Well, Guy has arrived and we've spent the first night in the condo, and we are up this morning to take a walk along Las Olas over to the beach and back. It is a beautiful morning, and Guy is looking forward to getting out.
We left the condo and first walked down to take a look at the interior courtyard at Riverview Gardens where the pool is located. It never seems that we use the pool much, even in the summer.
Then we walked down to the end of the building and the New River, where I picked up with a movie of Guy and Fred walking along the dock. When we got down to the middle of the dock, we found some other residents sitting there having coffee and enjoying the morning, and I made another movie of Guy and Fred. You can watch both these movies with the players below:
Guy and Fred Walking Along the Dock
Guy and Fred at the Dock
Then we walked up to Las Olas and headed east towards the beach. The walk along Las Olas is very pleasant, and it is a little over a mile to the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway, and then just a few more blocks to the beach. We walked along Fort Lauderdale Beach up to Sebastian Beach, and then back down to Las Olas.
As we were walking up onto the bridge again, we found that the drawbridge was up, and so we had to wait. While we were waiting, Fred and I took some pictures of each other and of the scene from the bridge. There are thumbnails for these pictures below, and you can look at the full-size images by clicking on those thumbnails:
(Click on Thumbnails to View)
While we were here, I also made a few movies of the activity on the bridge, and you can watch those movies with the players below. Then it was back to the condo to hook up with Ty and Scott.
Walking to the Performing Arts Center: The Riverwalk
Ty and Scott have been staying in my condo off and on; for the week that we are here, they are staying with some friends instead. But they've come down here this morning to walk along the Riverwalk with us. They had also been given some tickets to a matinee performance at the Performing Arts Center that they could not attend, and so they have given the tickets to us, and we will go instead.
When they got to the condo, we relaxed for a while and then headed off to the Riverwalk. Our route takes us up to Las Olas and then west to cross over the Kinney Tunnel. Along this part of the walk, I took three movies of the five of us walking along Las Olas and, if you'd like to, you can watch those movies in sequence using the players below:
Movie 1
Movie 2
Movie 3
Just after crossing over the Kinney Tunnel, we come to the Hyde Park Market (watch the movie at left)- the only grocery store within walking distance of the condo. Unfortunately, this store had been closed this year because a developer wanted to put up a new high-rise condominium. But there has been a great deal of controversy about it. Many people were sorry to see the market go, for now they would have to drive to buy groceries. Other people didn't much care about the market, but thought there should be a park here. And still other folks were happy with the thought of a new high-rise and the development it would bring. The City Council and other authorities were of similarly divided minds, and so even though the market is already closed, nothing has been done with the site as yet. It is a big mess.
Just past the market, we take a side street one block to the beginning of the actual Riverwalk (watch the movie at right).
From this point all the way to the Performing Arts Center, the Riverwalk has been nicely developed. There are new buildings going in and new docks have been built along the river. The new walkways are nicely landscaped, and it is
very pleasant place to walk.
At a couple of spots during our walk, Fred stopped us to take pictures, and he got a couple of good ones of the four of us- me, Ty, Scott and Guy- and you can take a look at those pictures
here
and
here.
He also took a short movie of the new Water Garden condo going up as well as the Las Olas Grand, and you can watch that movie
with the player at left.
We walked to Riverfront Center, just past the Andrews Avenue Bridge, and with the movie player at right you can watch some of the activity at Riverfront Center.
This area is really nice, with lots of restaurants, a big movie complex, and shops. Some days it seems very slow, but we hope it is a success, for it is a good walking destination.
Just past Riverfront Center, we cross the FEC Railway tracks and then are in an area known as Old Fort Lauderdale. Looking across the river, we can see one of our favorite restaurants-
Shirttail Charlie's;
we plan on eating lunch there at least once while Guy is here. Then, just a bit further on, we reach the area known as River Bend, where the Riverwalk leads around the bend to
the Performing Arts Center.
There is a broad esplanade here, and the Science Museum is nearby as well. There have been rumors of another condo development going up adjacent to the Performing Arts Center, but I don't know for sure.
Here, Ty and Scott gave us the information we'd need to pick up our tickets for the performance, and then they had to leave us.
The matinee performance we saw was called "The Late Night Catechism," and was, essentially, a stand-up comedy routine starring a single comedienne playing the role of a nun in a Catholic school classroom. It was created in 1993 by Vicki Quade and Maripat Donovan, based on their experiences growing up Catholic in Chicago and the stories and experiences they'd heard through the years from friends and family members. It was funny in spots, but I guess you really had to be Catholic to understand much of the humor. The audience seemed to like it, and I guess that's what counts.
Before the performance started, I took one movie of the Broward Performing Arts Center Auditorium, where the performance was staged, and you can watch that movie with the player at left.
I took a number of short movies of portions of the performance, and you can watch one of them with the player at right- just to get an idea of what it was like.
I also took one still picture with my zoom, and you can look at that picture
here.
We got out of the performance about five in the afternoon and, this being November, the sun was heading down. We follwed the same route back to the condo as I marked on the aerial view you've already seen, but I did take a number of movies as we walked back. I also took one still picture (shown at left), of in front of the Performing Arts Center, and you can see the Science Museum with the Blockbuster IMAX Theatre in the background.
But mostly it was movies, and I've provided players below so you can watch as many of them as you wish:
Outside the Performing Arts Center
The New River at River Bend
On the Riverwalk Opposite Shirttail Charlie's
Walking Through Old Fort Lauderdale
Approaching Riverfront Center
Riverfront Center
Walking Along Riverfront Center
Musical Performances at Riverfront Center
Fred and Guy on the Riverwalk
The new River House Under Construction
An Experiment in Moviemaking
Near the Eastern End of the Riverwalk
The next order of business was to make frozen drinks and sit by the dock until time for dinner which was, I think, at Acapulco Lindo.
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