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 . . .