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Three
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A quiet place
to lay over, one of the city's
many public marinas, this one located at
SW 4th Avenue. |
As
we continue up the river, we leave the inner city
just as suddenly as it springs up. On the right bank,
just before the Fourth Avenue Bridge, there
is Chinnock Marine, another boat yard. On
the other side of the bridge is yet another city
marina which has both long term dockage and launching
ramps. This is one of the most popular spots for transients
as it is well landscaped with good facilities. It
is also tranquil on weekdays and evenings, with only
the bridge noise to disturb you. Though seemingly
well-hidden, people flock to this park-like area on
weekends, an area that is loaded with flowering trees.
By now, the river has
made so many twisting turns that you probably have
to look at your compass to find out which direction
you're going, but the general direction is west, or
inland.
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| The
aptly named Sailboat Bend neighborhood. |
We next meet with
yet another residential neighborhood, that is also
lush with tropical foliage and homes of distinctive
character. Lining the banks are boats and yachts of
all sizes and description. Boats, boats, everywhere
there are boats. This is the aptly named Sailboat
Bend neighborhood, recently reclaimed from a deteriorating
slum area. You'd never guess by looking at it that
this neighborhood was once a dangerous place to be
on foot.
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| Citrus
Isles, where boats and homes blend together |
Now we come to the
Davie Boulevard Bridge, about two miles inland,
but at this point you have now traveled five water
miles, what with all the twisting turns. Passing under
the bridge you enter the Citrus Isles and
River Oaks neighborhoods that are crammed
with unique architecture set within a south Florida
hammock (our word for jungle). Here on the north side
of the river residents respect their natural surroundings
so that many homes do not have yards, so to speak,
but are homes built into the original Florida landscape.
It's one of the few places where you get a glimpse
of what the original landscape used to look like.
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| A
typical residential canal. |
On the left are the
Citrus Isles, a series of residential canals that
are just jam packed with boats. Here, many homeowners
pay for their mortgages by renting out dock space
to non-residents for long term dockage. Far inland,
the area is well protected from hurricane storm surge.
When hurricanes approach, there's always a huge armada
of yachts heading up river to seek safety far inland.
Indeed, yachts as safe as they can get here.
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