Any fun upcoming events you are excited about?

We clearly live and travel in different hemispheres. Your trips are a dream for me. My favorite author (Bryce Courtenay) was a South African who spent and a good deal of time writing about and living in Australia and New Zealand. I devoured every word he ever wrote and I have always dreamed about visiting Tasmania and New Zealand. I’m also a wildlife and history nut, so I keep dreaming!

Enjoy your trip!!

Totally not an all crazy to plan a vacation for a dog. My dog gets a beach trip to a Maine beach every year in May. She loves snow, and I take her to Old Quebec City and Montreal every winter to run and play in it. Well.. less running these days lol more marinating 🤣

She’s also aging, she’s 13 at the least, probably 14 or more, and a medium sized dog. I’m looking forward to our beach trip this month.

Ahhh I miss family vacations! Enjoy it while you can!

Ohhhhhh I just saw Metallica last year at Gillette Stadium! It was great!

would love a review of your cooking class when you come back!

Our October holiday was supposed to be for our 30th wedding anniversary in 2020 and obviously didn't happen so now it's for our 35th this year 

We must be sisters from another mother - Bryce Courtenay was my favourite author too.   Every year my dad would buy me his latest novel for Christmas. I was so sad when Bryce passed away and that lovely tradition ended. 

Hang in there - you’re on the home stretch 😊

We have a few days at the beach in September. Sometimes it really is the little things. I'm VERY excited to get back to the beach!

We are headed to the Greek Isles for a 2-week land tour in September. We'll probably go to Carmel for a mid-week getaway sometime this year. The Monterey Peninsula is our happy place.

I love the variety of exciting events in this thread!

Not a lot in the very near future, as we generally only take a "big" vacation every other year or so. Last summer we moved instead of taking a trip so it threw our planning off track a bit - but in a really good way! I love our new house even though it meant no big trips this year other than the one we took last fall (New England/Canada coastline cruise) that had already been booked & paid before we decided to move. We do have some other stuff planned though.

+ In June we're going to a board gaming convention where we run/play games - board games (me), role-playing games (DH), plus other types like tabletop games & social interaction games that others in our gaming group play and/or run. We'll also get to try out new games that are either new to the market or still on Kickstarter. It's a lot of fun. DH has gone several times, but last year was my first time and I really enjoyed it!

+ June day at a winery with friends and ex-colleagues.

+ Fall family wedding (nephew) at a state park a couple hours away.

+ Trip to Oregon to visit both DDs, SIL, & granddaughter - not sure when exactly, but looking at late fall.

+ Next big trip will be summer 2026 cruise with DH, DS, & DD2 to the Greek Isles. Cannot wait for this one!!!

I'm sure we'll do some other little weekend things here and there as well, but they're not planned yet. DH & DS just got back from a 2-week trip exploring ancient ruins in Mexico. They had a great time, but now DH really has just enough PTO left for the gaming convention so we'll be patient and do smaller trips while anticipating the Greek/Med cruise.

The water taxi is one of our favorite things to do when people visit! (We don’t own a boat lol)

Are you staying at Margaritaville?

The way we normally do it is that we all dress nice for dinner (you don’t have to- it’s quite laid back and relaxed in Ft Lauderdale…) we have a few drinks at 5 O’Clock somewhere- which is where the water taxi pick up is.

On a nice day, sit up outside if you can! We usually load up on the water taxi and take it up to Las Olas. They usually have a captain that acts as a chill tour operator talking about the things you see along the way. One of my FAVORITE things to do is look up the names and how much the yachts we see are, and who owns them.

Ft Lauderdale is the “Venice of the US” and those waterways are amazing!! The homes and boats are so great for dreaming 😊 Anyway- it’s totally ok to bring your own drinks and food if you want- they also will sell drinks (I think snacks too) on board if you want.

Anyway, we usually have where we want to eat all picked out and confirm with the ticket taker what stop or transfers we need to do to get there. Anything on Las Olas (coffee/dessert live music at Ann’s Florist!) We also like Coconuts (great food but massive “spring break” vibe and often a wait..) and the Boathouse (more upscale but casual dress is fine!)

The water taxi kind of stops running early for us, so we always plan to Uber back.

