A morning in Fort Lauderdale

[amazondk]

I flew up to Miami from Manaus on last Saturday April 25 and spent a few days with my sons. My son Shane who is 27 is moving to San Diego from Fort Lauderdale, I think so he can surf more. So, it was real nice to spend some time with him driving around town and visiting some of our favorite places. I left from Fort Lauderdale on Monday afternnoon to go to Montana for my dad`s 90th birthday so we had Monday morning to take some pictures. I also had purchased a new camera that I wanted to try out. Since quite a few board members live in the area the scenes are surely familar. I have always liked Fort Laudedale and over the years I have either lived there or been close to the place have seen a lot of changes. When I moved from the SF Bay area to Fort Lauderdale in 1980 it was a quite different place. There was no Riverwalk, in fact there basically was no downtown, the beach had pay parking and you would park at night and watch the cars go by, Las Olas was a season only place. And, Spriing Break was the big event of the year. I am currently sitting in Great Falls, MT, with the outside temperature at 22 F. So, the ocean breeze seems appealing.

Here are a few images of what I saw on Monday morning during our outing.

Downtown behind the library.

Toward Riverwalk

Riverwalk

[amazondk]

More Riverwalk

[amazondk]

My son Shane.

[amazondk]

There are boats just like Manaus, although for the most part a bit more pricy.

[amazondk]

We then headed over to the beach via Las Olas Blvd. And, I made a little photo stop.

[amazondk]

On the way over to the beach we stopped at one of the Isles along Las Olas for a few more pictures.

[amazondk]

Then for our walk along the beach road A1A.

In spite of the global financial crises there still are few tourists in town.

[amazondk]

[amazondk]

[amazondk]

Not all on the beach were on vacation, some just were hanging out with not much of any place to go.

And other enjoying the sun.

And, my son was enjoying the sights. Although he is more than used to them.

[amazondk]

I remember when the Beach Place area was built. It was sort of a turing point for development on the beach.

[amazondk]

The view of the beach is great and the day was breezy and warm. Well, a bit cooler than Manaus.

[amazondk]

The last stop was Hooters for lunch. There is one in Sao Paulo, but not Manaus. So, I had to have some wings.

It was a great father and son outing. Maybe next time I can do this in San Diego.

[amazondk]

The last thing we did was drive by the site of our old house in Pointsettia Heights. When I sold the house in 2005 it was torn down to put up this monument to non neighborhood theme architecture. I am sure it is worth a bit less than it was sold for at this time. The ripped out most of the trees I had planted. But the cassia on the left which I grew from a seed I collected on Dixie Highway and the Poinciana I planted in 1981 are still there.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Great photos! I just drove thru the beach and Las Olas this morning on the way to work from the airport... It still looks like it did on the 25th.

[bgl]

Don,

Nice photos! And yes, Fort Lauderdale has surely changed quite a bit (we moved away from the area in 1986). Was back there in 2007. Visited an old friend from Sweden. He and his wife bought a house on one of the canals just north of Las Olas. And we also took a cruise on the canals in his boat.

Bo-Göran

[mike in kurtistown]

Don,

Your pictures of Ft. Lauderdale have the same dreamy, atmospheric quality as your pictures of the Rio Negro. There's a real talent there, dude.

While in Florida, we had a Palmfest (all Florida palm societies) in Ft. Lauderdale, as part of which we took a long boat trip down the river to our restaurant destination. The shore was lined for miles with million-dollar boats and ten-million-dollar houses. Some of the houses had remarkable architecture, including many elaborate pavilions overlooking the river. It was awesome.

Mike

[Kim]

What a beautiful urban beach area! Nice photos, Don, it's fun to see the world through your eyes.

[BS Man about Palms]

Great photo thread Don. Look us up in San Diego!!

[amazondk]

I am glad everyone enjoyed the outing. I am really enjoying my new camera which has a 20 x zoom lens. I can't wait to take pictures back home in Amazonia. Here are a few pictures from the rest of the trip at Great Falls, Montana. I was raised by the Missouri River on the high plains of central Montana and it is a special place as well. It is a real contrast from the beach of Fort Lauderdale.

Can you believe it 18 inches of snow the last days of April.

The old 9th street bridge, now a monument.

Canada geese on the river

Looking toward the Great Falls of the Missouri. This is the area that Lewis and Clark crossed the Missouri on their epoch trip to the Pacific in the early 1800s.

[amazondk]

I went by the Veterans Memorial with my father. He had the names of his brothers and he who all served in WWII placed on the monument. We all have owe a lot to his generation.

More Canada Geese

[amazondk]

Rainbow Falls. I used to climb down there in the summer as a kid and play under the falls. I don't know if kids can still do that, but we had a good time.

Looking down the river. The Missouri is a one of the great rivers of America. I feel quite at home living on the Negro River, maybe in part because I was raised on a great river. I always used to envision the Indians camping along this place.

[kylecawazafla]

Great photos!! I can't believe the Fort Lauderdale pictures were taken in the same state I live in!! I wish it looked even 1% like that over here!!

[Jeff in St Pete]

Don, thanks for all the great photos. What a contrast between palmy Ft Lauderdale and the snow in Montana!

[Really full garden]

I love to see the celebration of palms in the river walk complex.It is sad that developers here make almost no attempt to landscape.It makes such a difference.