August 8-22, 2022: Vacationing in San Miguel Allende, Mexico
	May 4, 2022: The House We Bought in Ecuador
	Return to the Index for 2022

I said on the page for our last trip to Fort Lauderdale that "this year is turning out to be uneventful", but that turned out to be premature as the last two album pages can attest. So we are moving quickly to the status of becoming Ecuadorian homeowners, and as a matter of fact Fred and I will be making a trip to the Ecuadorian consulate in Miami sometime during this trip to get some paperwork to the lawyers in Cumbaya.

But for now, this page is devoted to yet another trip to Fort Lauderdale. As these trips to Florida have become so commonplace, I will again just divide this page by topic, pretty much regardless of when the picture was taken.

Getting to Fort Lauderdale

If you've been through more than a year or two of this photo album, you are undoubtedly familiar with our route to Florida. Years ago we used to fly, but that has gotten to be such a hassle (and a good deal more expensive) that now we drive. This allows us to take all kinds of things with us- including, on this trip, our two youngest cats, Bob and Cole. Both of them are good travelers, and we thought they should keep each other company.

The trip is routine; we stop at the same places to eat and to stay- almost without exception. And it's an easy route, too. Getting out of Dallas is easy if a bit congested, sometimes. We usually leave about nine-thirty, and by ten or so are on I-20 heading east towards Shreveport. We usually turn southeast on I-49 about one in the afternoon, reaching Lafayette and I-10 east along about three-thirty. Baton Rouge can be very slow if we don't get through there by four-fifteen or so, and then it is another 90 minutes to get across Louisiana to the Mississippi border.

Mississippi and Alabama are an hour each, so we are heading east from Mobile about six-thirty or seven. This puts us north of Pensacola right about dinnertime about eight. After dinner, we have now developed the habit of continuing on to Tallahassee, ariving there about midnight. There is a Red Roof Inn there that is pet-friendly (allows them and doesn't charge extra for them.

We usually get away from the hotel in Tallahassee about nine or so for the 150-mile drive to Jacksonville, which we usually reach about noon. Then we take I-295 around Jacksonville to the south, going through Orange Park. This 14-mile stretch is kind of neat, mostly because of the long bridge that crosses the St. Johns River as it opens out into a large lake southwest of the city. (It narrows as it approaches and flows around downtown Jacksonville to eventually empty into the Atlantic.)

I-295 connects up with I-95 south of the city and we simply take that south for another kind of boring 300 miles down to Fort Lauderdale. Along this streth, which Cole is quite familiar with, he sometimes comes up front to watch the traffic and help navigate. Since there are absolutely no turns to make all the way to Fort Lauderdale, this is no problem for him. We usually get to the condo around 5PM, depending on traffic in Fort Lauderdale on I-95 (which can be horrendous).

With all that said about the route, we did something just a trifle different this time, but it was hardly worth modifying the map above to show it. Since there is often a backup at the Mississippi River bridge on I-10, and since the car navigation system seems to know oftentimes when there is congestion and will route you around it, when we got twenty miles south of Alexandria I asked for directions to Slidell, LA, knowing that there would be only two possible routes.

One would be our normal route on I-10 at Lafayette, and the other would be to take US 190 east at Opelousas over to Baton Rouge. Near Baton Rouge, the navigation would have to make another decision. If the I-10 bridge and perhaps the freeway east of it were clogged, then it would send us through the north part of Baton Rouge to meet back up with I-12 east of the city, but if the bridge and freeway were relatively clear, then it would route us south on the east side of the river to get back to I-10.

When I asked for directions, the navigation did indeed route me to US 190. When we got near Baton Rouge, the navigation sent me south to the I-10 bridge over the Mississippi. When we got there, getting up onto the bridge was pretty smooth, and there wasn't the typical congestion on I-10 east of the bridge. So in this case, taking the advice of the navigation system seemed to work out, although I have no way of knowing if there was some sort of backup along the normal I-10 route across the Atchafalaya Basin.

Going across US 190 is shorter than going through Lafayette, but there are a few stoplights, and so maybe the time it adds if you hit some of them negates the shorter distance, but I think the time-distance tradeoff is a wash. You DO get some different scenery, though, when you go across the Atchafalaya River bridge at Krotz Springs.

