March 27, 2010: The Josh Turner Concert at Billy Bob's Texas
	February 20, 2010: A Visit to the Fort Worth Museum District
	Return to Index for 2010

This month we are making another of our frequent trips down to Fort Lauderdale. I should point out that we have been going down there so frequently of late that the number of pictures we take has decreased tremendously. Usually, there are just a couple of things we might do that warrant very many of them. For previous trips, I've provided an index page for the trip's individual days, but that is no longer necessary. We'll just use the normal page index, such as the one on this page, to let you jump to an event that occurred anytime during the trip.

Getting to Fort Lauderdale

We followed our usual route down to Florida this time. I've driven the route so many times that I could almost do it blindfolded. I-20 to Shreveport, I-49 to Lafayette, I-10 to Jacksonville and I-95 to Fort Lauderdale. I used to head south on I-75 after Tallahassee and then take Florida's Turnpike, but it only saves 25 miles or so and costs ten bucks in tolls. Plus there is always congestion through Orlando, and so given all these things the route we take now is better.

The only pictures that we took on the way down were taken by Fred as we crossed the Mississippi River bridge at Baton Rouge. Fred was intrigued by the symmetry of the girders above us, so since it was a nice day I rolled back the sunroof so he could get some good shots. If you want to see them, just click on the little thumbnail images at left.

We stayed overnight at a Super 8 Motel just south of Jacksonville. Not one of the nicest ones we'd seen; I definitely would pick one elsewhere nearby next time. We got down to the condo on the 11th in the afternoon, got settled in to the condo and had dinner at the Floridian.

The Fort Lauderdale St. Patrick's Day Parade

On Saturday the 13th, Fort Lauderdale held its St. Patrick's Day parade. That's not actually the right day, but it was a Saturday when everyone would be free to be in it or watch it. The parade route came right down Las Olas, and so all we had to do was walk a block over to Las Olas to watch it.

We watched the parade as it turned the corner from SE 8th Street onto Las Olas heading west from our vantage point alongside the lawn that is at the southwest corner of that intersection. There used to be a row of shops and restaurants where that lawn is, but the Riverside Hotel people, who owned the property, did not renew any of the leases a couple of years ago and then when all the buildings were vacant, tore them down. We assumed that they'd be expanding the hotel onto that property, but that hasn't happened, and eventually the area was sodded and has now been a lawn for some time. The only addition has been a couple of steel sculptures placed near the corner. You can see pictures of them here and here.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

The parade itself was interesting- if not a bit predictable. There was the obligatory sprinkling of local politicos, a couple of high school marching bands and lots and lots of classic cars decked out in green. There were also quite a few people in costume, and many of the costumes were professionally done- such as this leprechaun. Fred and I took quite a few pictures, and I am including rather more of them than really called for here. Because of that, then rather than give you a couple of dozen thumbnails to click on individually, I've used a slideshow instead- one that you can move through quickly and easily.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at left and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

On March 14th, Guy Blair came down from Green Bay to spend a week with us; we looked forward to doing a lot with him, but also to just allowing him to relax and decompress.

A Tour of Vizcaya in Miami

In talking with Guy at the dock this morning, I happened to mention that since it was such a nice day we might drive down to Miami and tour the estate at Vizcaya. As you may have seen previously in this photo album, I have been to Vizcaya before. Lowery Evans, Ron Drew and I came down here in 1999 when they were living in Brandon, FL, and they came over to Fort Lauderdale for a visit. I thought it might be something that both Fred and Guy would like- since there were antiques for Guy and gardens for Fred and lots of neat architecture for both of them. So that is what we did.

Getting to Vizcaya

Having been there before, I thought it would be something that Guy and Fred would like to see, and so today we have driven down I-95 to the shore of Biscayne Bay just south of downtown Miami to this old estate.

The area south of downtown Miami is extremely upscale- only slightly less so that the islands in Biscayne Bay. There is a lot of old money on Star Island and Fisher Island, and also in the area around Vizcaya.

To get there, I followed the directions I'd looked up in the morning and we found it without trouble. We parked in the almost empty lot (this being a weekday) and headed over to the ticket booth at the top of the drive leading to the house.

