We stayed at the Las Olas Municipal Marina at the foot of the Las Olas Boulevard bridge. Just two blocks to the beach, convenient to all the restaurants and dives of the “boardwalk” area, it’s a beautiful marina, clean (no bird droppings on the docks — WOW!!) with security, scenery, an amazing laundry facility (don’t laugh — this is a cruiser’s priority!), recycling (we’ve found that a rarity in marinas, believe it or not) and a really great place to walk the dog. We were rubbing shoulders with The Big Boys there: “Bookends,” which seems to be permanently waiting with her 8 person crew for any command from the owner, is 163’ long.

The Lazarra (perhaps the world’s fanciest yacht, and very likely the most expensive) that was at the end of our dock was at least that big, and the one that replaced it was over 200’ long. So we’re not one of the big boys, we’re a little guy, very, VERY little, at 43’. We were certainly the dirtiest, still carrying some of the Baltimore grime, and the most loaded down with evident “stuff,” like bikes and kayaks — the Big Boys all have garages for their “stuff.”
We discovered that the piper who greeted us on our first night here does a regular performance on the on the other side of the bridge just before sunset. It was wonderful!
We walked every day to the “Boardwalk” area, really just the retail area across the street from the beach, and saw the sights. Bars, restaurants, shops and people. Sitting with “2-4-1” drinks (buy one drink and get the other free) Bloody Mary and Mimosa, or with a little snack (these were awesome!) the people watching was fabulous. You cannot imagine who believes they can wear a bikini. You would not believe who thinks they are still some young thang because they can still fit into it, whatever “it” is. There is a point in aging when “slender” turns to “scrawny,” and it is just as scrawny when blessed with a tan as not. And because you were once a young buck with long hair, a tan, a fancy fedora and a stogie, does NOT mean that you can carry it off today!
This wonderful sculpture is made of empty plastic bottles — what a great way to recycle! — and it is lit with LED lights at night.
On Sunday, our last day there, we stopped in at our favorite ice cream place. It’s a “pump your own,” sorbet, low fat yogurt, soft serve ice cream, and everything in between. Lots of flavors. . . pistachio, red velvet, cookies and cream, vanilla, peanut butter, cake batter, peach mango. . . you get the idea. In case you can’t decide which to choose, the guy behind the counter comes out with these little paper “pill cups,” and an offer to let you taste whatever flavor you might like to try. Gotta tell you, taste ‘em, pump ‘em, and you are in possession of delicious flavors worthy of a return trip. All yummy! But WAIT! There’s MORE!!! Sit on the shady bench outside the ice cream place to savor your choice, and just watch. . .