryan.

My vacation ended perfectly when Ryan got home that night and we could be together again..........................I know you are probably all puking right now.

SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:-)

Fun in the Sun in Tampa!!!!

I have worked on putting this blog together for the last four days. Sorry if it seems choppy........

Let me start by saying I had a blast!!!!

My flight to Florida was nice, other than the fact that I had a three hour lay-over in Chicago on the way. I was bored, and scared to fall asleep for fear of missing my plane, so I just wandered around O'hare for awhile. By the time I landed, it was early evening. John had been circling the airport waiting on me because my flight was a little late.

Once we found eachother, it was time for the fun to begin!!! We went back to John's house and decided we needed to go out to eat. I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but it was REALLY good!! I actually found a type of sushi that I liked pretty well. It was called "Temupra Bagel." It had batter on the outside and had been fried briefly, so it was little warm. I think that was the key in me liking it. The cold stuff freaks me out a little :-) Being the tourist, I had to take a picture of it.........It was beautiful!!!

We met up with a friend of John's named Megan, and she went out to eat with us. After dinner, we went to a little Irish bar called "Four Green Fields." When we got there, another friend of John's, Greg, met up with us. I had also called my friend Mike Guimont to meet us there. He is one of my dearest friends, and has been living in Tampa far almost two years. This was the first time I had seen him in almost a year. So, it was really nice to have some time to catch up with him.

This is after a couple drinks, so you'll see me cheesin' quite a bit in most of these pictures....he he he. The tall guy in the back is Greg, and Guimont is on the right.

This is John's friend Megan. We hit it off right off the bat. She was a lot of fun.John, myself, and Guimont. It was so good seeing them both!!!!!

After we left the bar, we all went back to John's house for awhile and had a few more drinks. It turned out to be a late night. But, it was a FUN late night!!!!

Saturday, John and I decided to try out this indoor rock climbing place he had heard about. It was pretty cool. I just wish we could have climbed higher. We didn't take the class to use the ropes, so we were only allowed to climb to this orange line they had taped up on the wall. It really didn't seem high enough, so we cheated a little in the easy spots and went past it. There weren't many easy spots though. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I have no idea how those people do that. Oh yeah....and the shoes they made us wear were NASTY!!!!! But, we still enjoyed it. It was something that neither one of us had ever done before, so it was kinda cool.

After our little rock climbing trip, we went back to John's to get cleaned up and start another fun filled night. We went to a restaurant on the water called Rattlefish. It was really nice. We sat outside and watched all the rich people and talked about them. It was fun. There were a couple guys playing live music. Nothing fancy, but it's always nice to have live music in the background. They did play some Def Leppard, and I was laughing at John because he was mocking their one-armed drummer through part of it. That's definitely one thing I did a lot of while I was there....LAUGH!!!!

We went back to John's after dinner and just hung out together for the night. We made balloon animals, or I guess I should say we TRIED to make balloon animals for a little while. It was hilarious. John got one looking pretty close to a dog. "Perty close, but not plum," as my dad would say:-) A couple of them popped while we were twisting them around, and of course, I screamed like a little girl. I just wonder what his landlord was thinking. Poor guy. He has been away for the last few months, and this was his first weekend back. We probably kept him up all night.....oops.......

At about midnight, we decided we were hungry again, and John fixed a second dinner for me. He is a great cook!!! You should all pay attention when he sends his recipes. That boy knows what he's doing!!!! He fixed blackened salmon steaks for us. That was definitely my favorite meal while I was there. Not just because it was free either!!!! It was delicious!!!