A Bit of History

Vizcaya was the winter residence of American industrialist James Deering from Christmas 1916 until his death in 1925. Deering was a Vice President of the International Harvester Company, which produced agricultural equipment for a worldwide market. He chose a bayfront site in Miami for his tropical winter home because of the location’s temperate winter climate and his appreciation of the native hardwood hammock. At the time of Vizcaya’s construction, Miami’s population was around 10,000. More than 1,000 workers were employed in the Vizcaya project, including laborers and craftsmen from the Caribbean and Europe. In addition to the house and gardens, the complex included a farm, livestock, and a variety of other service facilities covering 180 acres on both sides of South Miami Avenue.

When he began building his winter home, Deering engaged the assistance of Paul Chalfin, a young New York painter, to supervise the entire project. Deering and Chalfin traveled throughout Europe surveying residential architecture for ideas and obtaining components such as doors, wall panels, mantels and ceilings that would be incorporated into the proposed home. Also working on the project were architect F. Burrall Hoffman and Colombian landscape architect Diego Suarez. The house was intended to appear as an Italian estate that had stood for 400 years and had been occupied and renovated by several generations of a family. It has 34 decorated rooms with 15th through 19th century antique furnishings and art objects. The house appears to be only two stories high but between the main public rooms and the bedrooms, there is an intervening level with 12 rooms for servants and service.

The expansive gardens combine elements of Renaissance Italian and French designs. Suarez and Chalfin worked for seven years, perfecting the design of the gardens as one vast outdoor room with the elements serving as complementary parts of an integrated area. Key features include the many fountains, a central pool surrounding an elevated island, the elevated Mound with its small house, or “Casino,” statuary, and several themed gardens.

The hurricane of 1926, which devastated much of Miami, extensively damaged the house, surrounding grounds and formal gardens. Deering's heirs, Marion Deering McCormick and Barbara employed the estate's original designer to oversee a restoration. They attempted to operate the estate as an attraction, but another major hurricane in 1935 overwhelmed their efforts. Eventually most of the land was sold for development. In 1952, Deering’s heirs generously conveyed the main house and formal gardens to Dade County, for a sum below the actual value. Deering's heirs donated the estate's substantial furnishings and art to the County on condition that Vizcaya be used as a public museum in perpetuity.

Over the years the effects of South Florida’s humid climate and salt air have taken their toll on Vizcaya, necessitating continuous restoration. Although the house’s design allowed the free flow of breezes through the open courtyard, the need to preserve the building and contents required the installation of a climate and humidity control system, including enclosing the open courtyard in glass. Today we can only imagine how Vizcaya felt as an open-air house, with the sounds of birds and the bay, the sudden rain showers, and the fragrance of flowers.

Today, we'll be touring the main house, followed by the formal gardens and ending with the quay that was built along Biscayne Bay. We'll return to the entrance via the north side of the house.

Entry to Vizcaya

One buys tickets at a little kiosk near the parking area, and just past that kiosk is the main driveway that leads down to the main house where we will be taking our tour. In front of the house is a large circular carriageway/driveway; on one end is the entrance to the north side of the property that we will visit on our way out. But you can see Guy and I and that entrance here.

Also in this area were a pair of very ornate fountains. We had a few minutes before the next tour of the house was to begin, so we just enjoyed the sunshine and some of the sculptures along the drive.

Touring the Main House

The tour of the main house was very interesting. The only problem was that photography is not allowed on the tour (perhaps because it delays things too much), a practice reminiscent of Biltmore House. Since I had a very small, unobtrustive camera, though, I violated that restriction numerous times as we moved through the rooms of the mansion. Because I couldn't use my flash, some of the pictures didn't turn out well. Where needed, I'll supplement my pictures with some from Vizcaya's Web site. (Fred did not take any pictures during the tour of the mansion.) The tour began in the entrance loggia. The entrance loggia was originally open to the outdoors, its shaded vaults and cool marble surfaces offering visitors a transition from the subtropical heat to the shaded rooms within. The main entrance to the house is at the right in this picture. Just behind the reception desk is a colonnade and beyond that the central atrium. Although it is enclosed now, the atrium used to be open to the sky and in all four directions through wide breezeways. When the tour began, we turned left first and came through the doorway from which this picture was taken.

