Izzy and Jeff's Most Excellent Adventure: Closing the Loop in Fort Lauderdale

Hi All…. Ben here,

As you can see from my picture, I’m enjoying some dinghy rides again in my old hood in Fort Lauderdale, ducking the low bridges Jeff insists on going under when we go bar hopping on Las Olas Blvd.

Our trip here was rather uneventful unless you count the night at Marathon on Boot Key when the boat that was anchored in front of us burned to the ground…err…water… and sunk - leaving only this very expensive pelican perch peeking out of the harbor.

We slept through it – fire trucks and all. Guess we were just too hung over from all the partying with the Georgia Farabaugh crowd and our long day’s travel back from Key West with a storm on our tails.

Izzy and Jeff also had a nice visit with the friends we met in the Georgian Bay, John and Vicki and my pal Bruno, at their house in Big Pine Cay. Here’s a picture of them from last summer.

I was on watch dog duty that night on the Izzy R, but they came back smiling - and smelling like Pompano and wine, and Jeff was babbling about John’s cool flatfishing boat. We’re going to try to meet up with them again this summer going up to Maine.

We must have been passing through Miami when Izzy took this picture of this naked guy blowing a conch shell in front of the apartment building…looks like a Miami kind of thing.

Near that was a big rainbow colored apartment building that I’d like to visit someday. I heard Jeff say that they like “doggie style”, so it should be fun. They must have treats there.

When we got to the harbor entrance at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, I heard Izzy and Jeff whooping and hollering and giving each other high fives, saying “We crossed our wake!” I’m not sure what that means, but it sounds like a party is coming on.
Jeff wanted to stop and celebrate right there, but Izzy looked around and convinced him that we should wait until after we got out of the ship channel and tucked safely into 92 Hendricks Isle.

Hmmm...Hendricks Isle....that had a familiar ring to it…oh yea…that’s where we started this trip one year and two days ago on March 15, 2009. This time we had an easier time docking there. No squiggly lines on the chart plotter from our backing up and going forward like Jeff did last time we arrived here.

Remember that fiasco? That was embarrassing.

Our neighbors in the houseboat and sailboat , John and Ian were still there, and greeted us. Felt like home all of a sudden. I looked for my friend Marley in the yard next door, but she must have moved. A quick walk in the old neighborhood assured me that geckos and cats were still around.

And then there was that same old issue with "disemBARKing" at high tide.

Easy does it, Jeff. Don't let me fall in like last year.

Before long Jeff had splashed the dinghy from its perch up on the high deck, and off we went for a ride around the canals to the New River to see Hank and Ann at Cooley’s Marina.

As usual, the “5 o’clock somewhere” soon became “8 o’clock” somewhere and my belly was growling as we headed home in the dark on the dinghy. I had to hold the flashlight so Jeff wouldn’t run into the channel markers and low bridges.

The next night Ann and Hank came over to the "Izzy R" and celebrated the “Closing of the Loop” with us. I got to help eat some of the shrimp cocktail and the steak since I’m an official “looper”, too, but I wasn’t allowed to have any champagne. Just as well…it made them a little goofy.

We took the old white Looper flag off the bow of the boat and put on a brand new gold one. Hank helped us give our thanks to some guy named “Neptune” for our safe passages over the past year. I thought Neptune might come for dinner, but I guess he was a no-show. More shrimp for me.

Our Fort Lauderdale week flew by. One day we had breakfast at the Floridian, sitting outside as people walked by and chatted with me and gave me scratches and pats, and an occasional piece of bacon.
We went over to the beach,

and saw the street lights with the hoods on them to keep the light off the beach for the nesting sea turtles.

Street lights with hoods don't make much sense to me.

One night cousins BJ, Brian and Jimmy came over and went to dinner with Jeff and Izzy on Las Olas at Noodles Panini, and another night they partied with Fran and John at dinner at Coconuts near the beach. I was hoping to go to Coconuts too, since I heard that they let dogs sit out on the patio with their people.

The next day Jeff and Izzy surprised me with a dinghy ride there, and a beer in the afternoon sun. No pictures of this, because I'm under age and don't have a fake ID.

Ahhhh…I love this Fort Lauderdale – dinghy rides, beaches, restaurants, and kickin’ back in the sun with a beer…this must be what they mean by “it’s a dog’s life!”

Well, we’re finished with the Great Circle Loop, but I don't think we're going back to Irvine. They said they're still having too much fun, and aren't done with the adventure yet. So they’ve decided to continue this boating life until they feel like stopping ... or probably until Jeff breaks something that he can't fix. I didn't get a vote, but it looks like I'll be traveling along with them, and be the OWD (Official Watch Dog) for the boat. Someone has to keep an eye on those two, or they're apt to get into REAL trouble.

They said the next adventure coming up is to someplace called the Bahamas, so stay tuned. I don't know where it is, but I wasn't too happy about getting those shots to go there. Then I got a real short haircut at the groomer. How does it look? I miss the full length mirror I had in Irvine.