Fun, Food, and the Fabulous in Fort Lauderdale



Fort Lauderdale is known as “The Venice of America” because it has over three hundred miles of navigable canals that are part of the intracoastal waterway.  Prior to our recent visit, I had read about the system and was curious about it.  A local travel agent told me that we could take a water taxi and get a great tour of the area.  So on our last full day in Fort Lauderdale, we hopped aboard.  An adult unlimited pass is $22.00 and a child’s unlimited pass is $13.00.  This allows you to get on and off as many times as you want in one day.  Our plan was to ride from the marina near our hotel and get off at Las Olas Boulevard to have lunch and do a little shopping, the climb on again for the ride back.

Well, it was quite a tour!  Each boat has a captain who drives and a narrator who speaks over the intercom system, telling stories and a history lesson along the way.  Ours was quite entertaining and engaged the passengers, making it a really fun way to get from one point to another. 

The homes along the intracoastal, are the homes of the wealthy.  Some were the homes of  celebrities and others belonged to business moguls, homes bought and sold for millions. 

Here are just a few . . .

This sprawling estate goes on to include a dozen buildings, each aquired as they were sold by neighbors.

Kind of a White House on the water.

Note the sculpture on the lawn . . a fortune cookie.  This is the property of the P.F Chang dynasty. 

The million dollar mermaid fountain.

The oh so casual outdoor bar and hot tub.

The whimiscal dancing frogs at water's edge.

This little number belonged to Sonny & Cher when Chastity was born. 
The story was told that the neighbor on one side was the inventor of Alka Selter and on the other side the Seagram's heirs, so everyone could have drinks and music and be medicated in the morning. 

Along with the waterfront living comes the need for suitable transportation.  I don’t imagine you could like in places like these and ride around in a pontoon boat.  No . . .

You need a yacht. 

This one belongs to the Yankee Candle folks.  It's named "Parafin".  How cute. 

In some cases, a megayacht. 

Supermodel Elle MacPherson's little boat.

The 78 million dollar yacht belonging to Judge Judy.

Steven Spielberg's 235 million dollar yacht. 

We got off the water taxi at Las Olas Boulevard.  I had read about the district famous for unique shopping.  But we were hungry for lunch and were thrilled to see a restaurant that specialized in crepes.  We love crepes!  My French Canadian Memere made some awesome crepes, but they were simple, and we ate them with brown sugar and maple syrup.  The crepes at La Bonne Crepe on Las Olas, were anything but simple.  An incredible selection of stuffings and toppings was on the menu.  My daughter ordered the banana split crepe and I went savory with the tomato and basil crepe.  They were delicious and reasonably priced.

Banana Split crepe

Tomato, basil, crisp crepe . . delicious!

For dessert, as if a banana split crepe calls for dessert, we had gelato from the Italian bakery Pane’ Dolci.  Smooth and creamy and cold, we stood outside in the sunshine to eat it. 

My salted caramel gelato

Gelato like artwork in the cooler.

We stopped in a few shops but quickly found that Las Olas shopping was not meant for people on a budget.  At one store I picked up a cute pink tee shirt, held it up to show my daughter and quickly put it back when I saw the price tag; $98.00.  For . . . a  . . . tee . . . shirt.  Gulp. 

 

Soon we found the way back to the water taxi stop and sat in the grass while we waited.  Late afternoon sun streaked across the water as the yellow boat pulled up to the dock.  Again we saw the yachts and homes and heard the stories about Sonny & Cher and the inventor of Alka Selter.  Again we passed Spielburg’s yacht.  Finally back to the dock near our hotel and I was exhausted from the walking and shooting and eating and from the feelings of frustration that arise from the thoughts of equity and social justice . . and living a life of limitation. 

While I enjoyed, in a voyeuristic sense, this glimpse into the lives of the rich, famous, lucky, and ostentatious, it certainly brought to mind the huge gap in our society between these homeowners and the homeowners in my little middle class neighborhood in Maine, and even more when you consider how many people struggle to keep the roof they live under.  It prompted questions about the curious connection between celebrity and wealth.  Why does that job – acting in movies, for example, pay so much more than another job?  What is our pay scale based on?  It can’t be based on the value of the contribution to the general good, or the importance in a human sense of the job’s end result.  Why in the world does Judge Judy make 45 million dollars a year, making her able to afford a yacht that costs 78 million dollars?  Why is her job – a television judge – more valued than the job of a drug and alcohol counselor who helps people get clean and sober?  Why does that counselor have to settle for the low pay when there is such unfathomable wealth in other sectors? 

