beach

This is Laura's last day of vacation with us so we asked what she wanted to do.   So we headed for the beach.  We went to Hugh Taylor State Park and ate lunch next to the Intercoatal Waterway with big boats going by.  This pic you can see downtown Fort Lauderdale in the distance.

In 1893, Hugh Taylor Birch, a Chicago attorney came to South Florida in search of a secluded area for his home.  He settled in a small village call Fort Lauderdale that included a store, a few houses and the remains of the old Fort Lauderdale Army Post.

Purchasing ocean front property for about a dollar per acre, he eventually owned a three-and-a-half-mile stretch of land along the beach.  In 1940, at the age of 90, he built his Art Deco-style home here.  He called his 180-acre estate Terramar or "land to the sea".  It is now the visitors center, but was closed.  It is a combination of Spanish and Art Deco architecture. 



He donated his land to the state of Florida for a park in 1991.  It is now an island of trees and greenery in the middle of urban Fort Lauderdale.  The park is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intercoastal Waterway.
Today the park is one of Fort Lauderdale's unique features.  It is frequently compared to Center Park in New York as both are seen as islands of peaceful green in the middle of a bustling city.     

This is looking the other way at the water way and big boat.

After lunch we walked under the highway to the beach.  You can see Laura walking in the Atlantic Ocean.  She said the water was really nice.  The weather service says the water temperature in 85 degrees.  Nice indeedie.

It is hard to see, but the dark spot in the center of the pic is a manatee swimming up the coast line.  The life guard had to get on people for swimming after it.  He said it was against the law to chase them down.  He was very serious about this too.

Trudging through the sand on the beach.

bird

We had to wait for the draw bridge at the Intercoastal Waterway for a sail boat to go through.  It might be like the bridges in Michigan where they go up at certain times of the day so you as a boater can plan ahead.  


Blimp was high, well maybe not that high, in the sky as we drove to the beach.  

Remember!!!!