I
think I just really wanted to get out of Haiti as soon as possible, which made
Florida look like a refuge of sorts, a place where I’d be doing nothing but
chill. But the journey to my Airbnb place at Sunrise Boulevard proved to be a very
long one. Landing at Fort Lauderdale late in the evening, the wait time was
further exacerbated by the blockbuster lines at US immigration and customs,
which added another hour or two all in all. I arrived at my Airbnb place after
midnight, after walking because I missed the last bus.
Fort
Lauderdale is one of JetBlue’s hubs, and is the airport of transit to be if you
are eyeing their affordable flights to the Caribbean and some select cities in
Latin America. From here, you can fly for less than an hour to the Bahamas, and
as far south as Quito in Ecuador. I spent a total of four nights in Florida,
with my itinerary including Miami and Miami Beach, except that it didn’t really
happen. Why so? I really don’t know. Try asking the 36-hour insomnia that hit
me when I landed.
Some
people said that it might have been due to jet lag, which I ruled out because
the flight from Haiti took less than three hours, despite the one hour jump
ahead in terms of time zone. I managed to catch the #1 bus when I got out of
the airport, but to the wrong direction. I almost ended up in Miami! I realized
that halfway through, and immediately got off, waited for the bus going the
other way while munching on a Subway sandwich, and missed the last connecting northbound
#50 bus by 10 minutes or so. Exercise time!
The
route would have taken five minutes on the bus, but it was farther on foot. I
was walking for half an hour and had to take a break at Circle T. The good
thing about that neighborhood is that I felt safe walking down the streets. The
only caveat was the heavy luggage I had to tug along with me. When I finally
reached the Airbnb place, I thought I would be sleeping right away due to
exhaustion. Little did I know that I would be up for the next 24 hours, on top
of the 12 hours I already spent awake that day.
With
my body clock fucked up, the afternoon hours dedicated to sightseeing in Miami
were used up when sleepiness finally set in. Of the four nights I spent in Fort
Lauderdale, a mere half an hour was spent on Fort Lauderdale Beach, where I did
not even stay long because the humidity was really annoying me. Add to the fact
that I wasn’t really impressed with the beach itself. This isn’t really Florida’s
main representative when it comes to beaches, although it’s the community
activities that make it stand out.
The
beach was not that crowded that day. There were reclining seats lining up the
shore but I didn’t know if they were free or not. If anything, the place was
really chill. As opposed to being THE beach destination of the Sunshine State,
I think it plays a bigger role as the neighborhood playground for those who
chose to reside in the area. I like Fort Lauderdale in the sense that I wouldn’t
mind living there, but as a tourist destination, I think the counties
neighboring Broward have more to offer.
Transportation
was not an issue either. There are plenty of Ubers with a flat starting rate of
USD5. Buses have numerous routes and usually have a standard cost of USD2, with
both coins and bills being accepted, even though they don’t give out change. Majority
of the locals just drive, and this is the easiest form of getting around given
the city’s simple grid layout, with most of its avenues being one-way, thus
preventing traffic jams that could occur otherwise.
Miami
can easily be reached from Fort Lauderdale, by the way. From Sunrise Boulevard,
you only have to take the local #50 bus to Broward Main Terminal, then transfer
to the #1 Airport Bus headed to Aventura Mall. From there, you can then hop onto
the Miami metro to either the city center or Miami Beach. This trip will just
take you a little over an hour, and perhaps USD5. Double both that time and
amount if you are just planning to be there on a daytrip. Of course, you can
fly out from Miami’s airport too.
In
any case, I am not that sad not being able to go around Florida. With future
plans of exploring more of Latin America, I’m pretty sure I’ll find myself here
again transiting for a few days. I think I just need to plan my moves properly.
Or perhaps I can just wish that insomnia will not welcome me the second time
around. As far as I’m concerned, this particular trip was well-planned, until
the unexpected happened. For now, I’m just glad that I’m back in the US for a
while. The prodigal nephew is back, Uncle Sam! ;)
[BROWARD] The 36-Hour Fort Lauderdale Insomnia
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