As we start the tour, I should probably point out that the main house is basically a large square, and we entered the house in the middle of the western side of the square. On the first floor, there are rooms on the north and south sides of the square (to our right and left) in the center of the square is another, smaller square that was originally the open central courtyard. Wide open breezeways led both to the main drive on the west and to Biscayne Bay on the east. Smaller open hallways led from the central courtyard to the small gardens on the north side of the house and the formal gardens on the south side. Thus, fresh air was constantly moving through the house in whatever direction the wind happened to be blowing. The courtyard was bordered by colonnades that were open to the courtyard on the inner side and bordered by the various rooms on the outer side. Today, the house is air-conditioned, mostly for the benefit of tourists but also to keep the interior from

On the second floor, there were rooms all around the sides of the square. The interior was still open, however, and there were balcony hallways overlooking the courtyard on three of the four sides of the square as well as some individual balconies for individual rooms on the outside of the house. There were main stairways in two corners of the house and smaller service stairways in the other two.

Generally, our tour went clockwise around the first floor ending in the southwest part of the floor, and then went up a small service stairway to the second floor, where it continued around in the same direction before descending another stairway back down to the first floor. We ended in the courtyard where the tour guide answered questions.

So as we turned to the north from the entrance loggia, we passed through an area where there were bathrooms that Deering's visitors might use on their arrival and then walked into the Reception Room. Here, guests would have gathered for small, formal get-togethers or cocktails.

I took some other pictures here in the Reception Room, and you can have a look at them if you click on the thumbnail images below:

Leaving the Reception Room, we walked east across a hallway to what appeared to be a general living room. The room was wonderfully furnished. It included a small pipe organ in one corner of the room and a huge fireplace at the other end of the salon. This movie pans around the room.

There were two other very pretty rooms here in this part of the house where either my pictures didn't turn out or I couldn't get one, so I'll use pictures from the Vizcaya Web site:

James Deering's Library features a door to the Reception Room concealed in the bookcase. The Music Room's intimate scale was designed to suit Vizcaya's string instruments, including a harp, and a dulcimer (seen on the tabletop at far right).

We were now at the northeast corner of the first floor of the mansion, and to get to the next series of rooms we had to walk south through the East Loggia. This open breezeway, overlooking Biscayne Bay, served as the entrance for guests arriving at Vizcaya by boat. This area is enclosed, now, to keep the sea air from damaging the interior of the house any further. Both before and after crossing the loggia, there was a colonaded walkway that bordered the rooms on the north side of the house.

One of the first rooms we entered on the south side of the house was the Banquet Hall. The Banquet Hall was used for formal dining at Vizcaya. James Deering preferred to entertain guests at lunchtime.

Turning west on the tour, we crossed the Tea Room. This beautiful, bright and airy room overlooks the formal gardens to the south. It features stained glass doors that both filter the harsh sunlight and cast colorful reflections on the inlaid marble floors. I thought that the Tea Room was one of the nicest rooms we saw, even though it contained almost no furniture. (I presume that in Deering's time there were either tables always set up or ones that could be brought in as needed. There was a very ornate courtyard entrance from the Tea Room. Just off this room, behind the large fireplace, was a room where Deering's various sets of china and silver were kept. There was also, as you might expect, a large collection of different tea services that he had acquired.

The main kitchen and service areas for the house were located in the southwest corner, and our tour continued through the china storage off the Tea Room into that area. Here, we took a spiral staircase to the second floor.

On the second floor were James Deering's suite, various guest rooms, a small kitchen to serve the floor and a breakfast room. I can't recall the order of the rooms, so I'll just show you the pictures. There are some rooms that we either did not visit or where it was difficult for me to take surreptitious pictures. For those rooms, I will just show you a picture of it taken from the Vizcaya Web site.

The "Cathay" guest room is named for an archaic term for China. Silent movie star Lilian Gish stayed here when she visited Vizcaya in 1917. My own picture of the Cathay guest room did not turn out so well.

The Breakfast Room's mixture of Neapolitan seascapes, Chinese ceramics and European-made "Chinoiserie" connotes the exchange of artistic goods and styles between East and West in the Age of Exploration.

I was able to get a couple of good pictures in the Breakfast Room, and you can see them here and here.

Just off the Breakfast Room there was a second small kitchen that we were told served the Breakfast Room and also prepared anything that Deering or his guests needed when they were in their bedrooms and suites.

I did make a movie here in the Breakfast Room to show you the paintings and furnishings.

The guest bedrooms at Vizcaya are named for famous people, styles or places that their design evokes. The 18th century-style room shown at left is named "Espagnolette" after a decorative motif derived from ladies' lace collars.

I took pictures in a couple of the other guest rooms here on the second floor, and you can have a look at them here and here.

