Cruisin' with a Monkey

Fort Lauderdale

DEPARTURE DAY!!!

Andre and I have been so excited to find out where exactly we're going, and we now have our first destination:

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

I was very excited when I found out, since I have never been to Florida. Immediately I wondered if we would have time for an airboat tour of the Everglades holiday park, but I think the alligators might be a bit too scary for Andre, so I didn't mention. He already had a bad scare the other day, when we found a tarantula in a nice ripe bunch of bananas, so we best stick to safer activities.

Luckily, it's a nice day for the beach, with sunshine and 80 degrees (in Fahrenheit, no need to scare a European by leaving out that part!). So Andre and I headed towards the beach as soon as we got here, ready to spend a nice day relaxing while we wait for the cruise ship to depart (preferably with us on board).

It took about five seconds before Andre suggested that we find a bar. Seriously Andre? What am I supposed to say to him, guys? I was in the middle of putting on my sun lotion, when Andre was suddenly pulling my arm, trying to get me to go to a beach bar which to me looked like it was from the 50's or so. I don't regret going with him, though, the place turned out to be pretty cool.

The Elbo Room, it's called, and it's actually been around since 1938. Not only that, but it's played a key role in putting Ft Lauderdale on the map. After being a place for soldiers since it's very beginning, the teenagers sieged the fort for spring break in the 60s. The Elbo Room played a key role, by being featured in the movie 'Where the Boys Are'. Teenage partying became 'a thing', and Andre and I have been checking out the place where it all happened. Rumor has it Elvis used to like hanging out here, so now Andre is trying to comb his hair to look like the 'King' himself. I've refrained from commenting on the result so far, let the guy have his fun.

It also means that we're stocking up on music to play. We've remembered to bring our guitars (okay, my guitar, Andre's ukulele), and we've been playing Elvis-songs and dialectic jazz all day. Our favourite song of the day is Connie Francis' 'Turn on the Sunshine' (written by Greenfield and Sedaka):

And when you wear a smile
The world will shout, "Hooray!"
You gotta turn on the sunshine
You' gonna push the blues away!

Alright, Connie, good stuff. Andre and I are working on our own version:

When Andre wears a smile,
The world will shout, "Hooray!"
You gotta turn on the sunshine,
Gotta send those bananas his way!

Ahem. We're still working on it guys...

Now we're out on the beach again, though, and I think we should be heading towards the cruise ship, so we don't miss the departure. It's at 4PM, we really shouldn't mess around too much. Someone's pulling on my arm again, though. He wants to go to the Wreck Bar, to look at the underwater mermaid show they have there. I wasn't going to relent this time, but Andre just told me that they have a cocktail called Zombie there, with three types of rum in it. Oh, and Mermaid Margarita of course.

This might be a tough one to say no to, guys. Will someone come get us if we forget the time?



...Okay, Andre, just one drink.