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Florida
- Ft. LauderdaleHead to Greater Fort Lauderdale where summer family fun is as easy as learning your ABC's. From the beautiful beaches to the exotic Everglades. Enjoy a day of fun in the sun and swimming in the Atlantic on one of Greater Fort Lauderdale's 23 miles of beaches. Spend the day relaxing in Hollywood Beach, known for its casual atmosphere and international flair and walk along Hollywood's Ocean Walk.
Enjoy Pompano Beach's three-and-a-half mile beach, a favorite spot for families featuring premiere playgrounds on the beach, fine seafood, and family-style festivities. The Venice of America...imagine intersecting waterways traversed by vessels gliding on the currents of a passion for the good life. Enjoy year-round waterfront dining. Even getting there can be an adventure in Greater Fort Lauderdale, as many restaurants overlook the Intracoastal Waterway and are accessible by Water Taxi. Fort Lauderdale’s system of canals earned it its romantic nickname, but it is also a thriving modern city, where beautiful weather, plentiful outdoor activities and diverse cultural offerings enthrall visitors of all ages.
No longer a haven for rowdy college students on spring break, Fort Lauderdale has truly undergone a renaissance. City officials and members of the community have worked together to enhance Fort Lauderdale’s beautiful beaches and many attractions, creating a city that thousands of visitors—especially families—flock to every year.
Port Everglades is the starting point for your seaside adventure. The deepest-water port south of Norfolk, Virginia, it is home port for ocean-going freighters, U.S. Navy ships and 25 cruise ships from around the world. If you’re reluctant to leave the water behind, hail a water taxi, a scenic and unique means of getting to Fort Lauderdale’s finest shops, restaurants and attractions. In fact, Fort Lauderdale has several miles of waterways in its city plan, more than ten times as many canals as Venice.
You can also take an informative historical tour, or choose a mini-cruise on the Jungle Queen, which offers sightseeing excursions and barbecue dinner cruises along the famous Intracoastal Waterway, lined with palatial homes and luxurious yachts. On land, hitch a ride with Las Olas Horse & Carriage Tour for a romantic tour of downtown Fort Lauderdale. Or take a flight of fancy at Butterfly World’s museum and insectarium, where thousands of colorful butterflies in all stages of development decorate three acres of tropical and botanical gardens.
It’s a new world for children at the Museum of Discovery and Science, a $30 million facility offering interactive exhibits on art, science and history. A giant IMAX movie screen with six-channel sound is one of the museum’s premier attractions. Buehler Planetarium, with its spectacular space shows and telescope, also appeals to the young set. You can stop by the Old Dillard Art Cultural Museum, on the National Register of Historic Places. This landmark, near the Museum of Discovery and Science, contains galleries of African and African-American cultural artifacts in traditional settings.
For yet another taste of history, visit the Bonnet House, the estate of the renowned artists Frederick and Evelyn Bartlett. Joining the Bartlett plantation on the National Register of Historic Places is the 1901 home and trading post of Fort Lauderdale’s first intrepid pioneers, Stranahan House. It is the oldest structure in the county. Restored as a museum, the house features furniture dating from 1915 and provides a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the early settlers to the area.
Art connoisseurs will appreciate the Museum of Art. Beautifully constructed galleries display traveling exhibits; the permanent collections include “America’s Renoir” William Glackens, as well as the finest in American and European 20th-century art. The Fort Lauderdale Historical Museum features edifying historic exhibits and also sponsors walking tours and New River boat tours.
Nearby Las Olas Boulevard is famed for its fine art galleries and international clothing, furniture and jewelry boutiques. On this picturesque street, dining, too, is at its most romantic, European best. Leading away from Las Olas, Riverwalk is a one-square-mile linear park on the north bank of the New River. Landscaped paths, brick walkways and nearby yachts make up the park’s visual appeal. Lining the historic district that the park winds through are shops, restaurants and cultural facilities. The brand-new Beach Place, facing the ocean between Castillo and Cortez streets, is a large, colorful complex where you’ll also find plenty of dining, shopping and entertainment options.
Entertainment,
especially in the fine arts, has been central to Fort
Lauderdale’s renaissance. The Broward Center for
the Performing Arts, at the west end of Riverwalk, is
a state-of-the-art complex and the focal point of the
local cultural scene. Broadway musicals, plays, symphonies,
operas and ballets are among the productions hosted
by the center. Just a short distance from this thriving
modern city is the Everglades National Park, Florida’s
“River of Grass.” You can enjoy airboat tours
through this enormous and diverse ecosystem inhabited
by alligators, herons, ibis, turtles, the Florida panther
and countless other species.
If beaches can experience rejuvenation, then that’s exactly what’s been happening to the 23 miles of Atlantic oceanfront in Greater Fort Lauderdale. The city has put great effort into redeveloping the area to appeal to a wide variety of visitors—not just the freewheeling students of the past. At Fort Lauderdale Beach, parts of seaside Highway A1A have been resurfaced, while environmental programs have added fresh sand to the formerly eroded beach. In the ’90s, Fort Lauderdale’s beach has matured. Of the other area beaches, Hollywood Beach is the largest, stretching six miles. A paved “broadwalk” lined with T-shirt shops and casual eateries extends along the southern part of this wide beach; to the north the shops give way to sand dunes and sea grass.
Hallandale
Beach, while much smaller, is no less beautiful and
relaxing. Charm and beauty are also in abundance at
Dania’s John U. Lloyd State Park, which offers
boating, fishing, hiking and picnic facilities in addition
to swimming and sunbathing. If active exploration is
more enticing, then Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is one of
the most inviting beaches. The coral reef lies so close
to the land snorkelers need merely wade out to it.
Activities:
In a place that boasts 3,000 hours of annual sunshine,
most activities are naturally conducted out of doors.
Golfers can choose from more than 50 courses, some of
them considered among the best in the world. Snorkelers
and divers adore the offshore reef, an entire underwater
community. Swimmers make a splash at the International
Swimming Hall of Fame. Two 50-meter Olympic pools, a
2,500-seat spectator gallery, an exhibition hall and
a historic museum and art gallery are only some of the
attractions at this aquatic complex. Fishing enthusiasts
can charter a boat or drop a line from Anglin’s
Fishing Pier, an 876-foot construction that welcomes
strollers and photographers, too.
May 18 - 20 -- Held by the beach along El Mar Drive (just north of Commercial Boulevard) in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, the Shore Diving Capital of the World, OceanFest is one of the most successful diving and ocean related events in the world. Scuba enthusiasts and newcomers can shore dive (including night beach dives), boat dive and reef dive as well as participate in the festival’s annual underwater photo contest and treasure hunt. This weekend-long celebration of the sea along the beach, also includes a Dive Trade Show with more than 500 exhibits and plenty of live entertainment.
Davie Arena is the only covered indoor/outdoor stadium
in the area. Witness truck competitions, horse shows
and genuine rodeos. For horse racing, wager on the thoroughbreds
at Gulfstream Park. Pompano Park features harness racing,
and Hollywood Greyhound Track is the place to see these
fast, elegant dogs compete. Spectators also enjoy tests
of speed and skill at Dania Jai Alai Palace, home to
the world’s fastest ball game.
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