Floridian Vibe - Fort Lauderdale

 

 

 

Left photo: approaching Fort Lauderdale - far in the smoggy background: the highrises of Miami! We are here for IPW, the premier U.S. trade show with thousands of buyers, suppliers and media. We are part of the German media delegation, and, taking part for the 14th time! 

We took the public bus from the airport to the hotel, which was a bit of an adventure, but only cost $ 2 per person and didn't took thaaat long. 

 

Our delegation's hotel: TheFort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa. Pretty fancy, and, first-row location on the beach!

After arrival - we got our room on the 10th floor at 1:30 pm already! - we checked out the surroundings and offerings before we took the public bus again into town to have dinner at Tarpon Brewery in downtown.

Nightview from our balcony towards the city

Above: a morning view. We woke up early, as usually, and went for a walk along the beach. Though, I have to admit that I am not a big fan of Florida, it was quite pleasant, though plastic garbage along the beach was sort of disturbing ,,,  Interesting: along the beach the Florida sea turtles are nesting. At night they lumber onto the coast to lay their eggs and in the morning we noticed some "fresh" nests, tracks of big turtles coming from the water to dig them in the sand.

After having registered at the Convention Center in downtown for IPW and met a couple of friends and colleagues there, we took the bus again, passing downtown Lauderdale (below), with all its canals and fancy yachts. It took us a good hour - FL is really spread out, a huge conglomeration of different cities and suburbs -  to get to Sawgrass Outlet Mall. This Simon designer luxury outlet mall is one of the largest in the U.S. A little "overwhelming" for us, especially since it was crowded on this Sunday afternoon, mostly with South American people, some Germans inbetween,,, But, we got what we wanted (Sketcher shoes) and after 1.5 hours we were on the public bus again.

Again, we were almost 1 1/2 hours on the bus (many, many stops on the way, and, the majority of riders were black), to get back to the beach and our next destination: The Bonnet House Museum & Gardens. A little culture won't hurt we thought,,, This is three things in one: a private home, an art collection and an arboretum. Bonnet House’s history began in 1911 when Hugh Taylor Birch purchased the land. His daughter Helen married Chicago artist Frederic Bartlett in 1919, and Frederic designed and started building Bonnet House soon thereafter. Beautiful property!

Beautifully blooming Cordia Sebestena below and an almost hand-large Banana spider on the right:

From Bonnet House we walked back "home" in the evening, around 5 km, along the beach, passing many beach hotels. Had sandwiches on the balcony, feet tired, but sort of inspired,,, work will start tomorrow,,,

Atlanta Day 3 - books & more

We spent a bit of a lazy last day in Atlanta: Took the train up to Buckhead, another conglomeration of highrises to the North of Atlanta, inspected the shopping mall Lenox Square (without buying anything) and lacking better ideas decided to go on an excursion to the only known used bookstore, far out of town, in Brookhaven, Atlanta Vintage Books. One bus an hour and even this not very reliably, a run-down strip mall and a busy highway. But,,, the bookstore itself was well worth the trip!

 

 

 

In the late afternoon we visited Decatur, more attractive and a city on its own, only about four stops away from our accommodation. Some nice shops, restaurants, bars and breweries. Went to "Twains Brewpub" and from there back "home" to have dinner in our apartment and to get packed for tomorrow's trip to Fort Lauderdale.

Well, currently sitting at Atlanta's Airport waiting for boarding our plane to Fort Lauderdale. Got up early, took the train (with one change) and the rest went quickly and uneventfully. Now work is awaiting us, tomorrow only registration, but, on Monday the convention (IPW) will start and we'll be hustling and bustling around all day, early morning until late night. Good news: we are nominated for the IPW's Travel Writers Award - one of seven finalists, three of them still being selected to get the prize ($ 1,000). Small hopes,,, though, it would be nice,,,

Atlanta Day 2 - a city re-invented

After breakfast on the porch, we took the train to Midtown and theWoodruff Arts Center, home to three renowned institutions: the Alliance Theatre, the Symphony Orchestra and the fantastic High Museum of Art. The museum's campus was designed by two world-renowned architects: Richard Meier (1983) and Renzo Piano (expansion, 2005). On the L vast grounds artwork is set up, e.g. the famous "House III" by Roy Lichtenstein (left photo).

 

 

On to the Margaret Mitchell House. The famous author lived in the building with her second husband, John Marsh. They occupied a small apartment on the first floor, and nicknamed apartment no. 1 “The Dump.” Shortly after moving into the apartment in 1925, Mitchell quit her job as a reporter at the Atlanta Journal, primarily because of a foot injury, and, home-bound, started writing "Gone With the Wind". As a book and as a movie it became a highly influencial bestseller! 

Midtown - with the Georgia Tech Uni campus (left) -  has definitively picked up and kind of became the new "downtown". Colony Square (also a fan zone during the world championships), new highrises and restaurants and shops are really an upgrade to the formerly not so attractive neighborhood. 

After a quick visit at the Peachtree Plaza "Green Market", a glimpse at the famous historic Fox Theater and a quick lunch at The Varsity (a must and an institution for dogs and burgers!), we took a bus (apparently, not highly popular with white people) out to the East of town, to Le Ponce Market, a real highlight of Atlanta!

 

Oh, almost forgot to mention all the fancy driver-less Waymos - reminded us of San Francisco! – and the strange delivery robots we noticed in the city center!

Named for Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León’s mythical search for the Fountain of Youth, Ponce de Leon Springs attracted Atlantans seeking rest and rejuvenation in the 1860s. The springs and the surrounding gardens were converted into the Ponce de Leon amusement park, which was dubbed “The Coney Island of Atlanta.”The amusement park closed in the early 1920s and Sears, Roebuck & Co of Chicago purchased the land for a retail store and warehouse distribution center for the Southeastern US. The Sears showrooms close in 1989. In 1991, the City of Atlanta purchased the building and transformed it into a center for city offices,  City Hall East. 

 

After nearly two decades the City of Atlanta gave up the historic structure at the crossroads of four neighborhoods and on the future Atlanta BeltLine transit corridor and it became a multi-functional entertainment complex with very creative shops, many of small local producers/artists, restaurants, offices, apartments, a hotel, etc. Huge, and unique in regard to its "industrial atmosphere". Very well preserved, too, and directly adjacent to the BeltLine it opened in 2014.

 

The Atlanta Beltline is a currently 22-mile long loop of trails and parks, connecting 45 neighborhoods and creating a vibrant public space for recreation, art and culture. When complete, the Atlanta BeltLine will comprise of 33-miles of trail network.We walked part of the beltline, admired the "arboretum" along the trail, the artwork, plus some great food/drink offerings. The weather was perfect for this excursion and for some people-watching, too!

Also located on the BeltLine: The 3 Taverns Brewery,,, (one of two!) - for us the grand finale of an interesting sunny day,,,