The Fort Lauderdale airport is deceptively small. When I arrived it seemed that the terminal was only slightly larger than the Greensboro airport. The short walk to the baggage claim was clean and the signs were easy to follow. The baggage claim was manageable, and it only took a few minutes to get our bags. It wasn’t until I was on the rental car shuttle bus, driving past terminals 2, 3, and 4 that I realized that my initial assessment of the airports size was wrong. It is quite large; the outside of the terminals reminded me of the LAX.
My return to the airport was far more exciting than the arrival two days prior. I returned my thoroughly trash filled car and followed the signs to the airport shuttles. I hopped aboard the “Port Everglades” bus, shoved my luggage on the storage shelves and sat down, feeling very satisfied with myself and my superior travel skills.
It wasn’t until the shuttle bus was leaving the airport that I realized I had gotten on the wrong bus, which is funny, because all of the signs were there way before the moment we left. Like when the bus driver shouted “Masadam is first,” I should have thought, “What airline is that? That doesn’t sound familiar.” And when we drove right by my terminal I should have thought, “Hey, I needed to stop there.” But I didn’t because I was so proud of myself for being such a great traveler; I just sat back and reveled in my accomplishments. The reveling stopped as we pulled into the docks in front of the first cruise ship.
We stopped at three cruise ships before we turned around to head back to the airport. It took about 45 minutes from the time I got on the bus to the time I was returned to the Avis Rental Car center (the driver wouldn’t take me directly to the terminal, even though I begged him and showed him my nicest smile.) I got onto the right bus, “Terminals,” and made it to the ticket counter and hour after I had arrived.
Fort Lauderdale also has the best airport food. I had a Greek Plate with dolmades, hummus, feta and olives and greek salad. It wasn't cheap ($11.95) but, it was fresh and filling, better than fast food and it was easily portable.
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1 comment:
Ha and ouch. I can't believe you had enough time to tour the port without missing your flight. I'd say that marks you as an exceedingly professional traveler.
I also think you're onto something with these airport reports, by the way. If you ever cared to, you could probably kick together a multi-contributor theme blog just about that. I'll bet with your contacts you'd have a very wide database.
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