I like to be in America: Fabulous Flo ( continued)

The next few days are a bit of a blur in the lead-up to the wedding. Thursday we went to the Charmes' to pick up Rose's gear. That was a mission. We arrived at what we thought was the right place, it certainly looked very familiar, but apparently it was the wrong block. One o four not one o three. Well we drove round and round, rang Will who did his best to talk us through, stopped people and asked, I even hoofed it on foot. I think we turned left instead of right and we were not the first people to do this. Still it gave us a better idea of how to get there for the next evening.
After a reviving coffee we decided to check out Walmart and Macy's. Rose and I had a happy time at Walmart finding paper plates for the soiree the following night - turns out our services were not required, but we enjoyed it anyway.
We felt we should go to another iconic store, Macy's. Rich gave us a generous 45 minutes so we hit the ground running. To economise our time we split up and managed to do remarkably well. I managed to buy some blingy Florida sandals and Rose bought her beloved a tie. Rich found a lingerie shop so when I went to track him down, I popped out of the back of the store and was confronted with a mall so vast, I blanched and retreated. In retrospect, I wish we had spent a little more time there, as really, other than souvenir shops, that was my shopping experience. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

The only other note I have on that day in my notebook, is "Loos and lizards". Every time we went outside there would be a scurrying as lots a tiny little lizards ran for cover. And American loos operated a little differently to ours. The bowl would fill right up after a flush, and if you had a particularly full bladder, you had to be very careful you didn't dip your hand in when you had to wipe. When you flushed there was a huge sucking sound as the whole lot disappeared. Sorry about that, but I found it interesting.

Little Lizard (thanks for the photo Em)

Wonderful selection and it was SO cheap! Shame it wasn't needed.

Julie-anne doing some last minute organising and looking a million bucks after a make-up practice run.

Friday Rich and I decided to go and meet Pearl, Paulette, Shirene, Jon and Malcolm (to be known as the P Gang henceforth, for no real reason) off the boat. They had just completed an 18 day cruise from San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale, as part celebration of Mum's 80th birthday. I had googled the ship, the Zuiderdam, the night before and discovered it docked at 6:00 am, so we thought we would have an early start to the day, just have a coffee, and maybe pick up some breakfast at the port while we waited.
I couldn't tell you how many wrong turns we took, popping on and off the Turnpike at random intervals, but eventually arriving at Port Everglades only to be confronted with a security booth that was as imposing as a fort. We wondered what we would have to do if we were denied access because we couldn't turn around, but it turns out we just had to present photo ID and we were through. Eventually we found a car park and wandered off to the Port building. And that was it. No cafes, no dear little souvenir shops and boutiques, no anything! Just a vending machine outside the building that, thankfully, dispensed water and in a fit of daring, just because I was curious, I bought a Pop Tart. Hungry as I was, most of that Pop Tart remained in my purse for the best part of the week.
It turns out a sea port is nothing like an airport!
We couldn't go inside the terminal building and it was stinking hot, as we sat down in the scant shade with a few other people waiting to retrieve passengers. It was some time before the first passengers disembarked and were processed by customs. Paulette had text me to say they were having breakfast first (lucky them) and would be some time. They were.
It was with a great deal of relief we spotted some dear familiar faces and that made the waiting worthwhile. We whisked Mum and Shirene off while the others went to the airport to pick up their rental and headed to their holiday rental house in Fort Lauderdale. With only a few missed turns we arrived just as 'the guy' was finishing setting up the house.
It was set on a canal with a dock out the back, complete with iguanas sunning themselves on the deck. A few big splashes in the canal made me wonder if it also hosted alligators. There was a lovely pool completely enclosed in mosquito netting and a gorgeous welcome basket on the table, filled with fresh fruit, muffins and coffee.
We didn't linger as we had invited everyone for a kiwi BBQ that night and we wanted to get ready.

Waiting...

...waiting...

...waiting.

Is that a familiar face or two?

It's them!

That night we hosted the French contingent and the Australasians. It was a lovely low key opportunity for every one to meet away from the hustle and bustle.