Lauderdale by the Sea

Today we drove to a little piece of heaven. I was worried about coming to the big city until I read about Lauderdale by the Sea, a small area just north of the city. It is a small seaside community nestled in beside the ocean with quaint shops, restaurants and redone fifty style motels.  You would think it was a set for a movie about an old seaside town except the cars are modern.  We drove down the main road looking at the various motels and stopped to check a couple out.  Nothing was quite right.  Roger started calling out the names and as soon as he said Blue Seas Courtyard I just knew this was the place for us.  As fate would have it there was a vacancy sign. The lovely woman who greeted me was so friendly and offered to show me the room and all the amenities.  The sign said “ charming rooms” and they meant it, so warm and bright with a small efficiency kitchen and it was all extremely clean , it won my vote for that alone. Needless to say, after we settled on the price we moved right in.  The grocery store was just a couple of blocks away so off we went to stock up on a few essential. We could even purchase our wine there so it was one stop shop. It will be really nice to do a bit of our own cooking as we were getting a bit tired of restaurant food.

It was about mid to late afternoon by the time this was all accomplished. The food in the fridge made a nice light snack so after a quick bite while sitting out on the patio we settled into some needed quiet time. Before long though the warm day beckoned us to take a walk across the street to check out the ocean, revealing a long beach that stretched out in both directions and will surely be the path for a few early morning walks.  This evening it was out and about to explore the night life. Everything is within walking distance and is much like Clear Lake used to be on a busy weekend with people milling around downtown and along the dock. There are some lively eateries and outdoor bars along the strip as well as the traditional novelty, ice-cream and chocolate shops. It has great atmosphere and we look forward to exploring more of the area tomorrow.

We plan to stay here a few days before moving down the coast toward the keys. Although we have looked at some cruises we are not yet ready to commit. The lure of driving down the coast is augmented by the find of this lovely little motel. Where there is one there is surely another!