When the tour was done on the second floor, we descended one of the larger staircases to gather in the courtyard for a Q&A session. The courtyard used to be open to the sky, but now it has a glass roof so that the house can be air-conditioned. When the questions were over, Guy and Fred and I went out the front entrance and around to the south to the formal gardens.

The Formal Gardens

The next thing we did here at Vizcaya was to walk through the formal gardens. Generally, we worked our way from the house along the north side of the gardens to the back (southwest) and then back to the house zigzagging through the center of the gardens. We all took somewhat different routes, wandering around looking at what interested us, and so I won't try to draw a route on the aerial view at left. What I will do, though, is try to indicate where our various pictures were taken. Even though we weren't always together, I'll group our pictures of the same area together, regardless of who took them or exactly when they were taken.

The Fountain and Steps (1)

As soon as you come around the house to the gardens, you are on a broad flagstone patio. Here, you can see Biscayne Bay off to the east, where we will go shortly. At the edge of the patio and at the top of the steps there is a very interesting fountain shown here with myself and Guy and here with Fred and Guy). The wide steps lead down to the top of the gardens where there are walls, shrubbery and statuary on either side.

We descended the steps so Fred could get a picture of the three of us with the gardens in the background. That picture turned out very well, and you can have a look at it here. Fred also took a picture looking towards the back of the gardens. Meanwhile, I was taking some pictures around the base of the steps. The garden is very symmetrical, particularly near the house. On either side of the top of the gardens (at the bottom of the steps), there are curved walls with archways; the archways lead to small enclosed gardens. For example, the archway that you can see just at the right of this picture of the curved wall on the east side led to the small garden shown here.

North Side Pool (2)
North Side Walkway (3)

On either side of the northeast end of the gardens and up on a raised walkway/platform there is a pool of water. The pool is enclosed by a circular stone wall- higher in back than in front- and topped with columns and sculptures. You can see a view of the pool on the north side of the gardens here. The water was pretty green, indicating that there is no filtration system, and so I supposed that rainwater fills the pools (or there might be water added occasionally). There were some interesting plants growing out of the rock walls, which were rough and porous. Fred took a very good picture of the three of us by this circular pool, and you can see that picture here. From our vantage point here by the pool, there was a good view across the top of the gardens to main house.

When we left the area by the little pool, we took the walkway that headed southwest. This walkway is raised up about six feet from the level of the main garden and lined with Greek Revival sculptures. Fred took a very good picture of he and I on this walkway with the mansion as a backdrop, and you can see that picture here.

The Mound (4)

We are heading back towards the southwest end of the garden. The view at left, which was taken from the Vizcaya Web site and is from the South Terrace, shows our destination- The Mound. Here, a two-roomed pavilion called The Casino offers visitors a refined place to rest and enjoy the view of the main gardens. We are going to be approaching The Mound from the north side (or right side in the picture at left).

When we got to the end of the raised walkway, we went down some stone stairs and found ourselves at the base of The Mound. The Mound is an elevated area, perhaps twenty feet above the level of the main garden. At the front of The Mound, facing the mansion, there is a stairway on either side that leads up halfway, circles a short distance around the front of The Mound, and then continues to the top. Here is a picture of Fred on the stairway. There are, as I found out, six ways to the top of The Mound. Two of them are the stair sets you just saw. On the north and south sides of The Mound there are wide, inclined stairs reminiscent of something you might see at a Mayan Temple in Mexico. Finally, if you walk around to the back of The Mound, you will find two sets of curved stairs that wrap around the rear of The Casino.

I noticed that behind The Mound there were some of those striped poles that you usually see in pictures of the canals of Venice; there were actually two or three of them in some disrepair. When I looked closer, I saw that there was water here. It looked like a swamp now, but the poles were on the edge of a stone platform that was right at the edge of the water. I can only assume that at some point the area was open water, perhaps accessible from Biscayne Bay, and that people could get to The Casino by boat- perhaps from the quay at the main house. Now, though, the area seemed unused.

Going Up to The Casino

As I left the stone dock I started a movie that will take you from the dock and up the curved stairs you saw earlier. We will get to the top of The Mound and take a look all around and then go into The Casino.

My movie ended when we looked out from the balcony of The Casino back down to the stone dock. It was only then that I noticed the ceiling of The Casino, and its beautiful frescoes reminiscent of the Sistine Chapel but on a much smaller scale. They were very pretty, and I was fortunate that Fred had taken two excellent pictures of them. Have a look at those pictures here and here.

