Florida Trip: The Las Olas Art Fair
	Florida Trip: In and Around the Condo
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Our friend, Mike Racke, who died in 2001, has a sister, Terri, who lives in Coral Springs, Florida, a suburban city northwest of Fort Lauderdale. On a previous visit, we had been to her house to see her collection of antiques and to have lunch with her. We invited her then to come down and visit us at the condo the next time we were in Florida, and today, she has come down so we can walk along the river and have some lunch and visit. You can use the aerial view of the part of downtown Fort Lauderdale between my condo and the Performing Arts Center to see where we walked during Terri's visit.

From my condo, we walked a block north to Las Olas, and then west along that main shopping street, looking in the store windows as we went. Terri has been down here only infrequently, and lots of the shops were new to her. We crossed over the Kinney Tunnel and past the site of the old Hyde Park Market (which has been closed and is due to be torn down to make way for a new highrise condo building) and then turned south to pick up the beginning the actual Riverwalk. Some of the boats that are used for charter cruises are docked here, and I got a picture of Fred and Terri and the Sir Winston. A bit further on, Fred got a picture of Terri and I on the walkway along the river and another of the charter boats in the background.

As the street along the river turns to the west, we passed in front of the site of another new highrise- the Water Garden Condominium, and then, a bit further on, after we have gone under the 3rd Avenue Bridge, we came to the site of the partially-completed River House Condominium. This will be the tallest condo building in Fort Lauderdale, and one of the most exclusive. It will consist of two round towers joined by a rectangular one; most of the units will have curved living room walls, and views in all directions. You can see two views of this new building under construction if you click on the thumbnail images at left. As we passed the building, we could see much of downtown Fort Lauderdale, including the tallest office building- the old Sun Trust Building (now the Bank of America building). Just past River House, we took a side trip through Huizenga Park to the fountain at the corner of Las Olas Blvd. and Andrews Avenue- at the northwest corner of the park. It is this fountain that has controls you can manipulate to adjust the height of the various fountain elements, and which, at night, is lit up in different colors, changing in time to background music.

When we reached the Andrews Street Bridge, we took the stairs to the top to cross to the south side of the river. In the middle of the bridge, we stopped so I could get a picture of the view to the east- downriver- and another view of the River House under construction. After crossing the river, we took the ramps down to street level again, and continued walking west along the quay. We could look back east again to see the Andrews Avenue Bridge, River House and the Water Garden beyond it- both of which are about halfway built. You can see that view here.

Then we had to turn south again to go around one of the big boatyards to the next street south, where we could cross the railroad tracks and then head back north again, going around the huge dry storage for boats that is part of the Shirttail Charlie's Marina complex. Finally, we reached the entrance to the marina (where Grant and I kept a boat for a while some years ago) and the restaurant that is part of the complex. It is a good place to have lunch, because you are sitting right at river side and can watch the boat traffic. In the picture at right you can see Terri, myself and Fred at our table.

We had a nice lunch there, and the weather, which had been cloudy so far, began to clear up, and after lunch we had a very nice leisurely walk back to the condo. I think Terri enjoyed her mid-day visit with us, and we hope to see her again down here in town.

You can use the links below to continue to the album page for different day.

	Florida Trip: The Las Olas Art Fair
	Florida Trip: In and Around the Condo
	Return to the Florida Trip Index