As we departed Hollywood this morning we could not have imagined the concentration of wealth we would see. By the time we arrived at Murrelle’s Marina in Lantana, FL we must have passed several billion dollars worth of real estate and boats. If anyone tells you this country is going broke then just suggest they take a little ride up the ICW through the area we covered today. But before we reached the high priced real estate we had to pass through Port Everglades where the economic engine of this country is hard at work. And we got to dodge a few big ships in the meantime.
One ship was unloading cars from Japan. I did not know they were sealed in containers and then the container top is removed and they lift them of one by one. The next ship was loading new boats headed for Europe. The Euro is still strong against the dollar so they buy them here and drive them up to the side of a ship and lift them up with slings and secure them in a cradle.
Cruise ships from all over the world come here to pick up passengers and carry them to dream destinations.
Private yachts, each one more magnificent than the last. We are talking megabucks here.
Of course some folks manage to get by on a lot less.
And the houses. Oh the houses are like what you only dream about and there are hundreds and hundreds and the really big ones you cannot see because they are oceanside. This was truly a spectacular ride today. We would not have missed it for the world and in days to come they will get bigger and better.
We transited a lot of bridges and the one above was the most beautiful we have seen.
When we arrived at Murrelle’s Marina mid-afternoon Jan had to back into the tightest slip yet but did it in one try. The marina is pictured at the very top of this blog.
We rode to dinner at a place that was suggested but it was a packed loud bar with characters like this so we left.
The second choice was the Grumpy Grouper and should have been our first. Food was great and we met two couples from Ottawa who have invited us to be their guests when we get there. Looking forward to it around July.
Got to close and get to bed. A diver arrives at 0930 in the morning to take off the port propeller and start Breaking Out Another Thousand!
