Fort Lauderdale, Florida!

Eight years ago Worcester Polytechnic Institute did some seriously awesome pairing and put me in a suite of 6 girls for my freshmen year of college. All of us couldn't of been any more drastically different but somehow it worked and we got along great! 

This past weekend a couple of us decided to have a mini reunion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida! 

We flew in late on Thursday, checked into the Westin Beach Resort, had some serious pillow-talk, then went to bed excited for the fun to start! 

FRIDAY

We woke up and had this GORGEOUS view! 

We got upgraded to a room with a view and it was sooo nice to have!

After a quick granola bar breakfast we went straight to our snorkeling adventure! We booked through Sea Experience and went on a glass bottom boat snorkel tour! 

On the way out to the reef we got to go through some of the canals and see some mega-mansions on the water! Felt like watching an episode of "The Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous."

 

When we got to the reef we had an awesome view of the coast!

 

We snorkeled for about an hour! Snorkeling in Fort Lauderdale was not nearly as magical as it is in the Caribbean or in Bermuda but it was still a really fun experience! There were a lot of jellyfish around and I did get stung on my thigh (only felt like a pinch) but overall the snorkeling itself was a blast! 

Getting back on the boat… thats a whole other story! There were some really big waves on the water (which I didn't notice on the ride out or while swimming) but reallllly noticed the second I got back on the boat. My girlfriends and I instantly got sea sick. I felt sooo nauseous from the rocking of the waves. I braced myself to feed the fishes (if you know what I mean) but luckily that didn't happen! All it took was getting the boat to start moving again and we all ended up being A-OK. 

To lighten the mood we did see this adorable tug boat on the way back to shore! 

 

Once we got our land-legs again we got some yummy lunch at Lulu's Bait Shack. Sometimes you can fly away from Louisiana… but the food follows you lol! 

We spent the rest of the day at the beach jumping some waves! 

 

That night we people watched and ate dinner across from the beach and ended the day with some ice-cream… aka my favorite way to end a day! 

 

  

SATURDAY 

We started our day waking up super early and watched the sun rise on the beach! 

 

We then enjoyed a super yummy brunch across the street from the beach! That afternoon we went on a canal cruise with the Jungle Queen. It was a super touristy narrated cruise down the "Venice of America," Fort Lauderdale's historic New River… but we loved it!! We got to further explore Millionaire's Row (again with the Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous). Some of the mega mansions included the homes of Oscar Myer, Khols, Lacoste and the guy who invented the windshield wiper! 

This Yacht was on the bachelor!!! 

The cruise takes you to a private tropical island we were able to watch an alligator show and see a bunch of exotic birds and monkeys!

I apparently really enjoy holding birds! 

 

 

This little cockatoo was so funny! He thought he was being stealth by slowly creeping up my arm because he was super into my earrings but every time he got close enough we had to move him back down my arm and he would try again! Too fun! 

Then there was this fearless guy… 

 

 

Fun fact… Fort Lauderdale is covered in Iguanas! I didn't realize this! We saw so many!!

After the cruise we walked along the beach and discovered this really large chair that we obviously had to take pictures with! 

The rest of the afternoon involved getting beat up by some HUGE waves and mexican for dinner! 

It was great to get to see some of my dearest friends from college and I hope we are able to get together again in the near future!