January 2023

Since moving to Fort Lauderdale last year, Scott and I have enjoyed so many cool experiences. The warm weather allows us to be outside almost every weekend. Let’s look back on everything we did in our own back yard!

Our first month here

One thing you will learn about living in Fort Lauderdale, is that there is something to do every single weekend. You will not be bored. In May, we took the water taxi to the Los Olas Beach for an airshow over the beach!

We found a 9-hole golf course just a few miles from our home. While we didn’t see any gators, we did stumble upon some tortoises.

There is also no shortage of walking routes or restaurants!

Summer in Fort Lauderdale

June, July and August are definitely the hottest months here in Florida. In fact, twice we ventured out and I ended up getting very sick from heat stroke. I have learned my lesson and now we take better precautions.

We do miss hiking in the PNW, but we have found a number of parks with some pretty cool walking trails.

Our first venture of the summer was to the National Everglades Park to ride on jet boat and see some gators. That was a must do!

Being so close to the Florida Keys, we hopped in the car at the end of June and headed to Key Largo for a long weekend.

Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi

It is easy to get on the water, as Fort Lauderdale has a water taxi that cruises up and down the new river. We’ve taken this water taxi a number of times, including Christmas in July, Christmas Light Cruise and our trip to Hollywood.

Summer is only just starting

Hurricane season begins July 1st, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying the outdoors. We had heard about a cool farmer’s market called the “Yellow Green Market“, so we had to check it out. It’s a site to see if you are in Fort Lauderdale.

Scott and I have seen some videos about Boca Inlet, so we headed north to check it out. The walk to the inlet was very long and hot. This is one of the days I got heat stroke. It was still a fun day! Here’s the video link of that day. Click here.

We’ve walked a number of times to the Los Olas Beach, which is about a 5 mile round trip from our home. Making this journey in July was brutal!

One morning, Scott and I decided to get up at dawn and watch the sunrise. That was pretty cool!

Summer went by fast for us. For two weekends in August, I was on an epic work trip traveling on a 76 yacht in the Exumas, Bahamas. After that trip, we spent most weekends, laying by the pool.

Fall in Florida

There’s a joke on the internet that Fall in most places is full of beautiful leaves and Florida is simply one palm leaf on the ground. We do miss the changes in seasons, but on the other hand, we love that we did so much this past Fall.

We started September, with another trip to the Florida Keys, this time to Duck Key.

Since September is the peak of hurricane season, we didn’t venture far after Duck Key. Instead, we took advantage of the great weather and enjoyed the scenery in Fort Lauderdale.

During September, when Hurricane Ian hit the west coast, Fort Lauderdale experienced a King Tide that flooded many docks and roadways in downtown.

Staying close to home in September, we drove up to Lauderdale by the Sea. This town is just 15 minutes north of us. It is a very cute town with a beautiful beach and plenty of great restaurants. Sadly, the Angler’s Pier was badly damaged when Hurricane Nicole hit the east coast just a week later.

The year is not over

With three months left in the year, we still had plenty of weekends to explore. October was taken up by FLIBS – Fort Lauderdale Int’l Boat Show. We did walk to the show the weekend before it opened, to check out the super yacht docks.

It seemed like every weekend in November had a festival. The month kicked off with the Day of the Dead festival. Downtown Fort Lauderdale closed off the streets, brought in food trucks, mobile bars and hosted a parade.

The following weekend we headed up to Palm Beach for the Luke Bryan concert. It was so nice, being at an outdoor concert in November! Plus, there was no shortage of bars!

The next weekend, Downtown Fort Lauderdale hosted their first Mutts and Martinis festival. We met some great vendors and Scott was selected to be a judge for the cutest dog contest.

As Thanksgiving was approaching, we decided to enjoy our long holiday weekend aboard Royal Caribbean. It was our first ever cruise on a large cruise ship and since it was just a 3-day trip to the Bahamas, we decided to check it out.

Christmas in Florida

Our close friends Ben and Maria flew in from Seattle to join us in Key West at the start of December. Key West knows how to do Christmas. We highly recommend heading that way.

Downtown Fort Lauderdale didn’t disappoint either. As we mentioned earlier in the blog, we took a water taxi cruise to see the holiday lights, plus we enjoyed Winterfest. Winterfest is Fort Lauderdale’s Holiday Boat Parade and it is a big deal here!

Scott and I were supposed to fly back to Seattle on December 23rd, but due to weather our flight was cancelled. Ironically, Christmas Eve was brutally cold here at about 38 degrees with the windchill factor. So we decided to walk to the Los Olas Beach and check it out. While it was nice that it wasn’t 90 degrees, it was brutally cold!

So much to see and do in South Florida

This has certainly been a year filled with experiences and amazing memories. Since moving here, we have yet to see a manatee, whale or a dolphin. But we have seen plenty of other critters and wildlife.

Whether you are visiting or moving to Fort Lauderdale, know that there is plenty to see and do. Scott and I are looking forward to 2023 and we’re excited to see where our adventures take us this year.

