Fort Lauderdale

New years day 2012 Keith and I decided to hit the beach after a late lunch at the Floridian on Los Olas Avenue in old Fort Lauderdale Florida. It is one of those places that stays open 24-7 and 365days a year and a hot spot with the late night post party crowd as well as brunch queens. It was fun and we found a cool park just down the block on one of those canals that are like streets for the neighborhood of Downtown Ft. Lauderdale.
I was impressed with the trees and water and the nice flowers at a church across the street. We left there and went to a parking lot at one end of the beach drive A1A and walked the entire length of the beach down to where Sunrise boulevard intersects the A1A and turned around and walked back. There we found a cool sunset with palm trees and a couple green herons hanging around the piers.

the path into the park was very inviting so we walked over to see what we could see...

We saw the canal turns by the park and there was a lot of passing traffic. 

spanish moss hangs in some of the trees 

Bird of paradise show their blue tongues when they bloom before they are cut. 

orchids blooming in a planter box by the church

High-rise hotels and condos are spectacular but they block the afternoon sun on Ft. Lauderdale beach.

see how shady it is in the afternoon on the beachfront!

this shows the walk we were on which runs along the edge of the beach with a short white wall that opens at intersections to let swimmers in and has little open showers to wash off your feet before you put your shoes back on after swimming. 

Monster buildings really change the feel of the beach front.  They look a lot like the giant cruise ships that pass by leaving and coming into port. 

Keith carried his heavy camera and long lens to get some good photos

one of two green herons I spotted there and under the pier where I was standing 

sky turned orange in the end 

that is the other green heron flying over to meet the first 

This was a day with a high temperature of 81ºF and we really enjoyed extra low humidity that made it extra nice for a long walk. Great way to start our new year. Sunshine warm weather and exercise walking with lots to see along the way.