The Old Jolly Roger - Ft. Lauderdale Beach

The Sea Club Hotel, a 1950's vintage hotel right across the street from Ft. Lauderdale beach.

Last winter we spent a couple of nights at the Sea Club Hotel which was once the Jolly Roger. These days most of the vintage hotels on the beach are all gone, replaced with high rise condo's and hotels. One can still find many on the back streets though. These new places along the beach are beyond reach of most travellers. For instance the brand new place next door rents rooms begin at around $400 a night and breakfast beginning at $20 for coffee and toast. It appears some of the area guests come over to the Sea Club for breakfast....I can remember coming here for March break as a teenager and could afford any of the hotels on the strip...we actually stayed a night at the Holiday Inn then. Today the Holiday Inn on the strip is long gone...times have really changed at Ft. Lauderdale beach.......George

Sea Club Hotel has a great restaurant with a great view of the beach. We had breakfast there each morning. The evenings had a line up so we ate out. Guess the food quality and price must be right.

As one can see Sea Club Hotel is tiny compared to the new build to the left. The hotel to the right is closed down and I would think will be coming down soon to make room for another condo high rise. There is only one other hotel from the past still in operation on the strip on our visit...even the 1970's era Howard Johnston is now closed and waiting its fate. On our last visit Ho-Joe's was the place for breakfast along the beach.

Susanne and I at the Deck's Restaurant having our morning coffee and breakfast. A great place to start you day. It actually is the last place on the strip were you can have your coffee with a great view of the beach. 

Here is a vintage photo of the Jolly Roger during the 1950's. I took the photo in a drug store window which displayed a collection  of what once was on the strip. I do remember this hotel from my early 1970's school break. The hotel still has a lot of character today (such as Ernest Hemingway's type writer in the lobby,) but is beginning to get worn. I wonder if it will be still standing on our next visit.

Another Sand Sculpture

This cow sculpture was built on the beach in St. George Island, Florida.,,,thought it was kind of neat.

As we are not going anywhere this winter I have been checking out some two week rentals for late fall that are pet friendly in Florida...actually cottages or homes. I found some interesting places in the panhandle area which cuts the drive down a lot and in Oct.-Nov. is still quite warm. The area we looked at is laid back right on the sandy beaches of the gulf and it appears the rental are about $200-300 cheaper if you book for a full month instead of two weeks. One of the area's I looked at ran a photo contest and this was the third place winner......George

Florida Sunsets

I took this photo in Naples, Florida. It was the night that Canada and USA played the championship game 4 years ago at the Olympics...I missed the winning goal while taking this photos....but I did hear about it in the background noise.

I was hoping to get away this winter and possibly take in some of the Florida's west coast sunsets. As it is turning out, it does not look like it will happen...so guess I will have to enjoy the ones from years past...George

Michelle and Nicole are with us in Siesta Key, Florida a few years back. A great beach for watching sunsets.

Another sunset in Siesta Key. Florida.

I used the palm trees along the beaches edge in Naples, Florida for added interest in this photo.

A Boat Load

We are on our way back in on July 1 2002 when GBYC member Claudio Martin took this photo. There is 11 of us aboard a 26 ft. Tanzer.

 This was our second season at GBYC and owning a sailboat. My older twins Jessica and Danielle where staying with me for the July 1st holiday when a group of their friends arrived with a thought to go out for a swim. I was not even close to the proper amount of life jackets for such a large gang...after borrowing what I though was enough for our group we headed out for a swim. On the way out I did a head count and to my surprise I was short once again...I did not realise more arrived while I was hunting for the life jackets. We did go out but we made the swim short as the OPP are out on holidays and a big gang like this will attract attention. GBYC member Claudio Martin took these two photo on his way out to the lake....George Dutka

Grand Bend Fishing Fleet

I took this sunset view of the fishing fleet stationed at Grand Bend during May 2011.....George

Goderich Sunset

This is the view from up above the harbour in Goderich, Ontario. I am parked near the lighthouse.

I drove up to Goderich, Ont. last July from Bayfield to photo the sunset around the harbour. It was a great evening. I had a fish dinner on the beach then headed up to the towns lighthouse location. This is what I saw....George

After getting the photo's I wanted I headed down to the beach for some additional views. There is a very nice boardwalk along the beach that one can follow.

One can see a bench on the boardwalk that gives a great view of the sunset plus the harbour entrance.

California Wine Tour

Cheers from the sampling room of Shadow Mountain Wines in California.We did the red wine sampling

During the fall of 2010 Susanne and I visited California and in particular the Temecula area. We were the guests of Murray and Nancy our daughters in-laws. We had a great time on our visit. Murray and Nancy are great tour guides. One of our highlight's was the wine tours out in the desert.....hard to keep Susanne away from the wine...cheers.....George

This is the views one sees in this wine growing area of California. We are visiting in November and the grapes have been all picked.

