Scott and I took the Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi to Fort Lauderdale Beach, which included a guided tour of mansions along the way. It was our first weekend together after being apart almost two months and luckily for us, Fort Lauderdale was hosting their annual Air & Sea Show at the beach. I bought special event tickets on the water taxi, which picked us up at Stop 1 at the Stranahan house.
Great way to view mansions and yachts
The water taxi is a very affordable and great way to get a tour in Fort Lauderdale. They offer sunset cruises, regular cruises and cruises for special events. On board, they offer water, soda, beer & wine for purchase. Download their app for easy ticket purchases. There are 10 stops for the water taxi. The water trolley is free and only makes a few stops near Las Olas.
Along the way, a guide will tell you facts about the mansions you pass by. The home below, has a great setup with a corner lot and room for all kinds of water toys.
Another great way to tour the canals, is by Tiki Bar boat! Here you bring your own booze and motor along the way. Scott and I are going to try and hop on one next weekend!
This house was built on stilts because the owner wanted to prepare for sea level rise. Read all about that here.
Yachts and more yachts
As we followed the New River toward the beach, we came upon a large sand bar that folks love to party at. Here you can stand waist deep and stay cool in the hot sun. Unfortunately, the restaurant boat you see here in the middle (Jay’s Sandbar Food Boat) sank a few days after we shot this photo.
Luxury living
There is certainly no shortage of luxury along this tour. It’s amazing the amount of money that is sitting along the canal, from the multi-million mansions to luxury yachts.
The river certainly was a hub bub of marine traffic. If you can imagine, that’s a fuel dock on the right. Those boats were bobbin up and down while trying to fuel. No thank you.
Not sure what to make of this yacht? We’re guessing it’s about 75′ long, but the paint job is something else. If you know the story here, be sure to share it with us.
This mansion is known as the Fort Lauderdale White House – you can probably guess why. It recently sold for $24.5 million dollars and is the most iconic mansion in Fort Lauderdale.
You can also take the Jungle Queen Riverboat down the river.
For those of you who know me well, you know I am a die-hard Washington State University Cougar Alum and our biggest rival are the UW Huskies. At first I thought this 190′ Feadship was a UW yacht, but it’s actually owned by David MacNeil, founder of WeatherTech. That’s probably where the W comes from.
Fort Lauderdale Air Show
Scott and I hopped off the water taxi and walked a few blocks to the Las Olas Beach. We couldn’t believe the amount of traffic that lined Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard! We were glad we took the water taxi and walked.
The air show was over the water and the beach, which draws thousands of people both on land and the sea. Check out the line of boats out in the ocean. (Hard to see in this photo – the video does a better job)
The airshow was great, but of course, we’re a bit biased. We love Seafair and the Blue Angels.
This crazy house, was built by Wayne Huizenga who was a very famous entrepreneur and businessman. He owned Auto Nation, Waste Management, the Miami Dolphins and was co-owner of Blockbuster Video. After his death in 2018, the house was sold to Chuck West, founder of a premium pet food chain.
While there’s no home on this lot, they do have a table and a couple of chairs.
A great way to explore
This is just another reason we are glad we moved to Fort Lauderdale. There is so much to see and do, especially on water.
As always, thank you for following our journey. Please be sure to subscribe to our blog and our YouTube channel (video below). It’s exciting to see our channel grow and we’re committed to providing you great content. You can also follow us on social @BoatingJourney #BoatingJourney
Cheers, Ally & Scott
