Saturday April 22, 2023 Day 10
This was our last day at the Sea Gardens Resort in Pompano Beach. As we packed up and ate breakfast my son and family went to the pool. We said good-bye to them about 10 am at the pool and we headed out.
Our first destination was the Walgreens for OTC drugs and then a Dick's sporting goods store in Pembroke Pines to purchase snorkeling equipment. I anticipated going snorkeling in the Keys and recalled having to rent such equipment in St. Thomas and Hawaii. About $120 for two sets.
Then we went off the main road on to Card Sound Road through Mangrove swamps to eat lunch at Alabama Jacks. Although politically part of Key Large, geographically it is not part of the Keys. This is a local institution which allegedly has the best conch fritters in Florida. It is a very casual, river side dive bar taht attracts a very eclectic crowd. Lots of bikers. We had the fritters in Pompano Beach and they tasted like hush puppies. Not much difference here. But the mahi mahi was very good, the beer was cold, the key lime pie was tart, and the band was loud. It is a very casual eatery alongside a canal and caters to bikers and boaters who can dock right along the restaurant as some did during our meal. A classic restaurant and dive bar with plastic utensils, paper plates and paper towels for napkins. It has been around for over 70 years and is decorated with hundreds of old car license plates. It is completely open air and looks as if the next hurricane will blow the entire structure into the canal. It closes at 7 to avoid the evening onslaught of mosquitoes. There were lots of birds, red wing blackbirds, dive bombing gulls, flying around our waterside table looking for a fallen French fry.
After a hour and a half we resumed our trip driving south first over the Card Sound Bridge, which marks the entrance to the Keys and then onto US 1 into the Keys. We stopped for gasoline in Key Largo. I was told that gasoline was very expensive in the Keys, but it turned out not to be true and I paid more per gallon than the prices I saw during the rest of our time on the Keys.
The Keys are a series of sand bar islands which comprise a 113-mile archipelago stretching southwest of mainland Florida. Initially we continued to pass mangrove tree forests, but that quickly gave way to lots of scrub vegetation and wild grasses. We passed through several nondescript towns with strip malls habituated by familiar American chains and billboards advertising tourist attractions. However, by the time we reached Islamorada the water was everywhere in a teal color. I thought that southern Florida had a lot of boats, but in the Keys, I saw large number of boats (although virtually no large yachts as I saw earlier in Florida) such that it probably has the largest ratio of boats to residents of any place in the US.
The traffic was not as bad as we were advised it might be and after about 2 hours of driving, and a wrong turn that took us to Sombrero beach, we reached our hotel/resort, Skipjack resort and marina, in Marathon. It was an older property, but we were given a large suite with a balcony, and it had lots of free amenities, to go along with the resort fee. Bicycles, tennis, golf and a large pool. The latter was good for lap swimming up until the early afternoon when it filled up on the weekend with lots of floaters and kids. The only real negative was that it was over a mile to the beach.
Marathon is almost in the middle of the Keys. Although it was not incorporated until 1999, its history with European settlers goes back hundreds of years. It has a treacherous coastline which lead to the destruction of many sailing vessels during the period of Spanish rule over much of Latin America. The many shipwrecks, many laden with silver and other precious metals bound for Spain lead to one of the town's earliest industries, salvage wreaking. The town was named by the workers on the Overseas Railroad who reflecting the unrelenting pace of work referred to it as "a real marathon". The major economic activity in the area is sport fishing, followed by snorkeling and scuba diving. Surprisingly to me it has a permanent population of only about 10,000 and a median household income of about $36,000. I guess tourism here does not pay well.
We ate dinner at the resort's restaurant, Blu Bistro. Lots of fish on the menu. After dinner I took a long walk into the sunset on Sombrero Blv'd. Lots of boats and roudy bars.
