Cruising the New River, Fort Lauderdale
November 23: The plan for today was to go on a boat tour of the historic New River in Fort Lauderdale and then to just enjoy the beach.
Watching the cruise ships come in while enjoying a coffee our balcony is a nice way to start the day. This is the Zuiderdam inbound at 06:15 am.
We dropped off our rental car at Hertz and walked a block back to the Jungle Queen for her 09:30 tour.
I’ve been surprised at how many pelicans there are in this area. Large flocks of them fly over the beach in front of the hotel quite often. This shot was taken from the deck of the Jungle Queen just before we sailed.
This would be a day that was mostly about houses and boats – we saw “normal” houses and boats…
… we saw much larger houses and boats…
… and we saw very large houses…
… and very large boats! This 248-foot motor Yacht is the Northern Star, built by Larssen last year. She sleeps 12, carries a crew of 22, has an ice-rated hull for your dream Northwest Passage cruise, and is available for charter for $650,000 USD per week plus expenses. 🙂
Perhaps the biggest surprise of this trip was the fact that we really enjoyed Fort Lauderdale. Part of that was no doubt due to the hotel we picked, but the community is both beautiful and interesting. The Jungle Queen cruise gives a good approximation of what a European river cruise is like – that’s an experience that’s still on the “to-do” list.
We saw quite a few signs along the waterways stating that “this is a manatee area” but didn’t see any manatees.
This is Coontie Hatchee Park, a 2.68 acre park which just opened a year ago. The name is derived from the Seminole Indian names for the New River and the native coontie (Zamia Floridiana) plant, which flourished on the banks of the river. The guide said that there used to be homes here but they were destroyed by Hurricane Andrew.
This is Privacy, a 155-foot yacht owned by Tiger Woods. He paid $20 million for it in 2004 – it has 4 cabins.
We stopped for about 45 minutes at a little facility that offers snacks, crafts for sale, and an alligator wresting demonstration. Jonathan works with an alligator rescue organization, and this is one of their fund-raisers.
For a $5 donation you can get a photo of yourself “wrestling” a smaller alligator 🙂 The belly of this little guy is like the softest leather you’ve ever felt.
A whole lot of bridges had to open to let us through! Captain Lyle did an excellent tour (the entire tour was 3 hours long). For $17.50 each this tour gives you a unique look at the community and offers exceptional value.
After the cruise we stopped for a nice lunch next door at the Bahia Cabana, then walked 3 blocks back to the Marriott to enjoy the beach. The weather wasn’t great, but better than what we’d be headed to the next day!
We’ve been quite intrigued by the number and variety of lizards we’ve seen. This tiny one was on the sidewalk at the hotel.
That evening, we walked about half a mile down the beach to the main channel from the cruise port, and watched the Noordam and Seven Seas Navigator sail away. I’d left the batteries for my camera in the charger back at the hotel so have no photos, though!! 🙂 We found it interesting that the response from the Noordam was enthusiastic – lots of horn blowing by the ship and waving and cheering by the passengers as they went by, while the Seven Seas Navigator was pretty much mute and I only saw 3 people wave.
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