Fort Lauderdale Boat Parade

 

For years we've wanted to check out the Fort Lauderdale Boat Parade, but there was always a reason we couldn't, mainly calendar scheduling conflicts. There was one again this year, but we decided this should have the priority this year, so off we went.

Because it was a new experience, and we had no idea how difficult it would be to find a viewing spot, nor how crowded, we chose to pay for seats in the "official" viewing area, and we decided to get their early. Parking wasn't too bad, and we had our pick of seats in the bleachers. I was disappointed that there really wasn't a direct view to the Intracoastal, but we still got the best seats. After getting dinner from one of the food trucks, we waited for the parade to start. Fireworks in the distance were the clue that our wait was about to end.

I couldn't get any really good pictures - you can see our view was between some palm trees - but we still could tell people worked really hard to string lights all over their boats. We also learned that most entries were sponsored by some organization; I guess this is one form of advertising. Why not encourage holiday spirit and your non-profit as well?

We were the last ones to leave the stands! This was a wonderful, albeit once-in-a-lifetime experience. Isn't it great that there are so many opportunities to try something new?