We were up early this morning. We packed up and finished the chocolate chip muffins. Then we headed out to the car where Nick’s parents met us. We were probably on our way to Publix by 7:45, where we picked up lunches and loaded up coolers for today.
It was a little over an hour drive up to the Shark Valley entrance of the Everglades. Much of it was through farm land. It was a pretty uneventful drive.
When we got to Shark Valley, we checked in for our 9:30 tram tour (I had pre-booked a couple weeks earlier) and explored the gift shops, then got ready for our two hour tour.
Do the tram tour. Seriously. The tour guides were super knowledgeable. It was about a two hour tour covering an approximately 15 mile loop, complete with about 20 minutes at the observation tower. We learned a lot about the history of the Everglades, and a lot about the animals that call this area home. We saw A LOT of alligators, some turtles, and lots of birds. We also saw a crocodile at the tower. The other ways to explore this loop are by bike or on foot. However, the road isn’t much wider than the tram and the tram has the right of way, so if you’re on bike or foot, you’re getting awfully close to the gators to let the tram by. Take the tram. We all enjoyed it!
After the tram ride, final purchases were made and then we had a parking lot picnic.
Once we’d finished eating, we made some decisions. It had rained for a couple minutes during the tram tour, and the sky was getting pretty dark, plus, the Everglades was in a massive drought, so we decided against an airboat tour. We considered finding an aquarium or something to go to on our way back to Fort Lauderdale, but we eventually decided that we’d be getting to Fort Lauderdale close enough to check in time to just go to the hotel.
So, we made the fairly straightforward drive to the Riverside Hotel on Los Olas. The valet dude here was SUPER helpful (no, really) and directed us inside, where rooms were not ready yet, but they started the check-in process. Mr. helpful valet dude then stored our luggage in one of the conference rooms, with mountains of other luggage (apparently it was a busy weekend in Fort Lauderdale), I parked the car in the garage (after being asked by the valet dude if we were in town for the Leafs game, since we had Ontario plates on the rental car…yeah, no…), and we wandered around the river and Los Olas. While wandering, the Blue Angels flew over in formation, which I thought was the coolest thing ever. Nick, who had already told me “I detest this place (downtown FLL), it’s so fake”, was ambivalent. Thankfully, around now, the hotel called me to let me know that our rooms were available, so we went back to the desk, where check in was finished, we got our keys, and then valet got our luggage for us and directed us to “the bigger elevator”. This elevator was still super small by the way, but it did get us and our luggage (in two groups) up to the second floor.
Our room was very nice. Clean, with some fancy touches that were surprising honestly, considering this hotel was running about the same price as hotels by the airport, but…was on Los Olas. We did NOT however, love the motion detector lights under the dresser/TV stand. We couldn’t find an off switch, and assumed those would be an issue in the night. But, overall, nice room, and relatively quiet considering it was next to the area where people pull up for valet, but on the second floor.
Then began the debate about dinner in the group text. I let Nick and his parents decide where we were going. Eventually they came to a conclusion, and we met up about 5:30 to walk basically across the street to Big City Tavern.
Dinner here was very good. I had…something pink and fruity to drink (some sort of margarita probably), and a chicken sandwich. We all split a big pretzel and Kim and John had fried green tomatoes for an appetizer. Nick probably had steak tips for dinner. His dad was buying;) Service was great. We were happy with the choice to eat here.
Dinner here was very good. I had…something pink and fruity to drink (some sort of margarita probably), and a chicken sandwich. We all split a big pretzel and Kim and John had fried green tomatoes for an appetizer. Nick probably had steak tips for dinner. His dad was buying;) Service was great. We were happy with the choice to eat here.
After dinner, we wandered a few more minutes, Kim and I both agreeing that we felt comfortable here from a safety standpoint, which made me happy about the location choice. Then Kim got gelato and I got a mini cannoli from a gelato shop basically next to Big City Tavern. This was all really good too.
Then it was back to the hotel to pack for real and crash early. By now, my throat was better, but it was clear that some sort of crud was settling in, so I was very content to crash early. And that alarm would be going off early the next morning.
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