Fort Lauderdale

Postmarked Fort Lauderdale, dated 3 September 2009.
Venice of America

Fort Lauderdale was named after a series of forts built during the Second Seminole War and they in turn were named after Major Lauderdale, in charge when the first fort was built.  Eventually the wooden fort was left to rot in the midst of the swamp all around it.  In order to transform this swamp into usable land, an enterprising developer had the idea to dredge canals and build up the land in between.  Fort Lauderdale now has 300 miles of navigable inland waterways.

I have to admit I had no idea that it looked like this.  While it doesn't really bear much resemblance to the original Venice apart from all the water, it certainly does look attractive.