Sunday, April 23, 2023 Day 11
A slow day. Started off with a very good complimentary breakfast at the Blu Bistro. I was expecting a continental breakfast, but it offered a full, hot, cooked to order breakfast. We ate outside, poolside. We walked the resort and spent time at the pool, which was pretty crowded. No chance for lap swimming, or swimming of any kind with all the kids and floaters, many nursing drinks.
In the afternoon I took a bicycle ride down to and beyond the beach. The neighborhoods had a variety of houses, many of which were being offered for rent and many of which backed onto a canal and frequently had boats. I stopped at the beach and stuck my toe in the water. It was comfortably warm so i jumped in and swam for about 30 minutes. There were nice showers to wash off the salt and I air dried in the sun. The sand on Sombrero Beach was very white and fine, but the beach was not very wide by Hermosa Beach standards. From the beach I could see the Keys' largest lighthouse. $10 per hour to park a car. On the way back from the 6-mile R/T bike ride I cycled to the Publix and scouted it out. Returning to the hotel I returned the bike and took the car to the Publix buying food for lunches and dinners. We ate dinner in the hotel room.
After dinner I again walked down Sombrero Blv'd this time toward the golf course. There were two canal side very informal bar/restaurants, so I stopped for a drink and spoke with some boaters. Many were from out of town who had boated down the intercostal waterway.
Monday, April 24, 2023 Day 12
Good breakfast again at the Blu Bistro and swimming in the morning. After the weekend crowd left the pool in the morning was empty. I went on the tennis court in the late morning hitting balls against a tennis machine. It has been a long time since I lifted a tennis racket, and I did not have to move much. My shoulder hurt after the hour session.
After lunch I took a bike ride along the Overseas Highway. I stopped at several firms that provided snorkeling services to try to determine which offered the most desirable package. I also stopped at the Turtle Hospital. I viewed several recovering turtles but declined to take the 1 hour $30 tour. I rode over three miles to the beginning of the seven-mile bridge. On the way back I rode through an extensive athletic complex. In total I rode about 7 miles.
Dinner in the hotel room.
Tuesday April 25, 2023 Day 13
We awoke to a tremendous rainstorm. Sheets of rain were flowing from the sky. We plowed through the growing puddles over to breakfast. Ate inside.
It rained most of the day. Neither of us were feeling good so we largely stayed in our hotel room. I finished reading The Grapes of Wrath. I much prefer Steinbeck to Hemingway. Ate dinner in the room.
Wednesday, April 26, 2023 Day 14
The sun was shining, but much of the grounds and the hotel road were covered in water.
After breakfast we headed out on a 50-mile drive to Key West. It was largely a dual lane road, and it took us about 1.5 hours to get there. We quickly encountered the famous Seven Mile Bridge, one of the world's longest causeways. During this drive the bodies of water got wider, and the bridges got more impressive. Unlike the Upper Keys the islands here are varying degrees of small and all are narrow. The drive on the seven-mile bridge was both beautiful and nerve wracking as it was imperative to keep my eyes on the road.
The current Seven Mile Bridge is actually two structures, the modern one which handles vehicular traffic and whose current structure was completed in 1982, and the older one, formerly a railroad bridge, but now open for cyclists and walkers. The bridge was originally developed as a project of Henry Flager, owner of the Florida East Coast Railroad. Mr. Flager was one of the partners of John Rockefeller in the founding and growth of the Standard Oil Company. He perfected and implemented the rebate system which enabled Standard to undercut and eventually buy out its competitors. So, he was fabulously rich. and a cause of the Sherman Antitrust Act.
