Greg & Camille Go Bike

Today had a very similar vibe to a lot of recent days, starting with a bit of back tracking and then cycling along the barrier islands. We enjoyed more of the large lizards from yesterday and some nice views cycling along the intra-coastal waterway. At Fort Lauderdale Beach / Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, the beach seemed really nice and there were a fair number of beach goers already relaxing. We stopped for a nice shady escape from the oppressive heat while we snacked and took in sights of crashing waves.

We were a bit cautious continuing on as we'd been warned that Fort Lauderdale was the worst stretch of the East Coast Greenway remaining in our trip. It certainly wasn't great, but not as bad as we'd expected. Traffic was busy but with the exception of where turning lanes interrupted our way, we had near constant shoulder or bike lane.

Half way through Fort Lauderdale we stopped off at a Publix for a rest room break and to pick up food. Just as we stopped, Camille checked her phone for some really exciting news. She'd heard back about her job application for the Wilmington GIS analyst position! We were both excited by the news and what seemed like potentially great timing. She called back to set up the interview while Greg shopped inside.

We got back on the road and followed some not particularly spectacular roads out of Fort Lauderdale. They didn't feel unsafe but passed through areas that seemed mostly commercial/industrial. Near Dania Beach, we turned back onto the barrier islands and picked up a nice service road that ran right along the beach. There was a small amount of automobile traffic but we mostly enjoyed the company of pedestrians and fellow bikers. Nearer Hollywood there was more of a board walk vibe (although paved). There was pedestrian and biker traffic only, tons of shops and generally lots of exciting activity. We loved the atmosphere, especially Camille.

Leaving Hollywood, we were forced into the road for a stretch passing through Beverly Beach, Golden Beach and Beverly Isles Beach. It was absolutely awful with heavy traffic, lots of intersections and inconsistent shoulders. It was near rush hour so initially we thought that was the cause, but after almost an hour of terrible cycling we stopped to reassess. Our experience clearly didn't line up with with the earlier warning we'd received. This was dramatically worse than anything we experienced in Fort Lauderdale. Checking the official East Coast Greenway map, there was another low traffic service road running parallel for a decent stretch. This route was much more relaxing with only periodic stretches where we were forced into the road. Often we could just jump onto lower traffic sidewalks instead.

When we crossed over into Miami, it was already a bit dark and stopping for some errands set us further behind. Close to 7pm, we finally arrived at the Air Bnb. It was a cute place and both the size and lofted bedroom were very reminiscent of our friend Eric's Air Bnb in Wilmington. A few details seemed a bit off though (trash bag outside the door, potentially damp towels and a pile of sheets stripped from the bed) and the host had never actually sent any messages to us aside from the automated instructions. We decided to message our host Natalia and pretty quickly she replied and met us outside the unit. Apparently, her cleaner had cancelled that day and she'd completely missed the notification of our booking (it was an instant booking). She seemed really embarassed but very genuinely apologetic. She asked that we step out for a bit so we took a brief stroll around the neighborhood while she and her husband (Mauricio) cleaned up. It certainly was an unexpected aspect of our stay, but Natalia and Mauricio seemed like such sweet and genuine people. We're glad to have met them and in the end, the experience actually enriched our stay.