The Water Taxi, March 2026

Urban Exploration on the Intercoastal

The Water Taxi

Today Lise and I took the Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi from Hollywood up to Fort Lauderdale.

But the day started much earlier.

At four in the morning I got up to drive Lise and Serge to the airport. I expected the streets to be quiet and dark.

Instead it was chaos.

The bars had just let out. Groups of people were staggering through the streets laughing and shouting. Serge went to get the car from the fourth level of the parking garage, but the entire garage was jammed with cars trying to leave at the same time.

Drivers were impatient. They drunkenly laid on their horns for thirty seconds at a time. One alarm sounded like someone had set off a panic alarm and just left it blaring.

My apartment walls must be thick because I never hear any of this at night.

Lise and I waited outside for nearly half an hour while Serge tried to get the car out of the garage. Finally I walked down to see what was happening. The line of cars was barely moving. Everyone had to stop at the gate and pay before the barrier would rise.

Honking wasn’t making anything move faster.

Eventually Serge escaped the garage and pulled around. We jumped in and headed for the airport. I was worried he might miss his 6:30 a.m. flight. I dropped him and Lise at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport with just enough time for them to catch their flight.

Then I started driving home.

Suddenly the engine started smoking. Warning lights flashed on the dashboard. The engine temperature alarm went off.

The airport roadways were packed with cars. Traffic was crawling. There was nowhere to pull over to let the engine cool.

So I kept inching forward.

I texted Andre in case I needed to be rescued.

Once I finally got onto the highway the airflow cooled the engine down and the alarms stopped. It must have overheated from all the slow crawling in the garage and airport traffic.

I drove the car back to the apartment and collapsed for a short nap.

Later I loaded my bike into the back and drove the rental car back to the shop. As I started the engine a huge cloud of smoke came out of the exhaust.

Fortunately the shop was less than a mile away.

I dropped the keys in the lockbox, grabbed my bike, and rode home.

Then I realized I had left my bicycle lock inside the car.

I texted Andre again and asked him to keep an eye out for it.

After another short nap it was finally time for the real adventure.

Lise and I left the house around ten and took the Circuit electric shuttle down to Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort.

We stopped at the bar called 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar & Grill. It was only eleven in the morning but the bartender was already mixing cocktails. I asked for something fruity. He convinced me to try a frozen daiquiri with a shot of rum floated on top. I was going to skip the shot, but Lise had one, so I did too.

By the time we boarded the boat she was already a little tipsy.

The water taxi ride north was beautiful. The boat glided through the canals past waterfront houses, docks, and enormous yachts.

We got off in Fort Lauderdale and took a Lyft to Las Olas Boulevard.

Spring Breakers at Las Olas

We found a Mexican restaurant on the boardwalk and ordered nachos to share. They were huge and messy and we probably looked like pigs eating them, but I was starving and didn’t care.

I had a Corona.

After lunch we tried to get a Lyft back to the water taxi stop, but the app refused to recognize the stop as a destination. The driver had a beautiful Tesla, but the technology kept failing us.

In the old days you could simply tell a taxi driver where you wanted to go and they would know.

Today the app needs a precise address.

We drove around trying three different stops before finally finding one the system recognized.

By then there wasn’t time to visit all my favorite water-taxi stops.

So we just boarded the boat and rode back south toward Margaritaville.

Just before getting off the boat Serge called me on FaceTime with Bailey and the baby.

Serge was holding little Caspian, bundled up and sleepy.

Bailey asked when I was coming home. I told her March 29. I didn’t tell her yet that I’m coming back again April 12.

I’m planning to spend a whole week helping her with the baby.

He is beautiful and growing fast. I can’t wait to hold him.

After we got off the boat we walked along the boardwalk. I showed Lise Sardelli’s Italian Steakhouse and how beautiful the building is.

We tried to call a Circuit shuttle home but they were too busy, so we took a Lyft instead.

Back at the apartment we ate leftovers and watched the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

I really enjoyed it.