The Everglades

On Monday, as it was Sally's birthday, I said we'd do anything she wanted. Sally decided that we'd drive to the Everglades and go on an airboat ride.

We were looking forward to a nice drive with the roof down - so were a bit cross to find our convertible wouldn't convert. We took a short drive to Ft Lauderdale airport and demanded a replacement, which we got - but still no Mustang.

We then drove west for an hour and a half onto the Seminole Indian Reservation where we watched a 'Critter Show', had a ride on a swamp buggy, and an airboat. It must be out of season as we were almost on our own on the rides. The weather was fantastic and, despite me being the colour of a well-cooked lobster, we had a fantastic day.

Fort Lauderdale

The 3.5 hour drive from Orlando Airport in our Chrysler Sebring convertible (I now know I'll never get the Mustang I want) was fairly uneventful - although after a few wrong turns it did feel like we were never going to get away from Orlando for a while.
Our satnav got us to the Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort with no further errors and we had our first look at our 15th floor apartment with cracking views over the waterways and city.
We enjoyed a walk along the beach, I had a beer of two, and we had a meal in a very popular (and very good) Italian restaurant before going to bed.

The atrium of the Crown Plazza

A view of the elevators taken while having breakfast

Waking up in Florida

Just woken up on our first full day in Florida at the Crown Plazza Hotel near Orlando International Airport.
It's nearly 8am and not completely light yet - the clocks go back tonight here so only 4 hours behind UK at the moment.
We pick up the hire car at 10 and then drive down to Fort Lauderdale.

Get set...

We're now at our hotel near Gatwick and getting ready to go to the airport.

This is the first entry made on my iPhone - let's see if it works...

Ready...

The clocks went back last night, it's rainy, and the weather forecast is saying that it'll drop below freezing most nights this week.

It must be time for a holiday in the sun!