In the late 1870s, his first wife, Mary became ill, and it was recommended that they move to Jacksonville, Florida for the winter. Flagler fell in love with Florida and moved there permanently. His wife died in 1881 and two years later he married her caregiver. He unsuccessfully attempted to purchase the Villa Zorayad hotel for his honeymoon, but subsequently partnered with the owner to build or renovate a string of hotels along the Florida Atlantic coast. (Many of these hotels are still standing but have been repurposed as colleges or libraries.) In 1885 he left daily operations of Standard Oil to concentrate on his Florida developments. To facilitate transportation to his burgeoning hotel empire he purchased several short line Florida railroads and consolidated them into the newly formed the Florida East Coast Railroad. As part of his railroad upgrade and construction process he used convict leasing, the system many southern states used to replace slavery. As he pushed his railroad and hotels further into southern Florida, he was instrumental in the founding and development of Miami, along with Julia Tuttle, a former Cleveland resident who is the only American woman to help found a major American city.
With all his business and development activities Flager must have gotten bored with his second wife, so he got a friendly doctor to declare her insane and he bribed the Florida legislature to make insanity grounds for divorce. He was the only person divorced under this law and thereafter it was repealed. However, promptly after his divorce became final, he married his third wife, another Mary. As a wedding present he built a 60,000 sq foot mansion, Whitehall in Palm Beach, Florida, which is now the Flager Museum.
In 1905 Flager decided that he wanted to extend his railroad from Biscayne Bay to Key West. At that time, with 20,000 residents Key West was the largest city in Florida and it had the closest US deep water port to the developing Panama Canel. It took 7 years, $50 million and thousands of workers to complete the line, and was characterized as the eighth wonder of the world. Flager took the first train to Key West and proclaimed: "now I can die a happy man." A year later he he got his wish and died after falling down the stairs at his Whitehall mansion.
The Overseas Railroad to Key West was not a commercial success. Although the daily passenger train from New York to Key West was well patronized, freight service was disappointing. In 1935 a powerful category 5 hurricane damaged or destroyed portions of the line. in the Upper and Middle Keys Rather than rebuild the Overseas line, the bankrupt company sold its infrastructure and right of way to the State of Florida for $640,000.
The State rebuilt the damaged portions of the right of way, in many cases using railroad tracks as guardrails on the new roadway and connected it to two existing roadways to complete the newly designated US 1, a 113-mile auto passageway between Key Largo and Key West. In subsequent years it has been refurbished and widened several times. After the new federal highway/bridge was completed in 1982, motorized traffic continued to be permitted on the older portion to Pigeon Key until 2008. This section was most recently reopened in January 2022. Every April the Bridge is closed for several hours for the Seven Mile Bridge Run.
We didn't stop at the several attractions along the way, most notably the National Ket Deer Refuge, home of small deer, on No Name Key because we didn't have enough time. On most of the trip we could see the roadway of the former rail tracks. There were fishermen, pedestrians and cyclists on it, but it was not a continuous structure. Florida has a plan to make it a continuous structure for non-motorized vehicles and pedestrians and fishermen.
Key West was long inhabited by Native Americans, before being colonized by Spain. The Spanish named it Cayo Hueso, bone island, since it was littered with bones by the natives who used part of the island as a communal cemetery. The last of the Native Americans were removed by Spain to Cuba in 1763. In that year as a result of the Treaty of Paris ending the French and Indian War Spain traded Havana, which the British had occupied, for Florida. The British weren't able to stick around very long. During the Revolutionary War Spain took advantage of England's preoccupation with the colonials and successfully invaded Florida. As part of the 1783 Treaty of Paris which ended the Revolutionary War Spain got all of Florida back. That didn't last long either. Spain was unsuccessful in attracting settlers to Florida and in 1821 it sold Florida to the US. After the sale the Spanish owner of the island was so eager to sell it he sold it twice. The Americans replaced the liberal racial polices followed by Spain with segregation and slavery. As a result, many Blacks relocated to Haiti.
Today Key West has about 26,000 permanent residents, who are very diverse. There are the descendants of the Loyalists who fled the US following the revolution, emigrants from the Bahamas and later Cubans who were displaced during several unsuccessful revolutions in their homeland. Their many small cigar factories and stores are still abundant.
