I flew to Fort Lauderdale on a whim back in April. I just needed to feel warm and smell the ocean. 

Lots of alone time, erratic hours, and excellent conversations with strangers. and sunburn.

Any plan i tried to make was cancelled. I could see daylight between my front door and the wall of my airbnb.  I locked my rental car keys in the trunk.

Yes this stuff sucks especially when I’m on my own. But that also tends to show me what I’m made of. My coping and problem solving skills.

(…and yes i still called Alex and cried for 15 minutes)

But otherwise, I rolled with it. because I had to. and it worked out, because it had to. 

I mostly just roamed around in my headphones until the next experience showed itself.

I spent one night on the beach during a really cool electrical storm. The rain was too wild for my camera, and for my (now good friend) Mike’s connection through Miami. Him and I have been trying to meet up with our families for years, and it took a wild storm in Florida to finally make it happen. 

So 6 months later and I am insanely close to his beautiful wife, Jocelyn. I could go on about her for days. But as of these photos, I hadn’t met her yet.

YET. <3

On the left is Andrew, and Mike is on the right with that super subtle, bright red Mustang rental car. 

We caught a great lunch while they were driving through Fort LAWDerdale and finally set this damn friendship in motion.

They were flying home from filming a documentary, and shared their onset experience that resulted in me begging to be his intern. 

I’m not his intern but I’m slowly stealing his wife, one date at a time. 😉 (am i joking?)

I had to turn down a recreational derby skating squad’s request for me to join them, because I was already on my way to meet mike and andrew.

Realistically, it was for the best because I would absolutely have gotten hurt. But damn if they weren’t fun to talk to. 

At some point, I stumbled into an Orchid and Garden Festival. This is where the real magic happened. 

I dunno what these folks prefer to be called but lets roll with: Horticulturists

This wonderful man in the blue shirt is Bud, from Boston. He’s been married for 43 years, and said one of the biggest reasons it works is that they travel, together and alone. 

That is super encouraging for obvious reasons. 

Since Pittsburgh sun is in fact not the same thing as Fort Lauderdale sun, and since I’m unable to evenly apply sunscreen, i was getting RED. 

on my left side of my body. it was great.

Then this nice guy took pity on me and cut me fresh aloe, and told me to buy a t-shirt. 

This is a Surinam/ star cherry. The guy with the aloe told me to try it, and I did, once he ate it first.

Turns out, this flower festival is at a place called Bonnet House Museum and Gardens. Bummer: there was a separate fee to go inside.

Luckily, Charles and Tresha gave me their admission sticker on the way out, which is super cool for someone who has no cash.

Once inside, I met Joe.

That’s him holding his high school prom portrait, taken in the gardens in 1956.

We had a great conversation but it was personal, just know that it left me considering becoming a snowbird. 

 LOOK AT THIS REAL GOOD BOY:

This dog was being overly aggressive for a pleasant dusk on the beach, so I took his picture. 

What a freaking sunrise.