I went back out in front of The Casino a ways and then made a movie looking in all directions from the top of The Mound. I also took a still picture of one of the two fountains here at the top of The Mound.

All the way at the front of The Mound is another large fountain. Water fills the top of the fountain and then cascades down stone ledges to the bottom. Fred took an excellent picture from the top of The Mound of this beautiful fountain.

From The Mound we walked back through the main garden, looked at a fountain off to the side and generally just enjoyed the stroll. Around The Mound and on the way back I took some miscellaneous pictures that turned out well, and you can have a look at them if you click on the thumbnail images below:

The Quay at Vizcaya

When we finished in the gardens, we were back at the south side of the mansion patio. There, bordered by hedges, was a walkway that led over to Biscayne Bay and the quay, or dock, for Vizcaya. We followed that path to explore the quay.

The Gazebo

First, we headed towards the south end of the stone quay. At that end, there is a stone and metal gazebo that sits right at the water's edge. We had to wait just a bit; there was a photographer doing pictures for a "Quinceañera" (sometimes also called "Fiesta Quinceañera," or simply "quinces") which is a traditional celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday. It is traditional for the girl to have a white or pastel gown, similar to a wedding gown but plainer, in which she has portraits done. That's what was going on here; the girl and photographer were being followed by her mother and an assistant with shoes and accessories for the photo shoot. They took their time, but eventually we were able to walk to the end of the quay and then go over a short stone bridge and enter the gazebo. (This picture was actually taken from the North Dock at the other end of the quay.)

The gazebo had a beautiful inlaid marble floor, walls and doorways and windows with a latticework covering, and a latticework metal dome. The color scheme was cream and sea foam and the overall effect was restful and pleasant. The view through one of the archways was of the stone barge, and the gazebo also offered excellent views of the quay and mansion.

We stayed in the gazebo for a while, just relaxing and enjoying the shade and the wonderful views. Fred took some additional pictures while we were here, and you can have a look at them if you will click on the small thumbnail images at right.

The Quay and Stone Barge

We walked back north along the stone walkway from the gazebo, and presently found ourselves on the quay proper, right in front of the mansion. (Fred also took a closeup picture of the roof of the mansion and its weathervane to show the detail that had been achieved. You can have a look at that picture here.)

Standing in front of the mansion we had a perfect view of the Stone Barge.

On a practical level, Vizcaya's Stone Barge acts as a breakwater against tidal surges. On an artistic level, the limestone sculpture extends the art and architecture of the main house and gardens beyond the shoreline and into the waters of Biscayne Bay.

It reminded me of Cleopatra's barge from the movies, except that all the figures aboard it were of limestone.

With the striped poles, though, the scene was even more evocative of Venice.

Fred took some additional pictures of the Stone Barge using various angles and his wonderful zoom lens. Have a look at these pictures by clicking on the small thumbnail images below:

The North Dock

As we continued walking along the quay to the north, we had a line of sight through the center of the Stone Barge and out into Biscayne Bay. Fred took an intriguing picture with his zoom of this view, and you can have a look at it here. Ahead of us we could see the North Dock. We walked around the curve in the quay, crossed the bridge to the North Dock and then we were on it. From this vantage point, there were excellent views in all directions. We could look south towards the Stone Barge and the Gazebo, out into Biscayne Bay, and north along the shoreline to Miami. I took some good pictures from the North Dock, and if you want to see them, just click on the thumbnail images below:

View From the North Dock

While I was standing on the lower level of the North Dock, I panned the camera around 360 degrees to show you the entire view from the north end of the quay at Vizcaya.

The North Gardens/Leaving Vizcaya

From the North Dock, we crossed back over the bridge to the quay and then walked by the mansion on its north side. Just at the northeast corner of the house, we found a swimming pool below grade- accessible, we found out, from the lower level of the main house. Continuing along the walkway, we came to the David A. Klein Orchidarium which allows visitors to enjoy rare and colorful orchids in bloom. Then it was just a little ways further to the entrace gate that allows access to the north garden area.

We were back around at the front of Vizcaya now, and ready to walk back up the drive to the parking area. I noticed that along the side of the driveway there was a very interesting water feature. It was a long, stairstepped watercourse with water flowing from the top of the drive all the way down to the bottom.

The water feature was extremely pretty, and so I thought I would make a movie as I walked along it heading up the drive. When you get to the end of the movie, you will see Fred turn to take a picture of me, and you can see that picture here. Also, when I got to the fountain at the top of the water feature, I took a picture looking back down its length, and you can see that picture here.