Key West is only 4.4 sq. miles, but it is the southernmost point in the continental US. As we first drove and then walked around it was both bigger and less touristy than I imagined. (I really did not know what to image) Lots of the same strip malls, chain and big box stores that one would find in any mid-sized or suburban American city. I wish we had planned the visit better and spent more time here. A disappointment was not going to Dry Tortugas National Park. A boat trip for $185 to the Park that was 2.5 hours each way didn't seem practical, and in any event, I was unsuccessful in getting reservations. This is line with the fact that Key West is one of the most expensive vacation spots in the country.
We drove around for a bit looking for parking in the Historic district. Surprisingly we found a spot on Duvall Street, the main street, but it was $5 per hour on the meter. Took it.
We walked over to the Hemingway House. It is a major tourist attraction and cost $18 to enter. No senior discount. We took a nice docent's tour. The house was built in three years from 1848-51 by Asa Tift. He was a New Englander who was trained as a marine architect but made his fortune in Key West as a salvage wrecker. At the time it was built it was the largest structure in Key West and rested on its second highest site. The highest site is 18ft. Its 18-inch limestone walls have enabled it to resist the numerous hurricanes Key West has experienced. His wife died in childbirth several years after the house was completed.
Tift, along with his brother who founded Albany GA., was a confederate sympathizer, and the brothers financed the construction of an iron clad warship for the confederacy designed to lift the Union blockade. However, he had it blown up after Vicksburg fell to the Union forces. He also refused to refuel a Union ship and as a result of his actions he was expelled from Key West. He returned late in life and died in 1889.
The house was not sold and fell into disrepair over the next 5 decades. In the late 1920s Earnest Hemingway became enamored with deep sea fishing and moved to Key West from Paris, France along with his second wife, Pauline, a Vogue fashion editor and (former) friend of his first wife who Hemingway characterized as a home wreaker for breaking up his first marriage. They lived in rental housing for 3 years. Hemingway apparently had or retained little money. While characterizing it as "a dammed haunted house" Pauline nevertheless fell in love with the house. Her rich uncle purchased the house for the couple in 1931 for $8000 and financed its refurbishment and expansion. The couple lived in the house until 1940 and Hemingway wrote many of his best received works there from the privacy of the second story of the property's carriage house.
While Hemmingway was away from1937 covering the Spanish Civil War, Pauline installed an inground swimming pool at the cost of $20,000. Hemingway had opposed the pool and upon his return he took a penny from his pocket, threw it on the ground and said, "You might as well take my last cent." (Pauline had paid for the pool.) However he liked it well enough to plant view blocking trees around it so he could swim nude in it. Hemingway met his third wife while in Spain and in 1940 he divorced Pauline and moved to Cuba. Pauline remained in the house until her death in 1951. The house remained vacant until 1961 when his three sons auctioned off the house for $80,000.
The new owners intended to live in the house, but there were so many visitors that in 1964 they turned it into a private, profit making museum. In 1968 it was placed on the National Historic Register.
Finally, the cats. There was lots of cats all over the property. We were told that there are currently 64 of them. There is a full-time veterinarian on staff and a pet cemetery on the premises. The vast majority of the cats are polydactyl, six toes on each paw. There are different accounts of how that occurred, but the cats are named for famous actors and lead a very privileged life.
After that 2.5-hour visit, we walked to Books & Books @The Studios of Key West. The independent bookstore is owned by the teenage book author Judy Bloom who has lived in Key West with her third husband for several years. It shares a building (and bathroom) with an art gallery which I visited, along with the bathroom. The bookstore had an eclectic collection. I purchased a Lonely Plant book on epic road trips in the Americas. I have already planned the Oregon Booze trail trip based on the book. The studios host about a dozen artist's studios and have monthly art shows.
Leaving the bookshop, we walked up Duval St which is the major business district and the heart of Old Town. The area has many classic bungalows and old mansions. We ended up at Flamingo Crossing, where we had very good, rich and creamy, but expensive gelato and ice cream. Like many places in Key West, it only accepted cash, no credit cards.