The next day was Sunday. My last full day there. John bought himself a kayak not too long ago, and wanted me to go kayaking with him. So, we went to Fort Desoto beach and I rented a kayak. It was a lot of fun. John gave me a quick lesson in paddling, and we were on our way. It took me awhile to get the hang of it. John had to keep slowing down and waiting on me....sorry Cuz!!! We were in a really nice area with lots of nature all around us. It was absolutely gorgeous!! We floated up near some egrets and sat and watched them for a little while. I just thought they were cranes. A little further into our trip we saw a manatee. Holy cow!!!! THAT was amazing!!! I can't say I've ever encountered an endangered species anywhere besides the zoo. Here is a picture of what a manatee looks like. Obviously, I didn't take this:Isn't he cute?!?! They are not dangerous to humans, so it was really cool to be able to sit and watch it as it swam around us. There was nothing scary about it at all. Every once in awhile you would see a big flat surface rise out of the water. That was his back coming up. It was so big that I probably could park my car on it. We saw it's back fin pop out a couple times too. It was pretty exciting.

That's me...floundering around in my kayak :-)
Here's John posing for a pic.............he he heWe stopped on a sandbar to get out and walk around for a few minutes. I was expecting to see some sting rays, and was actually a little nervous about getting stung by one, but I never had any problems. The water here was hotter than normal bath water. It was crazy.
This is John's kayak. His was much prettier than mine :-)
These are the egrets that we stopped next to for awhile.

Kayaking was definitely one of my favorite parts of my trip. I love being outside and seeing nature all around me. This was a little different than hanging out on the beach like I usually do in Florida. I loved every minute of it!!!!

By the time we finished our kayak trip, we had been out for almost four hours. I didn't realize how sore my arms were until the next morning. Between kayaking and rock climbing, I got a decent amount of exercise while I was on vacation. My arms felt like jello for a couple days. But it was SOOOO worth it!!!!

That night, John took me to Ybor City. It's kind of a little party town not too far fromTampa. There were several little artsy shops, and a few expensive clothing stores down there. We ate dinner at a pretty nice brewery. We ate some coconut shrimp, which was delicious, and conch fritters for our appetizers. The conch fritters were awesome!!! I'm really glad we ate so much seafood while I was there. Normally, I'm not a big fan, but I ate some really good food while I was down there this time. Again, the salmon steaks were by far the best meal I had.

Here's John sitting outside the reastaurant in Ybor City.

This was the best I could do picture-wise at night with my cheap little digi cam. Ybor City in all it's glory..................

After we ate dinner at the brewery, we went back to John's house and started burning CD's from his computer. I think I came home with close to forty new Cd's to listen to. I'm going alphabetically, and I'm still on "B."

In between burning some of the CD's, we decided it was our last chance to get a quick drum lesson in. John played some really "nasty" stuff as he would say :-) He has a child's size drum set in his living room. His real drum set is all in cases in the corner. It was a lot of fun to hear him play again. It's been a long time. He let me sit down and gave me a little lesson on the basics. It was so much fun. We tried to keep an eye out for his neighbor coming home. We didn't want to keep him up all night again. John gave me an acronym to remember some important things about playing the drums. CRUF: C- be Confident, R- Relax, U- elbow Up, F- wrist Flat. Now, if I only had a drum set to actually practice all that. I finished off the last bottle of wine that I had bought the first night I got while we played drums and burned CD's all night long. It seemed like we got a lot done that last night I was there, but there was still so much left to do. I guess I'll just have to go back sometime soon :-)

This is the last picture of John and me together. I think it's pretty obvious that we had both finished off a few drinks by then.......................... he he he................................... Check out the cheeseburger in the background. I think we have Craig S. to thank for that. I'm pretty sure that is right out of Steak and Shake. Looks pretty authentic to me!!

I had to get up at about 9:00 to get ready to catch my plane. That was a little earlier than I would have liked to get up, but I caught a nap on the plane on the way to North Carolina. I had a lay-over in Charlotte. It was only supposed to be an hour, but it turned into a three hours by the time I got out of there. On the way out of Charlotte, I took a couple pictures from the plane and decided to take a nap. I landed in Indy about two hours late, but luckily, I had gotten ahold of my friend who was picking me up so she wouldn't have to wait too long. After meeting up with them, I went back to their house to pick up my car and Delilah. They took care of her for the weekend so Ryan would have one less dog to deal with while he was working on the house.

It was great to get home, and especially to sleep in my own bed again. But, I had a wonderful time, and I can't wait to go back!!!!!