Fort Lauderdale: The Venice of America

Since our flight didn't leave until close to 5pm, we decided to sleep in (which was VERY refreshing not waking up to a toddler at 7am) and then spend the morning/early afternoon exploring more of Fort Lauderdale.  There is a reason that Fort Lauderdale is called the Venice of America.  There are several different canals and waterways that the city is spread over.  To be able to see more of the city from a different angle we decided to go on a river cruise that took off from the Fort Lauderdale river walk area.  The theme of the day was wealth...not ours...but other's obscene amount of wealth.  It was crazy to see multimillion dollar homes and yachts surrounding us at every turn.  I don't know how people have so much money.  Their boats costing more than the home we had just purchased.  I'm not going to lie though, they were absolute beauties to look at!

Walking along the river front waiting for our cruise departing time.  We saw several yachts and the Jungle Cruise river boat float by.  It was a pretty warm day and with the humidity I had to break apart my camera in order to wipe down the inside of my lens.  Gotta love the thick southern humidity!

We found a totally eclectic restaurant/bar along the river front that allowed for some classic pictures.  Who can pass up posing with a larger than life great white shark!?

I have never seen so much stuff piled on the walls and ceiling of a restaurant before.  It oddly worked really well, though.  It was the perfect spot to get a "refreshing beverage."

We loaded up on our river boat that led us through several of the different canals.  It was absolutely gorgeous and I couldn't believe the amount of money we were surrounded by.  The cruise took a little over an hour, but our guide was not the most informative.  We were hoping for more of a history of Fort Lauderdale, but he gave us more of a history on what the homes were valued at.  He did mention that over 1,000 people move to south Florida a day, which is pretty crazy.  It's no wonder that things are rapidly being built.

Here are some of my favorites from our river cruise...

Obviously the pictures don't do the beauty justice.

On our cruise we saw the cutest Pirate boat filled with several different 3-5 year olds.  You can go on Pirate treasure hunts where the captain takes you around using a treasure maps that the kids decipher.  During part of the adventure a mean ol' pirate tries to board the ship and the kids get to blast him with water canons.  Such a cute idea! It looked pretty awesome and I'm already planning on taking Daxton for his birthday when he's older!

Dallas will be working in the giant building with the pyramid on top.  Our Uncle Jim works in the same building, so they will be able to do lunch or even carpool if they want.

Fort Lauderdale is definitely a beautiful area, to say the least.

Can you see the group of Kayakers in the picture below?

We could see the W Hotel from our river cruise as well.

Our trip made us super excited about our upcoming adventures and especially our new home.  But it also brought the realization of all we would be leaving in the process.  We love our city, we love our friends and family.  So we are sad to be leaving, but excited about what our future holds.
Hopefully, if anything, some of you reading this have been inspired to come visit.  Our house is totally open!