Well, today is Wednesday, and Guy's flight back to San Antonio is this afternoon, so this is his last day with us. We began the day by making some coffee and taking it down to the dock, where we just sat enjoying the morning.
On his way down with some yogurt, Fred got the picture at left from the second level balcony, and when he came down to us he got another picture of
Guy and I at the dock.
We stayed at the dock for quite a while, until about eleven, I think, just talking and enjoying the morning. Then we went and got cleaned up and decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch.
We walked over there and got
an outside table
and sat there for quite a few minutes before someone came to tell us that we needed to go inside and put our names on a seating list. The wait inside was a bit less than for the outside tables, so we put our names down and went back outside to the little
plaza on the corner
to wait the fifteen minutes it took to get seated.
While we were eating, I tried to get a good picture of the
interior decoration at the Cheesecake Factory,
but the picture turned out only moderately well. In any event, it was a pleasant lunch, but a little subdued since Guy had to leave shortly.
After lunch, we walked along Las Olas for a while and then returned to the condo to let Guy get his things together for his trip home. About three o'clock we left for the airport to drop Guy off.
Getting from the Airport to My Condo: A Movie Sequence
This is an odd little section. When we came back from the airport after dropping Guy off, we were heading north into town on Federal Highway (US-1), and I got the idea to take some movies of the various turns we have to make to get to the condo from there. Why, I am not sure, but here they are anyway. I took five movies, each one beginning at approximately the location of its number on the aerial view at left, and continuing for 15-30 seconds after that point.
The first movie, watchable with the player below, begins with us driving north on Federal Highway north of 17th street but south of the Kinney Tunnel under the New River:
Airport to Condo: Sequence 1
The next four movies in the sequence can be watched with the players below:
(2) We begin just a few blocks south of the Kinney Tunnel, and go most of the way through to the north side of the New River
(3) We start on Federal two blocks south of Broward, and turn right onto Broward
Instead of going all the way to Broward, it is actually possible to turn a block earlier to go east to SE 8th, but it involves a tricky maneuver right after exiting from the tunnel. There is a street that runs from Las Olas alongside and above Federal that joins Federal as it comes up out of the tunnel, and the maneuver involves doing a quick cut across that lane to make the turn. You have to be very careful that there is no car coming along that street heading north or you could easily turn into it. I would never advise anyone to try it. Of course, you can't simply turn right from Federal onto my street, SE 4th, because by the time Federal comes up to grade again after the tunnel, you are already four or five blocks north of it, which is why you have to double back.
(4) We make a right turn from Broward onto SE 8th Ave (I got it wrong in the movie) and a go a couple of blocks south towards Las Olas
(5) We have crossed Las Olas and dead-ended into SE 4th Street; we make a left turn to head two blocks east along SE 4th Street to pull into my parking space at Riverview Gardens
The movies were fun to take, and maybe you got something out of them.
This evening, our friend, Dr. Brent Whitley, has invited Fred and I to come over and have some dinner with him. With the chaotic schedule that Brent works in his emergency room, it is often tough to arrange times to get together, so we were anxious to come over and see him. We have known him for about five years, now, and usually try to see him when we come down to Fort Lauderdale.
Getting to Brent's house is pretty easy. From my condo, I just go down to SE 8th Avenue, north to Broward Boulevard, and west to SW 12th Avenue. Then we head south on that street through a not-so-good neighborhood, but when 12th crosses a canal off the New River, the neighborhood changes abruptly, for now most of the homes are waterfront homes and pretty pricey. We have to make a jog over on SW 5th Place to pick up SW 12th Avenue again, and we take that a few blocks south until just before it makes a turn to the west and changes name, and that is where Brent's house is.
Brent's house has frontage on the New River and for that reason, even though the older house is fairly small, it is very expensive, and Brent usually has to have a roommate to help pay the expenses. But it is a nice house inside, and has some nice gardens outside. Brent is a "bird" person, and has
a large parrot
who stays inside, and a few more outside birds that are kept in a large cage in the garden.
Before dinner, Fred and I chatted with Brent (who was a bit preoccupied with a case he was working on and he was on the phone quite a bit trying to get some tests arranged) and with his roommate (also named Brent, oddly enough) about not much in particular. Since Brent is quite tall and his roommate is much shorter, his roommate is often referred to as "little Brent," such so conversations don't get too confusing.
While we were chatting, Fred got a chance to
hold the inside parrot,
and both he an I, with little Brent helping, let the parrot walk around on us and get some "parrot treats." I took a bunch of movies, not all of which turned out really well or were particularly noteworthy, must at least some of them did turn out well or were humorous in one way or another. Brent was so busy that he actually doesn't appear in any of these movies; the fellow that you will see talking to Fred is his roommate. Anyway, I have put players for six of these movies below; feel free to watch as many as you like:
Dinner was very pleasant, and we ended up watching a movie on Brent's big-screen plasma TV. (Brent seems to spend most of what he makes, which I assume is considerable, on adult toys. His audio-visual system is pretty amazing, he has a couple of cars and two or three motorcycles. His house is very nicely furnished, and much of it has been renovated from when he bought it.) Brent is a really nice guy, and we are happy that we met him years ago at a party given by Ty and Scott.
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