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.