We then walked to the Tennessee Williams Museum. Key West attracted many artists and Williams lived here parts of the year for three decades. At his death he had three other homes. Willimas actually lived a block away, but the small museum displayed many of his artifacts and a doll sized model of his actual home. The caretaker of the museum spent a great deal of time regaling us with stories about Williams and recounting his contributions to the theatrical and literary worlds.
We walked back to our car and drove a short distance to Louie's Backyard, a restaurant very near to, but not at the southernmost point (open to the public, the actual southern most point is on a military base) in the continental US. There we met friends of my spouse for dinner. Oceanfront dining with very good, but expensive food.
The drive back on the overseas highway was very dark.
Thursday April 27, 2023 Day 15
Snorkeling day. Got up and going early for the 9:00 am boat departure. Arrived as requested at Spirit Snorkeling at 8:30 and then waited around for 30 minutes. This was one of the places I visited during my bike ride. $49 for the 3-hour boat ride and $11 in fuel and taxes. (They also offered a 6-hour ride and a non-snorkeling twilight tour.) There were about 25 people, plus a three-person crew on the 35 ft. catamaran. We initially sailed north into the bay but then turned south as we went under the seven-mile bridge headed towards the Sombrero Reef Marine Sanctuary and Lighthouse. This is the third largest barrier reef in the world whose 30-acre coral reef covers 30 acres and is 2 to 30 ft deep. The Lighthouse is one of a string along the Keys built prior to the Civil War. It was originally manned, but today it operates as an unmanned aid to mariners. There are lots of shipwrecks in the area.
It was a 25-minute ride to the reef, not too choppy. I had a discussion with a "couple", an older man and young woman who were traveling together from Oregon who didn't seem to be a couple, but they deflected my indirect questions about their relationship. He was telling me about a fishing charter in Biscayne Bay earlier in their trip during which they caught many fish but cost $1500. She was a state park ranger who was moving to a national park this summer. When we arrived at the snorkeling spot, we got the safety briefing and were advised to stay away from the lighthouse. After putting on my new snorkeling equipment I plunged into the water. The water temperature was warm and comfortable. The snorkeling was fabulous. This coral reef is among the most biologically diverse in the world, rainforests of the sea. It didn't disappoint, lots of fish of all sizes and colors. From single fish to large schools. They swam right past me, almost close enough to touch, but never succeeded in doing that. I did not see any turtles but saw lots of crabs and other things crawling on the bottom. I was in the water for about 75 minutes and then came out because I was taking in too much salt water. I stayed on the boat for about 15 minutes consuming water and salty snacks and then plunged into the water again for about 30 minutes. More of the same, but I got tired. When I got back on to the boat most of the guests were back and the adult drinks cooler was open and being liberally consumed. I tried a hard seltzer but didn't like it and settled for a domestic beer. Reminded me of why I try to drink craft beers.
We returned to land about noon. Maybe too many beers. As I was returning to the hotel, I had to back up in a gas station and gently bumped into a concrete block. No damage to the block, but I dented the bumper and cracked a light. I figured that would cost me.
After lunch I went for a bike ride along the Overseas Highway again. However, this time I went as far west as I could on the seven-mile bridge. The roadway ended at Pigeon Key, a 2.2-mile ride. Along the way I saw many lizards, several quite large slithering across the bike path. That Key was used by Flager as a base to house the railroad construction workers. It was an 11-mile R/T ride, and it was uncomfortable at the end due to the absence of a bathroom. We ate dinner at the Blu Bistro. The sushi place at the hotel was not open contrary to promises. Dinner was not as good as breakfast.
Friday, April 28, 2023 Day 16
After another good and filling breakfast, although by this time we had sampled all the choices and were on repeat, we drove over to the Crane Point Hammack Museum and Nature Center a 63-acre tropical oasis. It was less than a mile away just north of the Overseas Highway.