As always, thank you for following our blog. Be sure to subscribe and also follow our YouTube Channel (link below). You can follow us on social @BoatingJourney #BoatingJourney. Cheers, Scott and Ally

Last month we headed back down to Key West with our friends Ben and Maria. Our first stop was Robbie’s of Islamorada of course. It never disappoints and is a must see. This time the pelicans were in full force when we were trying to feed the tarpon.

We stayed three nights at the Opal Resort in downtown Key West which was walking distance to most restaurants and shops. Our room was fantastic and as you can see our ocean view was blocked by a cruise ship. Luckily, it left that evening.

Our first night in Key West

Since this was the first time Ben and Maria have been to Key West we had to hit all of the famous restaurants and bars. We grabbed dinner at Sloppy Joe’s and had drinks at Dirty Harry’s and Captain Tony’s Saloon. What we didn’t know, was the history behind Captain Tony’s which we learned the following night on our haunted pub crawl.

Be sure to look for our Boating Journey sticker!

We were there December 1st and the entire town was decked out for the holidays!

Southern Most Point

The next morning the four of us headed towards the southernmost point, an attraction none of us have been to before. If you recall, the four of us have been to the easternmost point on Saint Croix, so this was cool that we got to do this together. Word of caution though, there will typically be a line for photo opportunities.

The walk there was fun and entertaining.

We had to stop at the Green Parrot for a cocktail and then had a wonderful lunch at the First Flight Brewery, located in original Pan Am Office.

Shipwreck Museum

Later that day, Scott and I decided to check out the Shipwreck Museum. The museum offers a rich history of the shipwrecks and the wreckers that would salvage the goods off of the boats. There were hundreds of shipwrecks outside of Key West, due to the shallow reefs. The story goes, that “wreckers” would flash lights to deceive captains and then the ships would run aground. The wreckers would then steal the goods off of the ships.

The view from the very top lookout was amazing and I had no idea there were that many boats in the Harbor.

Haunted Pub Crawl in Key West

That evening we watched another amazing sunset and enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Bruschetta Francesca. All of the pasta was handmaid and it was amazing.

After dinner we were pleasantly surprised by a bicycle parade. The bikes were all lit up and people had on costumes.

From there we headed to our haunted pub crawl. Key West is also known as bone island if you want to know the story there you have to do the pub crawl. Our tour guide was fantastic he wouldn’t allow us to film but I did get some cool pictures of each of the houses he took us to.

The story behind Captain Tony was he had a wife and a lover and the wife ended up killing the lover. Her tombstone is actually in the bar itself. The wife was then hung by the town hanging tree and that tree is still growing inside Captain Tony’s Saloon. During the building’s construction, while removing old flooring, workers discovered the skeletal remains of several people. They kept one of the skeleton’s and it sits behind the bar.

Our guide walked us to more haunted houses and shared each of their stories. Let’s just say, Key West is one of the most haunted cities in the US!

Snorkeling in Key West

The following day we had a snorkel trip scheduled with Fury Water Adventures and we headed out to Archer Key. Unfortunately it was extremely choppy and the current didn’t make for pleasant snorkeling so we cut that portion of the trip short.

The boat was loaded with paddle boards, noodles and kayaks. In addition, this was the first excursion, that put out breakfast bites of fruit and pastries.

Next we headed to a sandbar called Woman Key and while we had a good time, it wasn’t nearly as warm as it was in Duck Key. On top of that we did see sea urchins and we were barefoot so that made us a little uneasy walking through the sand and rocks. They did provide beer and sparkling wine for us at the sand bar.

Our captain and first mate of the boat were fantastic and lunch was the best we have ever had on an excursion. They offered salad, fried chicken, pasta and a veggie platter! Amazing.

Fort Zachary in Key West

We got back early in the day and so Scott and I decided to walk to Fort Zachary just about a mile and a 1/2 from the hotel. Along the way, we walked through the Truman Annex, a gorgeous neighborhood. The first weather bureau is located here too.

This Fort was fully surrounded by Confederate territory yet it was maintained by the Union during the Civil War. In 1971 it became a National State Park.

Key West Holiday Parade

Once again we enjoyed a beautiful sunset at the hotel and then headed off to another amazing dinner this time at the A and B Marina.

Being in key Western the holidays we have no idea what to expect but they had decorated the whole town beautifully. That evening we got another surprise with the town parade for the holidays. It was the perfect ending of a fantastic weekend in Key West.

We are glad we finally stayed in Key West. This allowed us to learn about its’ history and enjoy live music and libations. The nightly parades were a bonus and it helped to kick off the holiday season.

As always, thank you for following our journey! Be sure to subscribe to our blog and vlog (see video below), as we have more boating adventures to come. Follow us on social media @BoatingJourney #boatingjourney.

Cheers, Scott and Ally

Month: January 2023

So much to do in Fort Lauderdale