I haven’t involved myself in the 99% vs. 1% fight that’s going on out there in the country, but if there was any time I’ve felt fired up about the discrepancies in income it was after that water taxi ride and the exposure I had to that other side of the golden coin.

When I step back into my cozy little home with my family and take a moment to appreciate the wonderful life I have, I can’t see where a big house on the water could make this any better.  I don’t see where a yacht fits into the picture. 

Ok . .  maybe a small one could be worked in right over . . . there.     

Appreciate the simple things . . .

FAMILY TRAVEL: THE UNEXPECTED PIT STOP IN NYC

My husband is one of those people who hate surprises. Rather, he hates to be surprised but he loves surprising others. On our recent road trip to Virginia, my daughter and I found ourselves the recipients of a well planned, and well executed surprise.


It had been discussed that we would stay overnight at my parent’s house in southern Maine prior to leaving for Virginia. We had to deliver our cat to be cared for in our absence, and pick up a few things for the trip, plus it gave us a head start of a couple of hours and broke up the trip nicely. We had planned to leave at about 4:00 am, scooping my daughter up in her pj’s and setting her up so that she could sleep until Massachusetts or beyond. It was decided that we would try to minimize our stops by packing plenty of drinks, snacks, and sandwiches for the road. My husband and I talked about all of this.

That morning comes, the food and kid go into the car and off we go on our much anticipated vacation.

We drive easily through Massachusetts and Connecticut, familiar territory for me, having lived near Hartford for a dozen years. We pass through New York City, wrangling the earphones from my daughter and forcing her to pay attention to the sites, the buildings and things she doesn’t normally see in her daily life in Maine. Clear sailing over the George Washington Bridge and into New Jersey. Soon, though, my husband is looking anxious and fumbling for his notes. We get off at an exit near the Meadowlands. I ask why and he says he’s looking for a Park & Ride to switch drivers. I think to myself that we could simply pull over to switch drivers but I can tell he’s clearly up to something at this point. I think back over the prior couple of months and things start coming together. We just had our 1st anniversary and my daughter’s birthday was coming up and he had told us that he had a surprise for us that would occur between the two events. He had been especially interested in what I planned for each of us to wear on this day “to travel”. This is a man who rarely notices that I am wearing shoes, much less what they are. He had asked me recently what I would take if I was to be walking around a big city for the day. I knew something was up.

The Park & Ride is found and we park. He’s got a pack of index cards in his shirt pocket and hands one to Nola. It reads:

THIS IS NOT A TIME TO FUSS

JUST JUMP ONTO THE BUS

THERE’S A SIDE TRIP AHEAD OF US

AND THIS IS YOUR NOTICE



He makes sure we have comfortable shoes, a jacket, and my camera. We walk over to the tiny bus station, purchase tickets, and get on the bus marked “Lincoln Tunnel”.

Just before we arrive at Port Authority, a second card appears from the pocket:

NOW – GET OFF THE BUS

START THE WALK AHEAD OF US

PAY ATTENTION AND FOCUS

AND STEP OVER THE HOMELESS

We get off the bus. He directs us out onto the street. We’re mystified. My daughter has only seen New York in movies and for me it’s been about twenty years since my last trip. At the sight of the yellow cabs, the buildings, the noise and the people she exclaims “This is not like Maine.” And she’s grinning and amazed. The next card reads:

FEEL FREE TO GUESS AND DISCUSS

WHERE THIS TREK WILL TAKE US

A CIRCUS? A PALACE? MAYBE TEXAS?

JUST WALK - IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS



So we walk. We pass street vendors and souvenier salesmen. We skirt around Times Square. We cross over 42nd and Broadway and take some photos. We detour through Bryant Park. My husband is steering us down 5th Avenue as he hands us the next clue:

NEARBY IS SOMEPLACE REAL FAMOUS

OUR LUNCH THERE WILL BE SCRUMPTIOUS; NOT TASTELESS

“PARTY OF FOUR” TELL THE WAITRESS

When I see that we’re stopping at the American Girl Store and going inside, I’m about to cry. This man has done this for my daughter. This man who is uncomfortable not knowing what happens next and hates crowds and dislikes spending money has made reservations for us to have lunch at the American Girl Café.

