RSS
Sometimes I feel like I'm far away on vacation when I'm really only a few miles from my own home. I've heard many other locals say the same thing. It's easy to feel like a tourist when you're enjoying an oceanside martini or lunch along the Intracoastal Waterway, palm trees rustling above your head.
I had the same feeling this morning on my beachfront walk and breakfast. It'll sound strange but those few hours were something of a revelation. I've never done this alone before -- but I will again. Soon.
It took some effort on my part at first, I have to admit. I'm still very much in the post divorce hibernate-and-write mode. And I'm not a morning person by nature. But I really wanted to make it to the beach today and give it a try -- without a date or some "romantic" reason for an a.m. visit to the Atlantic.
I drove up A1A from my house near the 17th Street Causeway and parked in that convenient lot on Las Olas at the beach. I fed two bucks into the meter, enough for more than an hour of time, and I simply started walking. It was great!
There was a cool breeze, temp about 74 degrees, low humidity and I'm very quickly thinking, "Why don't I do this more often?" The runners are drifting up and down the brick sidewalk that winds along the beach, and so are the rollerbladers and the walkers of all kinds -- young and old, strollers and power walkers, couples and singles, flabsters and hard bods. There was a film company getting ready to shoot something, a flick or commercial or whatever, and I scooted by the big busy group there and kept going, wandering north for many blocks.
Several surfers were trying to catch some of the small waves that broke close to shore and the gulls were picking around the sand for breakfast. Lovers sat shoulder to shoulder on the sand, watching the tide slowly rising toward them. It was delightful.
So many oceanfront cafes are open for breakfast these days. Lots of upscale places that I had thought only served lunch and dinner. Somewhere during my walk, I started smelling all this food, the bacon-and-eggs aroma. I was hungry suddenly. But I thought I'd head off the beach now and go to a breakfast spot beloved by locals, the Floridian on Las Olas Boulevard at SE 15th Ave. Of course now I had to do the eggs and the bacon and the grits and juice. I passed on the Champagne breakfast for $99… Mmm, sitting alone at an outside table, well, it really was a terrific way to start the day.
I may not do breakfast after every Fort Lauderdale beach outing, but I do plan to go back to the sand often for walks or runs to start my day, mixed among my regular gym workouts. How can I live this close to something so beautiful and ignore its morning pleasures -- now that I know what I've been missing!
I had the same feeling this morning on my beachfront walk and breakfast. It'll sound strange but those few hours were something of a revelation. I've never done this alone before -- but I will again. Soon.
It took some effort on my part at first, I have to admit. I'm still very much in the post divorce hibernate-and-write mode. And I'm not a morning person by nature. But I really wanted to make it to the beach today and give it a try -- without a date or some "romantic" reason for an a.m. visit to the Atlantic.
I drove up A1A from my house near the 17th Street Causeway and parked in that convenient lot on Las Olas at the beach. I fed two bucks into the meter, enough for more than an hour of time, and I simply started walking. It was great!
There was a cool breeze, temp about 74 degrees, low humidity and I'm very quickly thinking, "Why don't I do this more often?" The runners are drifting up and down the brick sidewalk that winds along the beach, and so are the rollerbladers and the walkers of all kinds -- young and old, strollers and power walkers, couples and singles, flabsters and hard bods. There was a film company getting ready to shoot something, a flick or commercial or whatever, and I scooted by the big busy group there and kept going, wandering north for many blocks.
Several surfers were trying to catch some of the small waves that broke close to shore and the gulls were picking around the sand for breakfast. Lovers sat shoulder to shoulder on the sand, watching the tide slowly rising toward them. It was delightful.
So many oceanfront cafes are open for breakfast these days. Lots of upscale places that I had thought only served lunch and dinner. Somewhere during my walk, I started smelling all this food, the bacon-and-eggs aroma. I was hungry suddenly. But I thought I'd head off the beach now and go to a breakfast spot beloved by locals, the Floridian on Las Olas Boulevard at SE 15th Ave. Of course now I had to do the eggs and the bacon and the grits and juice. I passed on the Champagne breakfast for $99… Mmm, sitting alone at an outside table, well, it really was a terrific way to start the day.
I may not do breakfast after every Fort Lauderdale beach outing, but I do plan to go back to the sand often for walks or runs to start my day, mixed among my regular gym workouts. How can I live this close to something so beautiful and ignore its morning pleasures -- now that I know what I've been missing!
posted by LauderBLOGGER at 10:02 PM
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home