A hammack is a stand of hardwood trees and this is the largest such stand remaining in the Keys. A Bahamian immigrant, George Adderley moved here in the early 20th century with his family and established a homestead in 1906. His main sources of income were selling charcoal he made from the hardwood trees and sponges he captured from the ocean. He was followed by other Bahamian families who established a fishing and farming village that became known as Adderly Town. As the price for the railroad traversing their lands, the railroad agreed to put in a rail station.
The Crane family purchased the property in 1949 and built a very modern looking house at the end point. They added tropical plants and orchids. Lots of floor to ceiling windows. but it was under repair so we could not enter the house. The Florida Land and Sea Trust bought the property in 1989 to save it from development.
It cost $3 to enter. There are two small museums including a Natural History of the Keys on the property and the Adderley house has been restored. But the highlight for me were the 2.5 miles of interpretive trails and wooden walkways crisscrossing the property. The Palm trail showcased the Florida thatch palm hammack an endangered tree which cannot tolerate cold weather. the autograph tree starts out growing on another tree or a rock and then strangles its host by growing above it with ariel roots depriving the host of light. The Mangrove trail went through a tunnel of mangroves on a board walk. There was also a wild bird center for injured birds and a turtle correl. We stayed there until after 5 and then ate dinner again at the Blu Bistro.
Saturday, April 29, 2023 Day 17
We checked out of the hotel about 10:30 and retraced our driving going east on the Overseas Highway. After about 1.5 hours we arrived at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo at mile marker 102.5. This is the country's first underwater park. Along with the adjacent Florida Keys National Marine Sanctury, it comprises 178 square miles. Although the Park has a nice beach, campsites and a large parking lot, the highlights of the park are its underwater areas mostly of coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove swamps. There are guided tours along several nature trails, but we did not have time for that. Cost us $8 to enter. The Park is named for John Pennekamp who as a Miami newspaper editor was instrumental in the establishment of this park and the everglades as a National Park.
We arrived too later for the noon boat trips, so while we waited for the next tours I went to the beach and then the museum/aquarium. We ate lunch at the Blue Heron Cafe. I went on the snorkel boat while my spouse went on the glass bottom boat. The former cost $39 (rental equipment extra, but I had equipment) and the latter $32.
The tours were about 2.5 hrs. On my tour we passed through waterways lined with mangrove forests and seagrass beds. It took about 40 minutes to get to the snorkeling site. A bigger boat, more passengers and fewer staff than on my earlier snorkeling tour. Plus, no snacks or drinks. Fortunately, I brought my water bottle. The fish I saw were less dense, but more diverse and colorful than on my prior tour. The coral seemed to be bigger and longer. I got a bit-tired swimming around it. Overall, a very pleasant experience seeing lots of colorful fish. My spouse said that she also saw turtles on her tour.
When driving into the park I noticed that the dashboard on our rental car flashed a light calling for an oil change. I called the car rental agency, and it turned out that the only location it had that would be open after we left the park and ate dinner was at the Miami airport.
After showering we left the park at about 6 and ate dinner at the Fish House, a restaurant just outside the park entrance on the main street. A brief wait for a table and then an encounter with a waiter whom we found difficult to understand and completely confused us about the menu and its pricing. Apparently some of the fish had a mark-up over the menu price. I had mahi mahi and both dishes were very good. Good key lime pie for dessert.
Starting about 8 we then drove about 60 miles through the Florida "Gold Coast" on toll roads to Miami Internataional Airport to swap out the Enterprise rental car. I did not know the area well and were largely on toll roads so I missed filling up the gas tank. I expected a big charge, but Enterprise staff were very helpful, cooperative and eager to please. They even gave us $50 for our inconveninece. . No charge for gasoline or the bumper bump. We were given and even bigger vehicle (those were the only ones available) After about 45 minutes were again on our way on more toll roads for 25 more miles to the Wyndham Garden hotel at the Ft. Lauderdale airport. We arrived late.
