South Florida in September & October 2007

South Florida has officially became an obsession for me. This time around I went solo and really wanted to get a chance to do everything I couldn't get out of the way when traveling with friends or family. I finally got a chance to see the Everglades in person. Took an airboat tour, and tasted some frog legs and alligator tails. The weather was a hit or miss but since both trips were a one day affair, it didn't matter much.

As usual, the flight there was aboard Jet Blue. Once again I got an incredible deal bringing the grand total after taxes to just over $100 bux roundtrip, and I don't care who you are that's cheap right there. Plus, as usual Jet Blue had some specials going on offering extra frequent flyer points and future savings that ultimately contributed to my future travels, on Jet Blue's dime.

The car rental of choice again was Enterprise. This time around I wasn't as lucky as I had previously gotten, and I got exactly the class that I booked online. The cars felt awfully small and I felt shortchanged, but apparently a Mitsubishi Lancer and Nissan Sentra are Intermediate vehicles in South Florida. Whatever! Both cars were rather thirsty but at least parking them was no problem since they were so small and nimble.


As mentioned above the first stop on the agenda in September was the Everglades National Park. I booked in advance at Gator Park, arrived in time for the last Gator Show and Airboat ride of the day and had a lot of fun. Actually I got there pretty early so I was able to get a plate of gator tails and frogs legs for the first time, which were very tasty, but somewhat expensive. It cost me the same for dinner as it did for the tour and show. I got to pet a live alligator though, and was amazed how soft their bellies are to the touch. The airboat ride was uneventful, we saw a few alligators slip into the water before we got closer so the boat driver decided to do some tricks and started drifting on the water. Most people aboard were freaking out as nobody wanted that damn thing to flip over. It was a great experience nonetheless, it amazes me how just half an hour from downtown Miami there is this completely different ecological setting with no palm trees but plenty of sawgress and other vegitaiton.


The rest of the time I spend on the beach in South Beach. The weather was incredible, and I got some good tan. The second trip down in October was a bit stormy on the first day. I mainly drove around looking for a good Cuban place to get a Cuban sandwich but regreted it as soon as I ate one, it wasn't as good as the local Cuban place I frequent in Jersey. I found my way to Calie Ocho the following day for lunch and that meal in Little Havana was much better. On the stormy day though I drove some more around Las Olas Boulevard and was amazed to see water overflowing onto the street from the canals. Once I got closer to the beach, Ft. Lauderdale Boulevard or A1A was full of tractors scooping sand up and throwing it back on the beach. The surf was so high that the waves were literally crashing right by the wall that separates the beach from the boulevard. Wow!


This time I stayed in Broward county both in Hollywood and Ft. Lauderdale at Choice Motels which were pretty beat and cheapo looking. Of course for that price I wasn't expecting much more. But they had free parking and I was close to movie theaters as I got a chance to go see Bourne Ultimatum and Eastern Promises during each visit.
The highlight of the trip was my visit to Steeda Autosport in Pompano. I was hoping to start adding their cars to my registry but so far they're not returning my e-mails and all that excitement I went through a few months ago wore off pretty quickly. Either way, I think this would be my last trip to South Florida this year, and I miss it already.

Links:

Jet Blue: www.jetblue.com
Enterprise: www.enterprise.com
Choice Hotels: www.choicehotels.com
Gator Park: www.gatorpark.com