Back in Hollywood- if you want upscale (super nice- country club attire is minimum) I can’t recommend Billy’s Stone Crab enough. GiGi’s is a must if you want a nice chill dinner with a variety of people (my parents and kids prefer to dress nice but not stress about it.) We usually take people to GiGi’s as our “nice dinner treat to our guests.”

Across the street from GiGi’s is a rooftop bar Sunset Club (recommend reservations) and the BEST sunset I’ve seen on the east coast is reliably there. It’s over the intercoastal and raised- so fantastic!) Apps and drinks are great!! We usually do that before Gigi’s on guests last night…

Margaritaville food is eh. It’s fairly expensive for what you’re getting. Instead of Land Shark- I recommend Nick’s.

LeTub is super kitschy- but the food is fantastic and actually reasonable!! Drinks are great!! Eating outside is super nice on a nice day! It’s one of my favs. Everyone I’ve taken has loved it. Except my guy… he just thinks it’s ok… but it’s more full menu island bar than restaurant lol

(Oh! If you like kayaking… right near Margaritaville -anchors a lot in Hollywood- there is a kayak stand on the intercoastal side. Rent kayaks there and you can kayak in the Mangrove maze (love! I always do that when I’m there!) With a wet and sandy butt, after kayaking, walk the 45 seconds to LeTub for late lunch/early dinner and that’s my favorite day!

If you have a car—- tiki tiki is great but it’s up closer to the airport! My guy likes it a lot- owned by the same folks as LeTub, just bigger and more nice restaurant-y.

I’m losing track lol Cilanto is great Thai. Matteo’s is great Italian. Best breakfast/bagels/Jewish deli is Mo’s. Quarterdeck is great (kayaking up that way too… but I prefer the one across from Margaritaville for convenience. Super similar. Dive bar is Flicker Light. Dive bar on the sand- nick’s, Logan’s or Riptide.

Riptide vibe- dive bar, live music, on sand, cheap-ish drinks, close to the Marriott, demographic, probably goes to dive bars at home. SUPER weather dependent. Day drinkers welcome and day music/dancing.
Nick’s vibe- great food! Great drinks, dancing, music, on the sand, central on Broadwalk. Mostly indoors but on sand. Demographic… Family friendly during the day, vacationers and at night can be “teachers trip girl trip” type girls gone wild and the dudes that look for them folks. It’s fun!
Logan’s vibe- Right on the Broadwalk. Good drinks. Demographic is the we don’t dance, we like to chill and drink and people watch as people walk on the Broadwalk. GREAT location for people watching!

The Broadwalk is quite safe at night. There is a big police presence up near Margaritaville, and there was a bad night a while back- but it is safe.

Ok- last things.. transportation. From Ft Lauderdale airport- 10-15 minute uber ride, usually less than $20. If you can/want to walk- you can have a great vacation without a rental car, depending on where you’re staying.

Hollywood has a very strong Uber game. BUT we also have the Circuit. Download the app!! It’s super cheap. It works like Uber, but only in a defined area (basically——- Hollywood tourist spots lol) and it’s like $3 a ride for as many people as you have. They have golf carts they pick you up in and drive you where you’re going. There are a few vans, too. Do what you want… but our philosophy is that the idea is a $3 ride- we tip like crazy. So, usually 2-5 people is a $3 ride (pay on app) and we will tip like $20. 2 people, $3 ride, about the same tip. The only problem is that sometimes during peak, it takes too long to get one. So, we typically choose to use Circuit, but if we have a reservation or are in a hurry, we pivot to Uber. I hope that makes sense. We always have a rental, but we usually walk/circuit/uber in the evenings because parking is a pain/somewhat expensive in the touristy areas.

This is a lot- I hope it helps. If I can expand on anything or if you have specific questions, feel free to ask!

Have a great trip!!

On Tuesday we're headed for Barcelona for 4 days, the embarking on a 7 night Mediterranean cruise. We booked this trip over a year ago and it's hard to believe it's almost here! I have traveled every week this year but one so far (mostly for work, with one 2 week trip to visit family in Hawaii) so I don't know why I'm so excited to travel again - I must be a glutton for the punishment of air travel .

This summer we have 4 camping trips planned that I'm looking forward to, and then a trip to Disney World in October.

In a couple weeks I will be visiting dd1 and dil, my first time to visit them in San Diego.

In June I'm going on a cruise to New England/Canada with dd2.

I'll be spending July at our family cottage in western Michigan.