SINCE THERE’S NO ONE AS PRECIOUS

I WANT TODAY TO BE PRICELESS

AND FOR YOU TO FEEL LIKE A PRINCESS

OTHER GIRLS WOULD BE SO JEALOUS

The store is amazing, filled with dolls and clothes and accessories. And very PINK. There’s a hair salon and a hospital. Girls are clutching their dolls and packages. We check in at the concierge (yes, a concierge!) and make our way up to the Café on the 3rd floor. The line for the 11:00 seating is already getting long and we join in. Prior to seating, the host asks if my daughter would like to select a doll to dine with us, as there is place at the table for guest’s American Girl dolls. We hadn’t brought my daughter’s doll with us, given that we didn’t know we were coming here, I hadn’t thought to pack it and since my husband didn’t want to give away the surprise, he hadn’t taken it either. So she selected a doll to be our “fourth” in the party.

Lunch is a fixed price, except for special drinks. My daughter orders a strawberry smoothie.

The waiter is jovial and brings us a plate of cinnamon rolls, then a platter of veggies, dips, fruits, rolls, and cheese. The choice of entrees ranges from TIC TAC TOE pizza to chicken tenders to salads to a burger.

the cinnamon rolls

the coconut chicken salad

the chicken tenders and mac & cheese

the caprese chicken sandwich with sweet potato fries

The setting is white linen tablecloths, bright pink flowers and black accents everywhere. The whole place is so well done in the theme. The lampshades are whimsical with their flower designs. The walls are black and white striped.

Hot pink reigns throughout. All around us are little girls and their dolls, some families celebrating birthdays, some mother daughter pairs. Most are dressed up in some way.

The presentation for dessert is fabulous. A plate with a small heart shaped frosted cake, a butterfly cookie, and a small flower pot full of chocolate mousse. All of it was delicious and exciting to be part of.

We finish our meal, return the doll, and head back out to the street. The next card reads:

NOW I’LL MAKE YOU A PROMISE

THIS TRIP HAS AN ADDED BONUS

AGAIN – SOMEPLACE FAMOUS

CAN YOU GUESS THE NEXT ADDRESS WITH SUCCESS? NEED A COMPASS?

We start walking. My husband tells us that we have a bit of time to kill, but that we do have to be somewhere.

We walk to Rockerfeller Center and peek into the windows at the Today Show.

We go to Time Square and check out the Lego store and the Toys R Us with the giant ferris wheel inside.

We watch the mimes and I look for the Naked Cowboy. Soon we’re walking again and are surrounded by Broadway theaters. My daughter points out the sign for the Lion King and gushes about how she’s always wanted to see it. Somewhere along the way, another card:

CUTENESS + GOODNESS + SWEETNESS

YOU AS MY STEPDAUGHTER – I’M GRACIOUS

IT ALL MAKES ME EXTREMELY JOYOUS

MY LOVE FOR YOU & MOM IS MONSTROUS

Soon we’re at that theater that is home to the Lion King. Then the final cards, one for each of us, with tickets to the show that will begin shortly. The cards read:



For my daughter:

100 DAYS AGO I PROMISED YOU A SURPRISE EARLY BIRTHDAY GIFT YOU WOULD SHARE WITH YOUR MOM. I WOULD HAVE BEEN “LION” IF I WASN’T TELLING THE TRUTH. ENJOY YOUR GIFT!

For me:

100 DAYS AGO I PROMISED YOU A SURPRISE ANNIVERSARY GIFT YOU WOULD SHARE WITH NOLA. I WOULD HAVE BEEN “LION” IF I WASN’T TELLING THE TRUTH. ENJOY YOUR GIFT!

He ushers us to the entrance and helps with our bags. He’s off to see the King Tut exhibit (for $100 less, he points out) and we go in and find our great seats in the first row of the mezzanine.



The show is amazing. The actors, the props, the staging and movement. The music and scenery. For our first Broadway shows, this is a great choice, I think.