The hotel was very busy as it is also near the cruise port and there were numerous airline crews, many from Sprit Airlines staying there. It was a nice hotel and our room was spacious. I didn't see a garden.
Sunday, April 30, 2023 Day 18
We awaken late and after a breakfast at a local diner we set out for the 60-mile drive to Everglades National Park. I had not preplanned this part of the trip and made an arbitrary decision to go to the Park's Shark Valley entrance and Visitor Center, one of nine entrances to the park. We didn't arrive until 12:45.The Visitor center had a small museum.
Everglades National Park is the largest subtropical wilderness left in the US. It encompasses 2356 sq. miles. It was authorized as a national park in 1934 but was not established until 1947. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Shark Valley is a 100-mile river of grass. It is home to the cypress, hardwood and riverine sections of the park. It is a more jungly section of the park than my preconceived notions of grassy fields and forest homes. We walked on the Bobcat trail, a .6-mile board walk that meandered through seagrass and trees. I rented a bicycle and my wife, less desirous of exerting herself with her aching knee, took a tram tour. The former was $15, with a stern warning that I had to return it by 5 pm, and the latter was $25. There was a paved 15-mile loop that the tram followed with a stop at the 50 ft. tall Observation Tower. Conscious of the time and heat, I did not make it to the Tower. However, I did see lots of birds, tmedium sized urtles and alligators. The latter were mainly observed in the waters along the trail where they were largely stationary. They looked like logs until they open their mouths or sank back into the water. I saw one lying on the bank, but he scurried back into the water as I approached. The turtles were usually hanging out on the banks, but I saw two that were slowly crossing the trail. They sped up as I approached. I feared they would become road kill
We left the Park about 5:30 for the hour drive back to the hotel. We walked about 400 yards south to the Fish Grill for dinner. It was a nice meal and an animated waiter. It was reasonably priced, and we had a good key lemon pie.
After packing I went out to try unsuccessfully to return an adult diaper package (my condition had greatly improved) and get some milk shakes. I was able to get a Frosty at a Wendy's. Tried unsuccessfully to go to sleep early for the middle of the night departure from the hotel for our very early morning flight.
Monday, May 1, 2023 Day 19
This was a very frustrating day. We had a 5;30 am flight departure, so we got up very early. It was so early that I did not return the rental card the prior evening since the hotel shuttle was not running yet. So we dropped off the car at the Enterprise lot in the dark and took the van to the terminal. There were lots of passengers in the Southwest check-in area and after checking my phone I saw a message from 1:30 am that our flight had been delayed. Who looks at their phone for flight updates at 1:30 am? After a few more delays the Southwest representatives alleged that high winds the prior day had caused many flight cancellations, thereby disrupting many of today's flights. By 6:00 am Southwest informed us that we could not be rebooked until the following day. Initially it offered hours us no compensation claiming that the delays were out of their control. Ultimately after much complaining and discussions with a supervisor we given a hotel voucher and $400 in fight credits.
So, in the early morning light we went to the Four Seasons Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale. Fortunately, it had a hotel shuttle and a room available for us at that early hour. We ate their very good, but expensive, buffet breakfast and went to sleep in the room. It was a nice hotel.
In the early afternoon I took a walk toward the ocean. I encountered a bicycle rack at an Embassy Suites and the custodian allowed me to borrow a bicycle. I rode a bridge across the intercostal waterway and out to the beach. On the way I passed the luxury Marriott where my son and daughter-in-law had stayed during their get-a-way. A nice beach with well-maintained showers and bathrooms. On the way back after returning the bike I picked up some cookies and finger food at the Publix that severed as dinner.
Tuesday May 2, 2023 Day 20
Our rebooked flight was schedule for takeoff at 8:30 am, so after the buffet breakfast we were able to take the hotel shuttle to the airport. The uneventful flight through Dallas returned us to Salt Lake City on schedule at 11:30 am. We took an Uber home from the airport and went to sleep.
