Better Late Than Never

Monday, April 17, 2023

We were finally allowed to board at 6:25 p.m. and took off a little after 7:00. The ride was smooth, and I mostly read my book as anything I wanted to watch was over 2 hours long. The landing was a little bumpy but at least we were in Ft. Lauderdale, and it was not raining.

We retrieved our luggage and called the hotel for a pickup. We typically stay here pre-cruise because of its location, and it is comfortable. The hotel shuttle driver got to our pick-up point within 10 minutes. I was happy. Sometimes, it can take much longer depending on traffic.

When we got to the hotel, they gave us a room on the 5th floor instead of the one on the 2nd that I had picked. They said they had to do some shuffling around because of some water issues. Okay. It’s now 10:00 p.m. and I want a room. 5th it is. Looked just like the room we had last time.

They also said, if we were hungry, the restaurants across the street in the shopping center stay open until 2 a.m. No thank you. McDonalds was weighing heavy on my stomach, and I was getting more exhausted by the minute.

Once we got to our room, I tagged our bags with ship information. Know tomorrow will be a better day.

Travel Trivia

Florida – The Sunshine State

Various Native American groups have inhabited Florida for at least 14,000 years. In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León became the first known European to make landfall, calling the region La Florida ([la floˈɾiða] for its lush greenery and the Easter season (Pascua Florida in Spanish).

Florida became the first area in the continental U.S. to be permanently settled by Europeans, with the Spanish colony of St. Augustine, founded in 1565, being the oldest continuously inhabited city.

On March 3, 1845, only one day before the end of President John Tyler’s term in office, Florida became the 27th state.

About two-thirds of Florida occupies a peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. It has the longest coastline in the contiguous United States, spanning approximately 1,350 miles (2,170 km), not including its many barrier islands.

Florida’s is the only state besides Hawaii to have a tropical climate and is the only continental state with both a tropical climate (at the lower tip of the peninsula) and a coral reef.

Florida has several unique ecosystems, most notably Everglades National Park, the largest tropical wilderness in the U.S. and among the largest in the Americas. Unique wildlife includes the American alligator, American crocodile, American flamingo, Roseate spoonbill, Florida panther, bottlenose dolphin, and manatee.

Central Florida is the lightning capital of the USA.

Florida’s Venice Beach is the shark tooth capital of the world.

If you’re ever in Tampa Bay, you should take a walk alongside downtown Tampa. The Bayshore Boulevard is the world’s longest continuous sidewalk being a stretch of 4.5 miles.

The Walt Disney World Resort is in Florida. It is the planet’s most visited and biggest recreational resort. It was established in 1971 and is about the same size as San Francisco, California.

The U.S. state of Florida is also home to the world’s most dangerous tree – the Manchineel tree. All parts of the tree contain strong toxins. Mere contact with the sap from this tree can cause blisters on the skin. The tree is also known as “the beach apple” and “little apple of death.

Lake Okeechobee is the largest freshwater lake in Florida. It is also the third largest freshwater lake (after Lake Michigan and Alaska’s Iliamna Lake) located completely within the United States.