We departed from Florida during a three-day torrential rain storm (12 inches in 48 hours, and wind gusts hitting 75 MPH). I had not seen rain like that since the monsoon summers I lived through in Korea.
On our last evening, the rain pounded the windows so hard at night that I dreamt of rain storms. People in my dreams had lost their homes and I invited them into my home. What a nightmare! I woke up and it was still raining.
Thankfully the rain stopped as we stepped outside the apartment that we called home for nearly two weeks.
Florida treated us really well and after an extended stay, I now understand the appeal others find in the Sunshine State. The beach is nice, there is tons of shopping, abundant happy hours, and sunshine. We also had many days with no rain!
We had sailed to Florida in anticipation of taking another cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Santiago, Chile. The price never dropped and the cruise sold out, so we ended up booking a flight instead. It all worked out as there are many flights from South Florida to South America!
Like many other destinations we have visited recently, the time went by too fast. We were selected for a catsitting assignment for Ernie while his human was visiting Peru.
We stayed with Ernie in Wilton Manors, a small community just north of Fort Lauderdale that is tutti gay! It’s an LGBTQA+ enclave with a half-mile “main drive” packed with restaurants, bars, clubs, and boutiques.
We mostly relaxed by the pool but we did venture out a few times. In addition to enjoying some of the nightlife on Wilton Drive, we also went to the beach at nearby Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, enjoyed the free water shuttle in Fort Lauderdale, and ventured up to West Palm Beach to explore a vibrant patio dining scene.
I got to see a few friends and missed out on seeing other friends. Next time!
For our flight to Santiago, we ended up on a routing from Fort Lauderdale to Charlotte, then back to Miami. We let American Airlines fly us to Miami International instead of paying for an Uber there! And as silly as that is, it was cheaper for that routing than to go direct from Miami.
A significant delay on our Santiago flight left us with hours to spend in lounges in multiple airports, and after 39 hours, we ended up at our destination: the Pacific beach town of Concón, Chile. More on that in our next post!
