February in Ft. Lauderdale...

Our travels South had several purposes including; explore new places, visit with local friends and relatives, enjoy a Caribbean cruise with friends from Chicago, and of course to escape the COLD winter weather up North!



Todd, Warren and Shonah on our first stop in the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida area.  We met Warren several years ago on a cruise in the Caribbean and have stayed in touch with him ever since.  After enjoying an afternoon of conversation and catching up, Warren treated us to one of his favorite neighborhood Thai restaurants for dinner - Thanks Warren!

Friends from Chicago Jeff, Sean, Todd and Shonah on our fourth Caribbean cruise together over the past eight years.  The 7 day chartered cruise included stops in Labadee, Haiti, San Juan, Puerto Rico and Sint Maarten/St. Martin (both the Dutch and French sides).



Todd and Shonah enjoying the quite large adirondack chairs and natural half-acre lawn on the top of our 2,800 passenger cruise ship, Celebrity Silhouette.



Jeff, Sean, Todd, and Shonah taking a selfie during an afternoon at sea.



Shonah, Sean and Todd enjoying one of the several themed parties (the Classic Disco T-dance) during the week long cruise.

 



Todd and Shonah on Orient Beach in Saint Martin (the French side).

 

Todd's Aunt Sue, Uncle Jim, Shonah, and Todd enjoying an afternoon barbeque at their condo complex in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida after the cruise.  Since the rest of Florida (and the country) were colder than Ft. Lauderdale, we decided to hang out and enjoy Ft. Lauderdale for a few weeks.

 

Clockwise from the top, Todd's Uncle Art, Aunt Sue, Shonah, Indrani, and Todd during a quick visit as Uncle Art and his friend Indrani were passing through Ft. Lauderdale in search of warmer weather.



Todd, Aunt Sue, Shonah, and Uncle Jim in front of our EarthRoamer that Aunt Sue enjoyed showing off to her neighbors.

Shonah and Todd introducing friends from Michigan Joanne and Dave to a jumping picture while they were docked in Stuart, Florida on their catamaran sailboat.  After many years of sailing up and down the East coast and into the Caribbean, Joanne and Dave decided to sell their boat to become full time RVers. 

Shonah and Joanne sporting the new Fedoras they acquired in Stuart, Florida.

Todd enjoying another FREE ranger led kayak tour, this time in Biscayne National Park South of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.



Kayaking through the mangrove forests of Biscayne National Park.



While kayaking, we were able to enjoy watching a mother manatee and her calf swim directly under our kayak!  Manatees, also known as Sea Cows, are mostly herbivorous marine mammals and can grow to 13 feet long and weigh as much as 1,300 pounds.  Neat, but also a little unnerving since it wouldn't have taken much for them to tip our kayak.



These Manatees were just hanging out in the harbor near the visitor center in Biscayne National Park.



In addition to one paddle like fin in the back, Manatees also have to arm like flippers in the front.



Manatees spend 50% of their day sleeping where they can stay under water for up to 20 minutes on a single heartbeat and breath.  The rest of their day is spent grazing in shallow water where they typically come up to breath every 3-5 minutes.



Clockwise from the top left, Gary, Cathy (Aunt Sue and Uncle Jim's friends with a small boat in Florida and a much bigger boat up North), Uncle Jim, Shonah, and Aunt Sue preparing to head out on a cruise of the Ft. Lauderdale canals and intercostal waterway.  Gary and Cathy hosted us for several hours of cruising and reminded us how much we miss our boat.



Ft. Lauderdale, Florida is home to an exceptional number of waterfront mansions, most of which also have huge luxury yachts in their "backyard".



And the yachts get bigger and bigger...



This mammoth yacht named Seven Seas is owned by Steve Spielberg.  I think both Indiana Jones and E.T. would be impressed.