Monday, December 22, 2014

Everglades


Steamed south all night to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  Got a late start today but made it on deck in time to witness our arrival at Port Lauderdale.  In the distance were the launch pads and Vehicle Assembly Building of the Kennedy Space Centre.

There followed a long pause while the crew wrestled with the complexities of attaching the disembarkation gate, but eventually we walked off into the cavernous arrival hall and through to the shuttle busses.  A twenty minute ride brought us to the Central Florida Everglades and a seedy-looking air-boat ride/restaurant. 

These boats only need about three inches of water to navigate since they are pushed by airplane propellers attached to a (loud) 350HP car engine.  Soon enough, we roared off to terrorize the local fauna, including herons, egrets, ibises, spoonbills, cranes and a 10-foot bull alligator who was entirely unintimidated.

Then it was back to the dock for a brief showing of wild animals who had been unwisely chosen as pets by morons and eventually became too large for them to keep.  These included monkeys, bobcats, boa constrictors etc., who were now too tame to be released in the wilds.

Finally, it was back to the ship for a run at the Bionic Bar where we learned alas, that they weren’t quite capable of mixing a Manhattan yet.  Oh well.  Supper tonight at Chic, followed by the Moment Factory’s show in theatre Two70.


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