Had Enough of the Beach?

Say it aint so--there is one more day to go!

Daylight comes early this time of the year; although there were black-out curtains, enough light filtered through so that when I woke up, I threw on a dress and sandles, grabbed my camera and headed to the beach for the sunrise. I missed the actual rise, but the sun was still low enough to bathe the area in warm, golden tones.

There was a nice boardwalk along the beach for those who prefer running or walking on wood, I dodged a few in my haste! Something very weird happened to my photos--do you see it around the sun? That blue blotch--I still don't know what happened. Anyway, I hung around for about thirty minutes, enjoying both the photo taking, and the peacefulness of the mostly deserted beach, which I knew, sooner, rather than later, would be filled with people having fun in the sun.

I love how a sunrise makes the water glow! The slightly curved horizon in most all of my shots was very interesting; I don't recall seeing it so readily in any seaside photographs I've ever taken. Turning around I wanted to show you how big the hotel is--there are actually two additional towers, with the  curved building being both the original and where we stayed on the sixth floor.

Eventually I knew the "boys" would be up, wondering where I'd run off to, so I made my way through the pool area which is definitely worth seeing:

How would you like to spend the day in one of those shelters? Nice aren't they? There were a few early morning swimmers,

or more accurately one. If you prefer your afternoons be spent surrounded by water you might elect to choose the pool below:

Who are these clever people who dream stuff like this up? (taken on Saturday evening) Helen was staying in one of the towers:

As I'm uploading these photos I'm really loving all of the palm trees, are you? How about one last shot of the amazing lobby where I sat while Bruce was paying the $76 for two days of parking?

 Okay, make that two!

Leaving Matt to attend his conference, we traveled North on Collins Ave, towards Haulover Beach. Remember I mentioned it the other day, suggesting you not forget the name? Finally, I'll take you there. Turns out, in the new year, Bruce is to do a restaurant there on the Intercoastal Waterway, which we passed driving South on Saturday. Reading up on the area, I learned two things of interest: 1. there are very colorful lifeguard stands, and 2. between aforementioned colorful stands 13-15 it is a nude beach. So, what do you think we were looking for? Let's be honest here--Bruce was with me so, both!

That said, it is poor form to photograph nude bathers, so there will be none of that, to which I know you are breathing a sigh of relief! Instead, the aforementioned colorful lifeguard stands:

There are several of each color, blue, green, yellow and PINK:

It's not far from Miami Beach, maybe twelve miles? We'd gone through some rain on our way and the clouds lingered. Mostly the very wide beach was empty on a Monday morning, except for some of the nude bathers. I must admit it was pretty weird seeing a naked man walking toward you, as you are strolling in the opposite direction. That said, I figure if people want to swim nude, why not?

Continuing North on US 1, our last stop was in Hallendale Beach so Bruce could show me a Yard House restaurant located in an extremely fancy shopping complex.

Shopping and/or gambling--they will take your money any way you want to hand it over.

Our early lunch was terrific! Although they serve a gazillion beers on tap, it is not your typical beer joint. Now that we've eaten there, I can't wait for one to open in Orlando. (the tubes are the beer lines)

You know what we did after our fine lunch? Got on the Turnpike in Hollywood, staying there until we saw the sign for our exit in Orlando! The long way there, the short way home. Guess who was glad to see us?

Who can resist this little face??

And now, here I am, a week later, and all of the above is history. Matt returned to London on Thursday night, and from what I can tell, brought a little Florida sunshine back with him.

Finally, I now have two married sons, Jonathan and Alissa made their union official yesterday afternoon, with both the bride and the judge wearing cowboy boots for the ceremony. I must admit, I cried while congratulating them after it was all said and done. I've had a long time to prepare myself for not being there, but that really didn't seem to help much as I was anxious as can be. On the other hand, they could have eloped, and not told us so that's some consolation. As I type they are flying to Japan for a ten day honeymoon; I can hardly wait to hear about all the amazing things they'll see.