The first time I stepped foot in Ft. Lauderdale was in the eighties. It was a small town then. The rural areas were a lot easier to get to, I mean quicker by car. We found that out by exploring the backwoods with two questionable but super entertaining country boys in a pickup truck. Our liaison with these two lasted only a few hours due to the alarming manner in which the driver sped into the front area of country stores and then both would yell and cuss at innocent people standing outside the store. They loved doing this. It was probably even more exciting for them that we were in the truck watching. After that, we confined ourselves to the strip along the beach and became beach animals for two weeks. That was all we needed: warmth and pleasant scenery. Ft. Lauderdale was paradise, it really was.
The Button in Ft. Lauderdale
‘The Button’ was a popular bar on Las Olas at the time. The first time we went there I sat at the bar and faced the band. As I listened to the music, this big, beefy guy leans on the bar and sticks his face right in mine. It ticked me off because he just kept leaning on the bar, staring at me. Then he says, “You with a guy?” “Yes, of course,” I said. He goes away. Half an hour later he returned and did the same thing only this time he says, “Your eyes remind me of someone.” At this point, I just rolled them and looked away. He stood nearby with his back to me and arms folded for the rest of the night.
Not with a Bang…
His stubbornness paid off. We started to talk. His name was Billy and he was from Boston. He had that Boston accent which I love. He told me he was going to Harvard Business School which may or may not have been true. The four of us: Billy, me, Caroline, and the cab driver moved on to ‘The Playpen’. We danced some more and eventually ended up back at the hotel. Didn’t T.S. Eliot say this is the way the world ends not with a bang but a whimper? That’s sort of how the night ended. Billy hugged me and said, “You’re nice. Nicey, nicey”. He walked away and then turned and said, “Where did we meet, The Button?” “Yes,” I said. “Tomorrow night at 7 o’clock”, he said. “Bye Billy”, I said. I never saw him again.
Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered in Ft. Lauderdale
Caroline dyed her blonde hair blue-black, and we donned false eyelashes. We danced every night at ‘The Button’ and sometimes ‘The Playpen’. One drink was all we had, and one drink was all we needed; we were there to dance. Occasionally, a sketchy dude would cross our path, but that’s all he did. We would walk back to the hotel along the beach. It was a long walk; took half an hour. One night I lost Caroline and walked home alone. She came back a little later wondering what had happened to me. The vagaries of miscommunication. The only phones available were those stuck to a wall.
Can you even imagine living like that? How did we survive? How did we survive not knowing where our friends were, what they were doing, and what they were wearing every minute of the day? Now that I’m older and listen to true crime podcasts, I wonder how we managed to not get abducted and chopped up into little pieces. We weren’t even afraid of our own shadows back then.
Shadowy Stuff
I made one day trip to Miami on the bus. I found a wig shop and bought a blonde wig with long curls flowing down the back. I’m brunette so it was something different. As I sat on a park bench (not with the wig on) I was joined by a man who engaged me in the wildest conversation. It had something to do with “shadow government”. I’d never heard of this before and was fascinated. We talked for quite a while until suddenly two black gentlemen appeared across the street which was a very wide boulevard with lots of traffic. My companion jumped out of his seat, told me he had to go now, and took off like a shot. The new arrivals tore after him. I got up and walked in the opposite direction. There was definitely some shady stuff happening in downtown Miami that day.
A Day of Firsts
As the sun went down I started to make my way back to the bus station. I asked a cop how to get there. He told me. He also told me that if he had a car he would drive me himself and that I should hurry up and get there before it gets dark. I made it back to Ft. Lauderdale in one piece. The female taxi driver who drove me to my hotel even asked me out on a date. That was the first time in my life I had ever been propositioned by a woman. Flattered, I politely declined her offer.
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