Pondering Florida

When we first got to Sarasota, my father-in-law wanted me to come outside to see the orange blossoms. I'd never seen orange blossoms before, so I took a picture. I wish I could have captured the smell of them - they are awesome! You can double-click on the pictures and they will enlarge.

We stayed in Sarasota for 4 days and on Thursday we left

for Fort Lauderdale. When we first got into town, we called our friends and asked them to meet us at Aruba's. The next day we picked them up and took them to the water taxi, where we enjoyed a leisurely boatride down the intercoastal. We got off at stop #9 (there are 11 stops) and met our daughter at Mango's for lunch. Then, after that we boarded the water taxi, rode down to stop 11 and then all the way back to stop #1. It was a long day, but very fun! Our friends hadn't been on the water taxi and we couldn't wait to share that experience with them! What a wonderful concept - you get on a boat any time of the day between 10:30 AM and 10:30 PM, you can get off and on any number of times, and you get a cutesy tour commentary too! I wish I'd thought of that!!

On our way down to Oakland Park, we stopped at Hillsboro beach and took some pictures. Isn't this a beautiful sight! It was early enough in the morning that there weren't many people on the beach yet - plus it was a little windy for sunbathing! Look at that surf! One of the most incredible things about Florida (especially southern Florida) is the color that you're surrounded by. The ocean is the most gorgeous blue-green, the sky is a beautiful blue, the greens of the palm trees and the blooming plants - it's sensory overload for those of us who left a brown and gray winter for the shores of the Atlantic!

More later...