You can see the bridge in the aerial view at left, and you'll note that there is also a railroad bridge just a short ways south of the vehicular one. I put that aerial view here to relate it to the picture that Fred took out his window looking south, and you can see that bridge (and the Atchafalaya River) in that picture:

There is one other item I want to include here, and while it isn't all that scenic, it was interesting.

(Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible)

After dinner, we are usually driving in the dark over to Tallahassee. Tonight, there happened to be a full moon, and Fred made a short movie of us driving east on I-10 with the full moon in the sky ahead of it. It is kind of an interesting movie, and you can use the player at left to watch it.

Anyway, back to our arrival in Fort Lauderdale. We unloaded everything at the condo, got Bob and Cole situated (and fed) and the laptops all set up, and then retired to the dock for a celebratory frozen drink. After that, as is our custom, we headed down to the Floridian Restaurant for dinner. I wish we had transporter technology, but the drive is not a hard one- although sections of it can be boring.

Bob and Cole are young enough that they are still good travelers. Bob, for example, will come out of his carrier every hour or so and walk around the car and sit up front for a while. But then he goes right back in and curls up. Cole stays out of his own carrier more; he usually curls up behind my seat where I usually make a flat space on top of my computer and duffel for him. I like it when they come up front, and it is especially nice when they will stay in one lap or the other for a while. As the driver, I'm OK with that; I just try to ignore them and concentrate on the road.

We have been here to Florida so many times that we have pretty much photographed everything worthwhile anywhere nearby. The pictures we take now are just candid shots around the condo, at the dock or perhaps at an Art Fair or other event that occurs while we are here. So I've begun the practice of just grouping the pictures for these Florida trips by topic.

Boat Traffic on the New River (Installment 53)

When we first started coming down here, we took lots of pictures of all the watercraft of every type and size that went by the condo or that we saw elsewhere on the New River. Now, having been here so many times, we take lots fewer- and on some trips none at all. Here at Riverview Gardens, boats go by day and night:

The Water Taxi

The Returning Jungle Queen

In the downtown canyon, there is always a lot of boat traffic- and a number of boats that are moored there on both sides of the river:

And, of course, there are always watercraft coming right by the condo, where we enjoy sitting by the dock and watching them or just snapping pictures from the second-floor walkway.

At the Dock

Sitting at the Riverview Gardens dock is one of enjoyable things we do here. Whether it's in the evening with a drink or during the day as we watch the boats go by, it is always very, very relaxing.

I also took a nice panoramic view this time:

Bob and Cole in Fort Lauderdale

We brought Bob and Cole to Fort Lauderdale together for the first time more than two years ago, and they have done so well with the traveling that we have been routinely bringing them down since then. It's good to bring two of them so each has another to play with or socialize with. The do seem to have their own "relaxation poses" when they aren't playing with each other.

Bob's favorite place is the seat of the recumbent bike, and even when I am using it he will come over and nudge me as if to hurry me up.

For his part, Cole will flop down anywhere, although one of the weirdest poses is the one you see here, where he is entirely on his back with all four paws up in the air. How he balances, I am not sure.

The New Kinney Tunnel Deck Park: An Update

NOTE:
What follows is a section called "Background to the Project". It is a repetition of information on the Deck Park Project- a bit of the history and what the park is to look like that has appeared on any earlier "Florida Trip" pages where we took pictures of the progress of the project. If you have already read this information, please scroll down to the next subsection entitled "Project Update".

Background to the Project

When we were here last October, work had begun on the new deck park that is being constructed over the Kinney Tunnel and the northern approah to it. Essentially, the area between the point where Las Olas goes over the Kinney Tunnel (that carries US 1/Federal Highway under the New River) and the river itself will be transformed.

Here is an aerial view of the area between the Riverside Hotel and the Icon Las Olas, and the New River and Federal Highway heading north out of the Kinney Tunnel. The view looks north, and shows the area as it was about a year ago, before work began on the Kinney Tunnel Top Park Project.

