Sunday, May 29, 2011

Fort Lauderdale


We spent today in Fort Lauderdale.  This city is named after Maj. William Lauderdale who was in charge of building a fort here in 1838.  During 1911 the entire city (143 residents) burnt to the ground. After the Great Depression, the city started to grow into the boating mecca it is today.  It now has over 53,000 pleasure vessels registered in this county.  The marine industry employs 134,500 people here, and accounts for $11 billion in annual sales in Broward County alone! Almost two million people live in Broward County.  It is strange how New Orleans has diminished from the largest southern city, and cities like this have flourished in such a short time.  Tomorrow (Monday) we head south to Miami and the Florida Keys.  At Marathon we can cross from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico and begin out trek north.      
Mega yachts.

Water taxis run day and night. 

Pier 66 Marina.
We passed this cruise ship on the way into the inlet.

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