Welcome sign

We did the vineyard tours on a Sunday which brought a good crowd out. One couple arrived in this vintage auto.

A really nice place to spend an sunny afternoon.

Marco Island

While in Florida a few years back we visited Marco Island. Marco is on the west side of Florida not far from Naples. This is one of the signs we saw as we crossed the causeway to the Island....George

Club Style...

Two colourful boards

Regatta

 

If you are a sailor and in particular a racer, you might want to check out this race. It is held down the west coast of Florida to Key West....George

Piranha

Not sure who wants there but they do sell them in Miami Beach....Piranha's....George

Bennington, Vermont Potters

At the potter studio entrance they have a moose which is actually two parts divided by the large glass pane.

During the fall of 2012 I visited Vermont stopping at the Bennington, Vermont potter's. They have a nice studio in an old feed mill. They also include other art and sculptures including these two neat animals as you enter the studio. I just had to take a photo....George

Here is what one sees from inside.

A window display has a cows head poking through. This also is a two part display...the window is not real.

Here we see the rest of the cow outside.

Father and Daughter

I took this photo during the summer of 2012 of my son in law Kyle and his daughter, our oldest grandchild Grace, as we sailed on a summer weekend at Grand Bend. They seemed content taking in the day...can hardly wait for the good weather to arrive once again...George

Cheers!

We had  barely got out of our car in Tarpon Springs when we were approached by this young girl with a really big drink. Se was handing out coupons, "two for one" large drinks at the bar across the street. Nice way to begin a visit to the sponge capital of  Florida...George

Wine Cabinet

A  really nice conversion to a liquor cabinet.

While visiting Tarpon Springs, Florida Susanne and I visited a specialty wine shop. They had re-purposed  wardrobes into liquor cabinets. They came up with a few interesting ideas....George

Sandman

A few years ago we spend a few days at the beach in Siesta Key, Florida. Siesta Key is just off the main land at Sarasota and is rated as one of the top 10 beaches in the USA. The sand is super white and firm to walk on. It also packs well as can be seen in the photos. Appears someone just could not leave the cold north behind...building what I call a sandman.....George

Ft. Lauderdale Beach

Ft. Lauderdale has one of the nicer beaches along the coast. One can rent or purchase all that is needed for a beach vacation.

One of the better and busy beaches along the Atlantic in Florida is Ft. Lauderdale Beach. We spend a couple of days here last winter and it seems each time we visit we find improvements to the facilities found there.....George

We stayed at the hotel right across the road from this beach location. Everything along this beach has been replaced since our last visit including these really nice life guard shanties.

Hollywood Beach, Florida

Looking down the boardwalk at Hollywood Beach, Florida. Everything is very clean and new. What we forgot to do was check what street we parked on as all the roads which end at the beach look the same. It took us awhile to find the right one to head back down to our car.

Last winter Susanne and I got away to Florida for what turned out to be an extra long weekend. We flew down to spend a few days in the Keys with Brad and Jill.  I thought I would share a few views of Hollywood Beach were we spent some time while waiting for our flight home. We flew out of Ft. Lauderdale a short drive away. I had never been to Hollywood, Florida before but have read a lot about it's great boardwalk and beach. Hollywood's boardwalk is ranked as one of the top boardwalks to visit in the USA. So we decided to take a look. The boardwalk is truly a busy place and a great place to people watching. The boardwalk is lined with many bars, restaurants and beach shops. We picked a Mexican spot and shared a large nachos with some Mexi-drafts. We picked a spot that we could see the coming and goings on the boardwalk...a great way to spend an afternoon...George

As you can see the concrete portion of the boardwalk to the right  is marked for bikes, roller blades and any other wheeled device you use. There is a very wide beach that can be a great place to catch the rays.

Susanne and I are saying cheese for our waitress at a Mexican pub along the boardwalk. We picked a great spot to watch the passersby.

Sailing Along

This guy came sailing by on the boardwalk.

While sitting and enjoying our beers along the Hollywood boardwalk what appears to be a road sailor, sailed by on his bike. I had to take a couple of photos...George

Not sure what his story is but he sure has a lot of sails on board.

Great Kids tee shirt

Grand Bend Aug 2011

I found this view interesting. Here we have a guy taking in the sunset while he sings and plays his guitar. Note the mike to the left. Seems he has battery power for this evening set. Nice way to spend an evening.

I took a walk over to the main beach from my boat on August 18 2011 to watch the sunset. As always I have my camera in tow. I thought I would share two of the views I took in. First off there was a guy on the beach with his guitar and mike...not sure how that works...no power cord....but it did. Kind of a nice spot to stand and watch the sunset. Further down the beach I stopped and watched a family taking fun sunset shots on the beach. I could not help myself.....had to photo the scene.....George

A mom takes a photos of her girls posing on Grand Bend beach at sunset during a beautiful August evening.