Holiday Hiatus from Blogging

The husband and I are vacationing in Fort Lauderdale - staying at The Worthington - and visiting friends. We are fine and I wanted to let readers know that I had not dropped off the face of the earth. Blogging will be back to normal next week.  Happy holidays to all!! 

Ft. Lauderdale - July 2013 - A Sad Departure

We've had a wonderful time  here in the Ft. Lauderdale area over the last week and I for one am feeling less than thrilled to be headed back to Hampton Roads and anti-gay Virginia.  Admittedly, Florida is not a gay friendly state, but in this area one would never know it.  Virginia has nowhere comparable where gays seemingly are accepted by almost everyone and where business that cater to the LGBT market are so plentiful. During our stay we have been places ranging from the beautiful Lauderdale Yacht Club, to cruising down the Intercoastal Waterway to hitting the gay clubs in Wilton Manors taking an air boat ride across the Everglades at Cooperville.  

For those who have never visited the area, I recommend Ft. Lauderdale highly.  Below are some photos from over the last week.

Lauderdale Yacht Club

Intercoastal cruising

Everglades tour

Making it all the more fun were our hosts and their amazing home and our friends we shared time with, both the locals and the ones visiting from Virginia.

A little too close for comfort!!

Sebastian Beach

Our friends' home

Thankfully, we have been invited to visit again "any time."

Ft. Lauderdale July 2013 - Day Three

Our third day in the Ft. Lauderdale area was truly a busy one.  We spent a good part of the day enjoying near perfect weather at Sebastian Beach - the so-called gay beach - along with throngs of others.  Thanks to a steady wind, the temperatures were comfortable.   Besides the gather in of gays, what struck me as I walked along the water's edge was the racial and ethnic diversity of the crowd: black, white, Hispanic, and a mix of others with several languages being heard among the crowd.  It represents the future diversity of America even in states like Virginia.  It also represents what frightens the Hell out of Christian conservatives who see their strangle hold on society slowly and deservedly dying.

We had dinner at a French restaurant named Sage Cafe with our hosts and other friends visiting the area from Hampton Roads.  After dinner, we made our way over to Wilton Manors and did some clothes shopping since there are so many options for shopping for items one never sees in our backwater area.  We ended the evening by having a good time at The Alibi which was packed and playing great dance music.  

Ft. Lauderdale July 2013 - Day Two

Today was a great day even though it started out with me dealing with office e-mail and drafting documents for a couple of hours.  Kudos to my youngest daughter for holding down the fort at the law firm while we are out of town.   After lunch, we went out on our hosts' beautiful Intrepid 40' boat from which we flew the Hampton Yacht Club red and blue pennant (shown in the photo above).  Cruising around Lighthouse Point and parts of Pompano Beach, I was struck by (i) the wealth in this area and (ii) how much of a backwater Hampton Roads is in comparison.  The image below is looking down the creek from out hosts' dock, followed by a shot of one of the  boats we saw on our cruise. 

To thank our hosts for their hospitality, the boyfriend and I took them (and a friend who they are also hosting) to dinner at the Lauderdale Yacht Club in Ft. Lauderdale proper.  Through our Hampton Yacht Club membership, we have reciprocal benefits with yacht clubs around the country (and other parts of the world).   The dinner and the club facility were both amazing.  Thankfully, our guest membership is good through the day we head back to Virginia. :)  A photo of the club's pool and pavilion complex is set out below.

Tomorrow's plans include a visit to Sebastian Beach - the "gay beach" in Ft. Lauderdaler - followed by a get together with friends in Wilton Manor for drinks and dinner.  On Saturday, we will be throwing our traditional gay house dinner/party at our hosts' home.

Again, I hope local readers will drop me an email at michaelinnorfolk@gmail.com in the hope that we can perhaps meet for a drink or something.