15th Street Fisheries

Today we rode south just a bit and had lunch at the 15th Street Fisheries at Lauderdale Marina. It is an old established eatery located right on the Intracoastal Waterway. They have a website with their menus, check it out. http://www.15streetfisheries.com/index.html

People arrive by boat, personal water craft, and water taxi as well as cars and two wheels. We took a picture of someone’s Kymco scooter, brand new, nice silver one, with a case on the back that had a sticker saying Tow Away US so we think it probably belonged to one of the guys that worked for one of the many towing companies that park at the marina. We saw about a half dozen tow boats hanging around, guess they are waiting for someone to need their services.

Along with great food you can watch the boat traffic on the waterway, admire the mansions and the happenings at the marina.

The restaurant is quite large and has several unique areas. We ate at one of the outdoor patios. It has glass squares in the flooring so one can watch the fish swim under your feet. Pretty neat! And a wide open view of the Intracoastal waterway and the 17th Street Causeway bridge.

There are upstairs dining rooms that are more formal with great views of the Intracoastal. And a downstairs dining room as well as another outside patio dining area on the other side of the restaurant.

We started with an order of oysters on the half shell and have to say that they were some of the best we have had this season. Then we had grilled shrimp and lobster kabobs with small whole mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and pineapple pieces served over rice. Very tasty. Then we could not resist a chocolate torte for dessert. We are sure that we left there several pounds heavier, fortunately our Vespa 150’s had no trouble hauling us home.


Just outside the front entrance is a small fish pond with beautiful Japanese Koi fish. Some of them are quite large and so very colorful. We took a few photos of them.







This weekend we have a nice long 3 days so hopefully we can get some riding in. The weather is not too great in the afternoons so we try to ride in the mornings. Today we were lucky in that we got home right before 4PM and the bottom dropped out with thunder and lightening at 4. Talk about good timing.

First Dip of the Year

Wednesday of this past week we took off work early and went to the beach. It was our first dip of the season. We are wimps and wait for the water to warm up. It is rare that we make it into the ocean before May so we are pretty much on schedule. Also the summer months are wonderful at the beach as the snow birds are gone and there is plenty of sun, sand and surf for us regulars. It was absolutely perfect Wednesday. The tide was out so that meant that along the shore the shallow water was quite warm. One could walk way out into the ocean and still not have the water over your head. And the sun was nice and warm without being brutal. One of those days when we say to ourselves, “This is why we live in Florida”.

One of the fun things Wednesday was to watch the large pelican birds dive for fish. They are so beautiful and look like bomber planes zeroing in on a target. There must have been a lot of little fish swimming around as we did not see any larger ones, but the pelicans were all around and diving frequently. We kept hoping they would not mistake us for a big fish.

A friend of our just bought a new scooter, (Roketa Maui 50GL), and has already emailed us that he has put 70 miles in 4 days just running around in his neighborhood. I bet he thinks up errands to run so he can ride it. We were emailing back and forth for a week or more as he was trying to decide what to buy and then what color to get. It was funny because he wrote us to ask our opinion of the color. The choices were Red, Yellow, or Blue. Afraid our answer just made it more difficult. We told him that the blue one was very pretty, the red one was more orange, the yellow was nice and bright and the advantage of the red and yellow is that you would be more easily seen on the road. Poor Guy! Well it got settled by the dealer, as they only had blue in stock, so blue it was. The blue one was really the nicest of the colors so he lucked out.

For the past week or so when we finish tennis, there has been a silver Kymco People scooter parked next to us. We park near the bike racks so the poor bicycle riders are being crowded a bit. But we always park far enough away from the racks so we do leave them open for the cyclists. We usually play early at 7:45AM but today were playing at 9AM so up rides the Kymco at about the same time as us. We were happy to meet and exchange stories about our scooters. He had bought his scooter second hand from a lady that hardly rode it and had just had it serviced. It is a 2 stoke so he was telling us that it goes up to 42 miles per hour instead of the 30 plus with the 4 stroke machines. He said that comes in handy when he has to take a short strip of a busy road on the way to the tennis club.

