so...where WAS I??? (Day 4 vacation)

oh yeah - DAY 4 of vacation...can't believe that I've not posted it more. Easily distracted, I guess.

So. Day 4 was Thursday:

We decided to drive to Ft. Lauderdale! Scott's aunt Alice lives there...but she WASN'T there this time. She happened to be up in the 'Burgh visiting her sisters and nieces and great nieces. Oh well...maybe next time! We crossed over Alligator Alley, which is really I-75. We've been over this many times, but I had NEVER seen an alligator. Always wondered why they called it Alligator Alley, if there weren't gators. Of course, they have fences all along it and the canals, so it's not like the gators are crossing the highway. But...I saw MANY this time around, all in the canals and water...mostly heads or snouts, but one entire body. We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale just in time for lunch, so we went to Primanti Brothers (see post about this) and I got to eat my favorite #2 Pittsburgher sandwich. The kids proclaimed pizza FANTASTIC and ate every bit of it. After lunch, we moved the car from the metered (quarter for 12 minutes, folks!) spot, and headed to another parking area, where you pay for hours at a time instead of minutes. Ft. Lauderdale has parking right along A1A; you just have to cross the road and you're at the beach. So we went to the beach again, this time on the Atlantic ocean.

Looking north up the beach. Notice the beautiful shades of water!

The sand and water are MUCH different here. The sand is hotter and brown (while the sand on Marco is white and cool).The water was incredibly clear and cooler. SO pretty. The kids really enjoyed swimming here, as the waves were not as big as on the gulf. We didn't find any shells really, but several pieces of coral.

Scotty lays down in the water


kids in the clear water


Hannah braves the Atlantic


We got to see the Goodyear Blimp flying around. That was something the kids had never seen!

After spending a few hours here, we headed back to Marco. A storm chased us all the way home, but we managed to avoid it, with just a few spits of rain here and there. Saw many more alligators in the Everglades. Cool! We got home in time for supper and ate our leftovers from Almost Famous Mel's. We then spent time in the pool relaxing.