We meet up after the show and tell him all about it. We retrace our steps and get back on the bus, headed for New Jersey, where my husband has booked a hotel for us. We’re all pretty tired after the long and exciting day and enjoy a picnic of sandwiches on the bed in our room. In the morning we’re off to Virginia, to the next part of the road trip, to Williamsburg and all that holds.

Yes, this is a long post. Maybe I’m making up for the fact that I’ve been slacking with them lately. Really though, chronicling our adventures that day and the surprise of it all might just trigger the thought in you to do something for someone that takes them by surprise. Maybe you’ll just think about taking your daughter to lunch at the American Girl Café or to see a show on Broadway when you never have before, or even if you have done so many many times.



Do the unexpected. Surprise someone you love.

Maine Travel: Kennebunk & Wells

When we left the house last Saturday, we had a few ideas of places we wanted to check out that day. We were in southern Maine, in Biddeford, and planned to head to Kennebunk and Wells.

Saturday was May 1st, and Mayday has been celebrated for centuries. In Kennebunk, this year marks the 12th Mayday Festival, always held the first Saturday in May. My daughter and I have attended the festival since she was in a stroller and it always proves entertaining. Some years the weather cooperates and some years, well, the chill or precipitation forces you to scurry from venue to venue and juggle hot drinks while enjoying the Maypole dance. The sunny, blue sky day we had this year was perfect for a street festival. Route 1 runs through downtown Kennebunk, and from the Kennebunk Free Library, through to Rotary Park, and on both sides of the street. The library hosts a bake and book sale and is home to the festival’s Fairy Garden and story time. A group of volunteers also helps little girls and boys make flowered wreaths to wear on their heads, complete with long colorful ribbons that trail behind them. Across the street, at the Brick Store Museum, kids can make their own May baskets. The museum offers a display of traditional may baskets, encased in glass, and set up a long table. Kids start at one end and select a small plastic cup like basket, then move down the rows, choosing from the other baskets on the table, filled with small items like colorful bracelets, foam airplanes, and rubber bouncy balls.

The Brick Store Museum wisely chose an alternate entryway this year. Rather than open one of the front doors and set up the basket making directly at the entry, curators had festival goers enter through a side door and wind through the museum to the table, passing displays and the donation box along the way. It gave me the opportunity to check out the museum, even go upstairs to see the portraits and lifestyle displays, and make a donation on the way out. In years past, we hurried in and out with our baskets, not seeing much of the interior of the buildings that are linked together by addition after addition, and occupy a sizable section of Kennebunk’s Main Street. Working our way down the street, we passed musicians, street vendors selling hot dogs, chili, coffee, cotton candy, and ice cream. Behind a gas station, wedged between Nason Ct and Grove Street off of Main street to the east is a large parking area, that on this day, and others throughout the summer, was an abundant farmer’s market. At this point in the season, most were selling potted plants, herbs, vegetables and some had brought the fruits of last years harvests, soaps and dip mixes, jams and jellies. Most years, a horse drawn trolley picks up and drops off here and provides a tour of the festival. I didn’t see it at this years celebration.

The highlight, in my opinion, of the Mayday festival is the Portland School of Ballet’s Maypole dance. The school brings young dancers to perform traditional mayday dances for the crowd that inevitably gathers in Layfayette Park. This year, festival organizers chose to move the craft vendors to this location, giving them more traffic than at their previous site, in Rotary Park, at the end of the festival area, generally used to stage the parade. Four maypoles had been set up in the grassy park, their colorful ribbons tied up until the time was right. The tallest was reserved for the dancers. They performed a few dances, then unfurled the ribbons and with choreographed steps, wound the ribbons until they formed a basket weave down the pole. Surrounding the maypoles and throughout the park, there was live music (provided by Tony Michaud and his band), a bounce house, a BBQ trailer, craft vendors, and demonstrations. The parade was at 1:30, but this year, we decided not to stay, although folks were lining Main street with their chairs, and garnering spots on the curb as we were leaving. My past experience with the parade is that it’s a fun time for the kids, with twirlers, clown driven tiny cars, fire trucks tossing candy, and the usual town dignitaries waving from convertibles. It is fun, but we had hunger and other things to attend to.