Driving south on Federal Highway from Broward Boulevard, the street descends quickly over two blocks to enter the Henry Kinney Tunnel under the New River. Just as you enter the tunnel, Las Olas is over your head. Up on Las Olas, there has always been an ugly concrete wall on the north side of the street to keep people from accidently (or on purpose) dropping anything onto the roadway below (or falling onto it). South of Las Olas, SE 4th Street curved south and east from Las Olas to go through the Riverside Hotel (actually going under part of the parking garage) and then on eastward to our condo.

Between that street and the Cheesecake Factory, there were some planters and an outside eating area for the restaurant. This is also where the commemorative brick we placed for Ty Ferel and Scott Dole is located. Between 4th Street and the New River is the Laura Ward Plaza- basically an open area with a kind of ugly ventilation shaft from the tunnel below right in the middle of it.

Ever since the Icon Las Olas went up, there has been a movement to try to do something more with this whole area. First, everyone wanted to beautify it; where Las Olas crosses over the tunnel entrance is a particular eyesore. Also, new buildings are going up just west of Federal Highway, and these, as well as the existing buildings, have a particularly unattractive view of Federal Highway's descent into the tunnel.

But to do anything really significant, there had to be more space, and the only way to get it would be to essentially cover over 100 feet or so of the sloping highway. But if just a flat "roof" were put over the roadway, there would not be enough clearance for many trucks that use the tunnel.

At right is the concept plan for the finished Kinney Tunnel Top Park. It also looks north, like the aerial view above, from a vantage point just over the New River. Laura Ward Plaza is in the foreground, and you can see that the ventilation structure has been hidden with sculpture and foliage. You can see a red car, which I assume is on SE 4th St., just going through the Riverside Hotel, which is the building at right.

The greenery along the Riverside Hotel about halfway back is where the existing outside eating area for the Cheesecake Factory Restaurant is; I assume that area will return when construction is done. A bit further back, Las Olas crosses through this new park, and then there is the 100-foot section of new deck. This deck, incidentally, slopes up as it extends north, thus increasing the vertical clearance for high vehicles using the Kinney Tunnel. There appears to be more sculpture in the distance, on this new deck, perhaps also concealing another ventilation structure.

This is certainly an ambitious plan, and I will admit I am not at all sure that what we end up with will look like this, but I have to say that almost anything would be an improvement.

Project Update

Not much has happened on the site for the last two months, although this would be the time that all the foundational work is done, like retaining and support walls for the deck that will eventually slope up to the north. Here are two pictures we took looking north today:

This view looks northwest, and the new condo building is going up.

And this view looks northeast. I hope the mural will be retained.

Now, the picture at left looks south. In this direction there was not much construction to do, as the area was already flat, sitting directly atop the tunnel. All they are planning to do in this area is some new landscaping, although I suppose they will put back the short section of SE 4th Street that used to begin at Las Olas, go south for a few hundred feet, and then turn east by the Stranahan House to go through the Riverside Hotel. The back of the hotel (facing the river) is where guests arrive, as there is no room on Las Olas itself for people to stop, unload their cars, and go into the hotel.

The Laura Ward park was already at the river's edge, and I think it is just going to be renovated. The commemorative brick that we purchased for Ty and Scott used to be in this area, and we have been told that it will be eventually relaid when the landscaping is done.

A Few Miscellaneous Pictures

While we were here this time, Jay, Ron, Fred, and I went up to see the second Downton Abbey movie (we were all big fans) and before we went in to see it, Jay and I took a couple of pictures:

There were also a few days that we walked around the neighborhood and upriver along the Riverwalk.

At left is one of the nicest condominiums along the Riverwalk- the Las Olas Grand. If I were going to live in a highrise here, this would be my choice.

We walked up to the Symphony Condominiums right by the Performing Arts Center, and just beyond them is the main boat ramp for this part of the river:

ns actually sits on an historic site along the New River.

The Trip Home

We left Fort Lauderdale on June 9th, and as usual got home the afternoon of the day after. Except when we stop for gas or dinner, the cats can roam around the car, although they spend most of their time asleep in their carriers.

So, not all that many pictures this trip.

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	August 8-22, 2022: Vacationing in San Miguel Allende, Mexico
	May 4, 2022: The House We Bought in Ecuador
	Return to the Index for 2022