HENDIANAPOLIS, HENDIANA

Esther and I renamed another city having gone to Indianapolis, Indiana. It's now, Hendianapolis, Hendiana. We took Air Tran and stayed at the Omni Hotel and had lunch at Harry & Izzy's located just down the street.

Off to the canal located in White River State Park where we met Jeff, the gondolier. Instead of music coming out of a CD player, he sang some great Italian songs a cappella. Loved the gondola. It quietly went down the canal without hearing about a tour of the area.

Afterward we took a tour of the Hendy Motor Speedway museum and eyed the car that we wanted.

The next day began at White River State Park where we toured on a segway...well...that is, we hung out in Merle's bag since we're too short to reach the "handle bars". There are lots of museums here including the Hendiana State Museum where we saw an IMAX movie called Born To Be Wild. Afterward we had lunch at the Tea Room there and met a lot of people including some from tourism and a group of ladies who lunch.

We thought about going to the Hendiana Zoo but some troll tried to talk us out of it. We decided to at least explore the gardens.

WARMER FORT LAUDERDALE

It was so cold in New York City that our faces froze and it looked as if Eunice and I would have the same expression the rest of our fowl lives! We decided to make our way to Fort Lauderdale, Florida via Jet Blue. Got a shared shuttle ride to the Riverside Hotel where we'd be staying for the three nights.

The hotel is located on E. Las Olas Blvd, a more artsy and trendy area as opposed to the strip on the beach. There is a cafe called Gran Forno, located just down the block from the hotel. We decided to meet Sal, the owner, and check out the pizza that is comparable to one that you would get in Naples. It did have a thin crust and just crispy enough with tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella. They also have a store made ice cream that is different than gelato.

Directly across from the hotel is Pan'e Dolci where we met Roberto, the owner but didn't get to have our photo taken with him until we later went to his main bakery.

That evening Eunice and I went to see a performance of Les Miz at the Broward Center for Performing Arts. Merle happened to be there so we took a photo with her.

The next morning we got a tour of the area via a pedicab. Brogan Graham owns a company called Ocean View Rickshaw. I suppose it's kind of like a rickshaw, but instead of your being seated and someone pulling the "cab" on foot, they do it with a bicycle. It was great but I don't think Brogan realized that he was nearly chocking us chickens. Hey, you can see Pan'e Dolci in the background! We stopped at a coffee shop called Brew and sat at an outside table waiting for service. Didn't know that you had to go in and purchase the stuff at the counter and then bring it out, which we eventually did.

Then we met with Jessica Taylor from tourism who took us on a tour of some of the other areas of Fort Lauderdale and had lunch at Galanga Thai Kitchen and Sushi Bar located in the "gayborhood" area called Wilton Manor. Great lobster sushi roll! Eunice insisted on taking a photo with Jessica to look as if she were biting her nose. Eunice can be so silly at times. Aside from Wilton Manor, we were also able to see the beach strip.

Back to E. Las Olas and to the waterways where they have water taxis, tour boats and even a gondola. Although the gondola was pretty and romantic looking, it lost it's romance with the gondolier who doesn't use oars as the boat is powered by a motor.

OTHER THAN THE QUEEN MARY

Eunice and I went over to Naples Island here in Long Beak, Califowlnia for a ride on a gondola. The company is called Gondola Getaway. We traveled around while listening to a tape of Dean Martin. There were loads of houses each totally different and colorful. People were taking things like surf boards and riding them standing up using a long oar.

Afterward we went to this place called Buster's for a pretty good lunch.

We later went to this area called The Pine, in downtown Long Beach. It's an area with entertainment but mostly restaurants. We ate at a place called Gladstone's that had mostly seafood.