We got up early today and I went over to the Cracker Barrel and picked up breakfast for us. We figured we better have a good breakfast since we won’t be getting fed on our flight. It was a quick cab ride ($15 USD) from the hotel to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport to catch our Southwest flight ($339.40 USD / person) to Fort Lauderdale.
The flight was uneventful except for the older lady sitting with us. From the moment she boarded the plane, all she did was complain. The first problem was that since she and her husband were one of the last to board, they could not sit together (since it’s first-come, first-serve on Southwest, and some people pay extra to get on first). She eventually sat down beside me (on the aisle) and her husband was in the row ahead of us (in the middle). Constantly throughout the flight, she would lean over the gentleman in front of her to talk to her husband, or hold his hand. The best one was she asked the flight attendant if they could turn the heat up since she was cold. I thought … are you kidding me.
Three hours later, we landed in Fort Lauderdale where it was a beautiful 80°F. We picked up our Volkswagen Jetta from Hertz ($54.64 USD total), stopped for a late lunch at Panera Bread and then headed over to Sawgrass Mills Mall for a little shopping.
We left the mall and it took us over an hour to get to the hotel when it should have taken us only 15 minutes. This was because of the traffic for the Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade. We checked into the Vistamar Villa ($89 USD) and then headed out immediately to find a spot to watch the parade.
The owner of the hotel said there was a grassy area about three blocks away and if the gate is open, you can get right next to the intercoastal waterway to watch the parade. We got there and unfortunately for us, the gate was being patrolled by some scrooges and they were only “letting in guests” of some hotel. We were able to see the parade but not as close as we wanted to be. The parade had about one hundred boats all decorated for Christmas. It was alot of fun to watch.
It started raining and since we were starving, we decided to leave the parade and get some dinner. The owner of the Vistamar mentioned a place that was close by called Primanti Bros. The place is a hole in the wall, open 24 hours, and it’s super crazy. There was a line out the door the entire time we were there for the made to order pizza slice for only $2.40 USD. We got a pizza and I have to say it was the best pizza I’ve ever had. Delicious home-made dough and sauce.
We were going to head to the grocery store to pick up supplies for the cruise but we were too tired, so we decided to go home and call it a night. Tomorrow we sail to the Caribbean.
Ohhhhh Panera Bread… I so wish they had them up here!!!