Returning to Fort Lauderdale

To get back to the condo, we thought that we'd drive through South Beach and have some lunch. So we took I-95 north to I-395 east. This highway is the main causeway to Miami Beach. Once we got to South Beach, we parked the car on Collins Avenue and walked around looking for a restaurant. We saw some typical South Beach architecture one the way, and eventually found a TGI Friday's right on Ocean Drive in South Beach.

I knew a little about Miami traffic, having been here on business before, so I knew it would be a losing proposition to go back over to I-95 which, by this time, would be a parking lot. So both to make better time and to give Fred and Guy a tour of Miami Beach, we just headed up A1A, paralleling the beach. There was a lot more to look at this way, and we made decent time. Up by Hollywood, I cut back inland to pick up US 1, and we took that the rest of the way back to Fort Lauderdale.

The visit to Vizcaya was certainly interesting, and I think Fred and Guy enjoyed it.

The Rest of Guy's Visit to Fort Lauderdale

The trip to Vizcaya was the major thing we did while Guy was here. The rest of the time, we just did usual stuff around the condo and around the area. For the remainder of Guy's visit, we'll just go day by day.

March 16: A Walk to the Beach

This morning Guy was up early, so we joined him and sat down at the dock for a while, and then came back into the condo to make some breakfast. Then we decided to take a walk over to the beach and back. We followed the usual route along Las Olas all the way to the beach, and then up the beach as far as Sebastian Street. Then we turned around and came back the same way. When the weather is nice, as it was today, this is always a pleasant walk. If you would like to look at some of the pictures that Fred and I took along the way, just click on the thumbnail images below:

March 18: Lunch at the Briny Pub

We didn't do much noteworthy today, but we did walk up the river to the Briny Irish Pub for lunch. It's always nice to walk along the river to go eat.

While we were seated at the Briny Irish Pub waiting for our lunch, a rather large yacht came under the Andrews Street Bridge, and I walked away from the table and out onto the Riverwalk to get a movie of it. I also took a still picture of the yacht.

We returned to the condo via Las Olas, stopping first at the fountain in Huizenga Park. We took two pictures at the fountain- one of Guy and Fred and one of Guy and myself. Also on the way back we were walking in front of the Starbucks and someone had put a huge, bright red club chair on a pedestal out front. I read the plaque on the base; it was interactive art, and people were encouraged to sit in the chair. So we did, and got a full set of pictures:

                 Fred and Guy
                 Guy and I
                 Fred and I

March 19: Lauderdale-by-the-Sea

Today, Guy has to leave to get back to Green Bay. His flight was in the afternoon, so we had time to sit by the dock for a while and also go to a restaurant at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea for lunch (that's where Commercial Avenue ends at the ocean) before we had to get Guy to the airport.

At the dock, we chatted and had coffee while the boats went by and the Water Taxi made a couple of stops next door. Then we went up to the Village Grill in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and had lunch. Afterwards, we walked over to the beach. There is a fishing pier there, and it is a popular place to come. An obliging local took our picture- the one you see at left.

As soon as we got back to the condo it was time to take Guy out to the airport. We enjoyed his visit, as we have enjoyed every visit he has made down here (and this is probably his fifth or sixth).

The Rest Our Visit to Fort Lauderdale

Guy left on Friday the 19th, and Fred and I stayed until Tuesday the 23rd when we headed home. For the remainder of our trip down here, we spent a lot of time doing our normal routine things- surfing, playing frisbee, riding our bikes, walking, and having some meals with Jay and Ron (we always enjoy seeing them whenever we are down here). The only pictures that we took during the rest of our trip were taken on Saturday evening before we went over to Ron and Jay's. We were sitting down by the dock having our frozen drinks, and Fred got some candid shots of the activity on the river in front of us. To have a look at these pictures, click on the thumbnail images below:

On Tuesday morning, we packed up the car and headed off for home. We followed our usual route- up I-95 to Jacksonville, west on I-10 to Lafayette, Louisiana, where we stayed overnight, then I-49 to Shreveport and I-20 home to Dallas. We arrived Wednesday afternoon about four. It was a good trip, as they always are.

You can use the links below to continue to the album page for different day.

	March 27, 2010: The Josh Turner Concert at Billy Bob's Texas
	February 20, 2010: A Visit to the Fort Worth Museum District
	Return to Index for 2010