Our scooters have attracted quite a bit of attention and the first question everyone asks is, “how many miles to the gallon?” When we tell them, we can see them calculating how much money they would save if they bought a scooter. We expect to see more scooters at the tennis club soon.

Demise of the Small Family Budget Hotels on Fort Lauderdale Beach

Beach front accommodations on Fort Lauderdale Beach are fast becoming Out-of-Price for the average family on vacation in our area.

For the past few years small economical family style lodging have been bulldozed in favor of luxury high rise hotels with nightly room rates in the thousand dollar bracket. And now two more small, moderate hotels, the Avalon and the Tropic Cay are going to bite the dust in the coming year. I guess the city approval has already been granted.

The Avalon is advertised as one of the Waterfront Inns and is situated right on A1A facing the Atlantic Ocean with a standard room going for $99. You can get a bigger room or a one bedroom suite for a little more, but you had better hurry as their appointment with the Wrecking Ball is eminent. This small hotel offers 70 uniquely decorated rooms in 4 different low rise buildings featuring relaxed antebellum décor.

The second upcoming fatality is the Tropic Cay, which sits right next door to the Avalon and offers a standard room for only $89. Guess they had the misfortune to be in the line of fire by being next to the Avalon, or maybe visa versa. There are a total of only 43 guest rooms in the two story hotel, so it would be hard to get lost there.

In place of the above two small hotels will be an ultra modern resort, 22 stories high and 30 stories long called the Ocean Wave. Here is an artist rendering of the proposed hotel.

On one side of the new resort is the 25 story Q Club Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort that just opened one year ago.

On the other side is the new 24-story Trump Tower, under construction and scheduled to open later this year or early next year.

Just down the beach about a block further is the new St Regis Resort. Any of these hotels will set you back a few k's in a short visit.

The biggest fiasco was the destruction of a historical hotel called the Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel to build a new luxury condo. It was Fort Lauderdale's first art deco hotel dating back to 1936 and was designed by Roy F. France, architect of over 40 Miami Beach art deco and postmodern hotels. A dozen of France's hotels have been demolished, but 20 still remain.

Thru herculean efforts by the historical society, the developer agreed to preserve the front façade of the hotel. The results is shown below and certainly does not resemble the historic little art hotel it once was.

And opening in October 2008 is the luxury W Hotel and Residences.

There are still a few, like maybe 4 small hotels left on the beach, otherwise you have to go back a few blocks to find something decent for a moderate price.

One of the survivors is the Sea Club Hotel on the Fort Lauderdale Beach. It has a cute, open 2nd floor deck facing the ocean, where one can have a drink or eat a bite and watch the beach happenings.

There are others that will have to wait for another day and another post.

The Biker, unknown author

We found this while browsing Craig's List and wanted to share it with you. None of the words are ours. And we do not know who wrote this, but it has an impact and if it makes just one person think twice about a biker then it has served it's purpose.

THE BIKER

I saw you, hug your purse closer to you in the grocery store line. But, you didn't see me, put an extra $10.00 in the collection plate last Sunday.

I saw you, pull your child closer when we passed each other on the sidewalk. But, you didn't see me, playing Santa at the local mall.

I saw you, change your mind about going into the restaurant. But, you didn't see me, attending a meeting to raise more money for the hurricane relief.

I saw you, roll up your window and shake your head when I rode by. But, you didn't see me, riding behind you when you flicked your cigarette butt out the car window.

I saw you, frown at me when I smiled at your children. But, you didn't see me, when I took time off from work to run toys to the homeless.

I saw you, stare at my long hair. But, you didn't see me, and my friends cut ten inches off for Locks of Love.

I saw you, roll your eyes at our leather jackets and gloves. But, you didn't see me, and my brothers donate our old ones to those that had none.

I saw you, look in fright at my tattoos. But, you didn't see me, cry as my children were born and have their name written over and in my heart.