Our next destination was to find a place to grab a bite to eat, which, in the towns of Kennebunk and Wells, where we were headed, is really not all that difficult. But a quickie sandwich shop didn’t come into view before hunger overtook us. We passed the Maine Diner and noted that unlike in mid summer, the line at the door seemed relatively short. We doubled back and went in. The twenty minute wait turned out to be more like ten minutes and our party of five was soon seated at a table in the large room to the left of the main dining area.

The Maine Diner is an institution of sorts. Its celebrity visits and newspaper and television endorsements are lauded on the walls. Many make this a stop on their stay in Maine. The menu is diner fare with a decidedly Maine twist. Along with club sandwiches and breakfast all day, there’s the lobster macaroni and cheese, lobster pie and blueberry everything. My daughter and our friend’s daughter both ordered the kids macaroni and cheese (what else?). Our waitress told them that it came with muffins, either corn or blueberry. We commented that since it wasn’t noted on the menu, perhaps it was the diner’s way of getting rid of the morning’s muffins. Regardless of the motive, they were delicious. Our friend’s daughter got the corn, and my daughter got the blueberry. The girls sliced them open and buttered their insides. The tops were crunchy, with soft, tender, cakey insides. Perfect large muffins. The girls macaroni and cheese dinners came with very tasty, seasoned French fries. Our friend commented, after snatching a few from his daughter’s plate, that they were the best fries he had had in a long time. I force myself to try some from my daughter’s plate, for the sake of the review, and agreed. The macaroni and cheese was of the home baked, crunchy topped variety, not the blue box version that kids seem to favor.

Nonetheless, the girls finished theirs, minus their parent's nibbles. Our friend and I ordered the same thing for our lunch, the grilled yellow fin tuna sandwich. It arrived on a bakery bun, lettuce and tomato, with a side of tartar sauce. The Cole slow that accompanied it was creamy and fresh. The tuna itself was moist and tender and flaky, not a tough burger like sandwich at all. My husband had the tuna salad wrap and it was huge! Cut in half and served with potato salad, he struggled to finish it. We left the Maine Diner well fed. Would we go back? Of course, it’s a must in Maine and with so many items to choose from, everyone can find something. I would suggest you go for breakfast, too. Most of my past Maine Diner experiences had been for breakfast and though I can’t recall exactly what I ordered on those visits, I do remember fondly that they were delicious. Good strong coffee, too. The menu and hours can be found at http://www.mainediner.com/.



Next was our planned nature walk. I had printed off the information about both the Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farm and the Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge. Simply because it was a right turn out of the diner parking lot onto busy route 1, we chose the Rachel Carson Wildlife Reserve.

Rachel Carson was a marine biologist, environmentalist, and author of several books, including Silent Spring, in which she linked unrestrained chemical dumping by industries to deathly consequences in the environment. She died in 1964 of breast cancer and is credited with beginning the environmental awareness revolution. The Wildlife Reserve was established in 1966 to preserve the salt marshes and estuaries for migratory birds. The walking paths are wide and well tended, and would be wheelchair accessible, with long inclines rather than steps along the way. At the entry area and parking lot, there are picnic tables. My husband commented that had we found a sandwich shop, this would have been the perfect place to have our lunch.

Several platforms have been built to view the marshes. Though not far from route 1, the area is very quiet and bird’s song is the only sound you hear other than your own footsteps. We watched a large group of geese paddle in from the estuaries, calling to each other as they waddled onto the grass. Fiddleheads were beginning to unfurl and flowers were blooming everywhere. It was a beautiful spring afternoon for a nature walk. The trail was relatively short and at a leisurely pace, we finished the loop in about 45 minutes. Just enough to have walked off our lunch. Information about the reserve can be found at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/rachelcarson/.

Spend a day in Wells and Kennebunk. Though the Mayday festival is held only once a year, there are many other things to do and eat. Another right turn, this time out of the Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge will lead you back towards Kennebunk, this time on Route 9. You can follow this for a tour of Lower Village, Kennebunk, into Kennebunkport, past the Bush compound, into Cape Porpoise and the beaches of Biddeford. The roads are windy and afford stunning ocean views. Even as a native, I never tire of the scenery. If you decide to visit the area, check back here for some tips and sites to see that only this Mainer can give you. You can email me directly at celeste@celestecota.com or comment to this post.

Information about the Kennebunk area is available at http://www.visitthekennebunks.com/