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It has just been nuts around the Fort Lauderdale beach lately. As in, really busy. That’s great, of course. I’m glad to see so many people enjoying the sand and sun and everything that goes with it. But wow. I thought the “busy season” was supposed to be over now. Guess not. I finally made it to the USA Diving Grand Prix at the International Swimming Hall of Fame, but it took me two determined tries to get there. On Saturday afternoon, I attempted to park at my usual favorite South Beach lot but found a long line of cars waiting to get in. Traffic was backed up on A1A in both directions, though it was passable. So I drove to another lot and joined maybe ten other cars circling like barracuda, waiting to strike at the first vacant space. I decided to hold off until Sunday to give it another go. But even relatively early Sunday morning, my favorite lot already was busy with a line of cars. I ended up finding some open parking spots in the lot at Las Olas and A1A, fed the meter and toddled off to the diving tournament.
The Grand Prix really was even better than I’d expected. The event included some wonderful Asian cultural performances as part of the run up to the Beijing Olympics this summer. Chinese and Japanese singers, dancers and musicians. But the divers were just extraordinary to see in person – and they drew a good crowd.
Even that big athletic meet and that sizable crowd, though, didn’t explain all the people at the beach this weekend. Not by a long shot. There were throngs of people and beach umbrellas all up and down the sand. I don’t know if it was the unusually hot weather that made folks want to take a dip in the ocean. Or if the trend toward more and more summer tourists in Fort Lauderdale is just continuing. Or if maybe more locals are vacationing close to home. I’m not sure. It was Mother’s Day weekend, so I suppose it’s possible that hundreds of mothers decided they wanted a nice beach tan. But probably not. I guess it’s simply the endless appeal of the ocean and the sea breeze and a day spent in the sunshine. When it’s hot, there’s no better place to be than by the water. I’ll be going there often as the summer settles in for real in the coming weeks. I’m even planning my own close-to-home vacation along the beach somewhere. With the price of gasoline these days, no wonder so many of us want to park it on the beach for a while and just hang out.
The Grand Prix really was even better than I’d expected. The event included some wonderful Asian cultural performances as part of the run up to the Beijing Olympics this summer. Chinese and Japanese singers, dancers and musicians. But the divers were just extraordinary to see in person – and they drew a good crowd.
Even that big athletic meet and that sizable crowd, though, didn’t explain all the people at the beach this weekend. Not by a long shot. There were throngs of people and beach umbrellas all up and down the sand. I don’t know if it was the unusually hot weather that made folks want to take a dip in the ocean. Or if the trend toward more and more summer tourists in Fort Lauderdale is just continuing. Or if maybe more locals are vacationing close to home. I’m not sure. It was Mother’s Day weekend, so I suppose it’s possible that hundreds of mothers decided they wanted a nice beach tan. But probably not. I guess it’s simply the endless appeal of the ocean and the sea breeze and a day spent in the sunshine. When it’s hot, there’s no better place to be than by the water. I’ll be going there often as the summer settles in for real in the coming weeks. I’m even planning my own close-to-home vacation along the beach somewhere. With the price of gasoline these days, no wonder so many of us want to park it on the beach for a while and just hang out.
posted by LauderBLOGGER at 4:22 PM
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