I saw you, change lanes while rushing off to go somewhere. But, you didn't see me, going home to be with my family.

I saw you, complain about how loud and noisy our bikes can be. But, you didn't see me, when you were changing the CD and drifted into my lane.

I saw you, yelling at your kids in the car. But, you didn't see me, pat my child's hands, knowing he was safe behind me.

I saw you, reading the newspaper or map as you drove down the road. But, you didn't see me, squeeze my wife's leg when she told me to take the next turn.

I saw you, race down the road in the rain. But, you didn't see me, get soaked to the skin so my son could have the car to go on his date.

I saw you, run the yellow light just to save a few minutes of time. But, you didn't see me, trying to turn right.

I saw you, cut me off because you needed to be in the lane I was in. But, you didn't see me, leave the road.

I saw you, waiting impatiently for my friends to pass. But, you didn't see me. I wasn't there.

I saw you, go home to your family. But, you didn't see me. Because, I died that day you cut me off.

I was just a biker. A person with friends and a family. But, you didn't see me.

Re-send this around in hopes that people will understand the biker community.

EVEN IF YOU DON'T LIKE US, RESPECT OUR RIGHTS TO RIDE WHAT WE CHOOSE AND TAKE A FEW EXTRA SECONDS TO BE SURE WE'RE NOT IN 'YOUR' WAY - LIVE TO RIDE . . . RIDE TO LIVE

Police Motorcycle Rodeo

We got a real treat today as we attended the Southeast Police Motorcycle Rodeo. It was free and open to the public and was held in Pompano Beach in a large parking area of a shopping center.

The course looked tough and so many traffic cones were set up that we wondered how they did not get lost in the maze.







According to some of the riders, the course was very challenging. They were identical to those used for training police officers.





There were some 100 plus motorcycle officers participating in the event. Many came from quite far away, like the Carolinas, New Jersey and even Canada. Most were men but we did see one female competing. There may have been more but we did not stay all day.






They rode and competed for 8 hours, a long day in the hot Florida sun.


The rules were pretty tough, like you can't touch a cone or put their foot down. The riders were commenting how tight some of the exercises were.



According to one rider "You can turn the bike in a 360-degree circle. Harley Davidson designed it to do that within 18 feet. If a circle is designated at 19 feet, you don't have much room for error.


Members of The Wings of Gold Motorcycle Club served as volunteer judges for the event. They were on top of it, watching each rider and making hand signals as to the success or failure of the riders. We got this photo of the back of their vest.


There was also this huge Harley trailer truck that was almost a block long and sitting in front of it was a 2008 Harley Davidson XLH Sportster 883 that will be raffled at the end of the event. The badge painted on the side was pretty impressive too.





One officer from the Charleston County Sheriff's Office in South Carolina, was impressed with the setup. He said one of the courses was called the “Fun Run” and it was quite challenging and very tricky. He mentioned that the cone patterns were so tight and hard to turn and that he laid his bike down, but was not hurt, just his ego suffered a slight scrape.

We could hear the metal scraping the cement parking lot on the turns and it was amazing to see them handle those big machines. The way they moved their bodies to manipulate thru the tight swerves was almost like a dance. It was really something to see.




Most deputies and sheriffs are riding Harley Davidsons which weigh 750 to 800 pounds so it is extremely difficult to turn them in an 18-19 foot radius. All the exercises were a testament of their skills with the heavy motorcycles.


Our Vespas weigh about 250 pounds so it is amazing to think of them handling 3 times that weight. It was thrilling to watch.



As we were leaving we saw a mounted police on a horse. Quite the contrast. Talk about horse power!

Lookin For Love in all the Wrong Places

Well our area has made national headlines this week. It seems that it is Mating Season for Alligators and they are making their way onto local roads and college campuses lookin fer luv.

Here is a link to the story as well as some related links on gators. A fun read.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbgator0402sbapr02,0,3827798.story

There is even a map to show where one of the big guys was sunning along side of State Rd 441. He caused a traffic jam as people were slowing down to see him.