LauderBlog

This is always a fun week in Fort Lauderdale. And it's just starting. You see, the fleet's in town and I'm not talking about cruise ships. Nope, I'm talking about the Navy and the Coast Guard - that kind of fleet. It's even called Fleet Week, a big annual event in South Florida that brings military vessels and military women and men to Port Everglades and thereabouts. For the next several days, they'll be visible all over this community, crisp white uniforms and funny white hats wandering in packs along A1A looking for some version or other of R&R. They'll find a warm welcome here, as always, with lots of free meals and drinks thrown in by appreciative citizens. It's nice to see.

This year, there will be two Navy ships, a submarine and a Coast Guard cutter. One Canadian ship also will be in the military mix at the port. The estimated number of sailors who will be joining us for the next few days: more than 1,000. Like I said, white will be a very "in" color around Fort Lauderdale this week.

The public will be touring those vessels, with some 5,000 people already registered to climb aboard. And there's a public exhibit opening on Tuesday, something called Fleet Landing South Florida. This is an educational, and promotional, tool for the Navy that includes a flight simulator and plenty of sailors who will be only too happy to chat about their work. You can find all this right beside the Galleria Mall at the southeast corner of Northeast 26^th Avenue and Sunrise Boulevard. Sounds like fun. But the rah-rah and razzle-dazzle stuff aside, there's another aspect to Fleet Week that most of us don't see. Many sailors spend part of their precious shore leave doing some wonderful community service projects around this area. I don't know what they have planned this time, but in the past they've helped construct homes with Habitat for Humanity, for instance. I find something very encouraging about seeing our service men and women putting their muscle to use in this way, especially when they could just be out playing non-stop for seven days. So I say good for them - bravo. It's great to have these folks back with us and I hope they all enjoy a terrific break from their seagoing routines. They've earned it.

Just give me one hour. That's what I'm feeling. It's been another long day of writing, mostly locked indoors when all I really want is to escape into the sunshine. Maybe you feel this way sometimes. Maybe everyone who works at a desk feels chained there now and then. It's easy to feel this way, sometimes. And sometimes it's even easy to fix. So now it's around 5 p.m. and I'm going to set the work aside for a while, for one hour maybe. I'm lowering the top on my convertible and the strong afternoon sunlight behind me is instantly warm on my neck. And I'm pretty sure that I smile a little as I pull on to Dania Beach Boulevard, driving east into the long shadows, but still thinking about the busy day not far behind me now. I really need to stop thinking for a little while, for one hour maybe, I really do need to put all this down for a while.

I don't even know where I'm going. I'm just driving toward the ocean, toward A1A, then south along the sea until I'm past Sheridan and past Hollywood Boulevard and some side street beside the Broadwalk feels just about right. One dollar in the meter, enough for one hour, and now I'm walking. But I can't get my mind off the work that's waiting for me, not with so much yet to do today. I really just need to unwind, man - relax, relax.

I'm still not very good at relaxing on command, not even on my own command. I wish my brain came equipped with an off button. But now the sea is rolling in on the fresh, brisk winds and I'm walking north on the Broadwalk, through the swaths of shade behind the buildings and through the brilliant patches of sun in between. And after a while, not too long really, after maybe just 15 minutes of walking by the waves I decide it's time to sit. To just be quiet, to just stop and smell the salt in the air and watch and listen to the people as they pass me. I close my eyes and breathe in deeply and the scent is there for me, relaxing me a little maybe. Bicyclists scoot by now pedaling their racing bikes and mountain bikes and bicycles for two and even bicycles for four. And a lovely woman drifts south on her in-line skates and the coconut palm fronds are hissing softly as the winds rise off the water. The sunlight at my back feels hot and the salt breeze on my face feels cool and yes, I'm smiling now for sure because someone just smiled back. I think I may even have stopped thinking for a while there, I think. I look at my watch and realize I have to return to my car before the meter runs out. It's been an hour, just one hour away from the desk and the work and the writing. But here in South Florida, I find, sometimes one hour is just enough.

Now I know. I've just learned that I am ideally suited for the Fort Lauderdale beach. This is something nice to hear after hundreds of visits there. I always was pretty sure I liked it anyway, mind you. But in today's cyber-age, no judgment is truly credible until you've taken an online beach quiz that confirms what you thought you knew. I'm only kidding, of course. But I really did just take an Internet quiz about my "beach type." And it really did tell me Fort Lauderdale was the one for me. Oddly enough, the short test nailed this. See, Broward County has eight very distinct beaches, each with its own personality. From Deerfield Beach on south through Hallandale Beach, you'll find that every one of them offers a different ambience, a special feeling all its own. As it happens, I like each of the eight. But yep, I have to admit my personal beach of choice indeed is Fort Lauderdale.

Let me back up a bit. Right here on this website, on the http://www.sunny.org/ home page, you'll find a little block of text asking a question: "what is your beach type?" Click on the yellow text link and you'll find yourself staring at seven questions. These aren't exactly mindbenders but they do make you reflect on your own preferences. And that's the idea.

For example. the first question asks this: "I'm renting a car to cruise around in. I'll take a ... " Then you're given four choices to think over. They are: "Spicy red convertible; Hybrid; Minivan; 4X4 with enough room for my scuba gear." My own pick was number one. Gimme that spicy red convertible, please. So then you proceed on down the list, choosing your preferred type of beach drinks and lots more. I thought it was clever and fun. One click at the end of the quiz gives you the results. Mine said, "You are soooo Beach Chic ... Clearly, Fort Lauderdale is your perfect fit." Well, hey, that's very cool. Thanks. But there's still more to explore after finishing the test. Once you know your best beach type, you'll find a YouTube video with music and images and text appropriate to your own beachy style. Hit the play button and enjoy the brief show. My BeachChic video had some gorgeous shots that made me want to visit the Fort Lauderdale beach, like, now. Actually I drove along the beach twice over the weekend and it was packed with people. Apparently I'm not the only one in town who's Beach Chic.

Fort Lauderdale is always changing in some way. New construction, new events, new hotels and restaurants. Even most of our condos and houses are of relatively recent vintage, especially compared to many places in this country. I have friends up north who live in homes that were built in the mid-1800s. In Fort Lauderdale and environs, anything constructed before the 1970s is practically a candidate for the historic register. My point is that we're an ever-evolving community, so it can be a challenge to keep up with all this newness. That's part of the reason I try to find a copy of Go Riverwalk magazine each month. If you're not famliar with this publication, you should be. It's as sunny as Fort Lauderdale itself, loaded with news you can use.  Even better, it's free.

Go Riverwalk is published by the Riverwalk Trust to help promote downtown Fort Lauderdale. You can find it piled in racks at such businesses as Starbucks on Las Olas, for instance - look around and you'll see Go Riverwalk in many stores. Or ask some downtown merchants. If you enjoy living in Fort Lauderdale, or visiting here, you will discover a lot of interesting reading inside each issue.

The April edition is a good example. As usual, the cover shot is bright and attractive and youthful, just like Fort Lauderdale: two lovely young women are busy being, well, lovely and young and there are a couple studly guys in the shot too. This month's theme is the "green" environmental movement, including stories about folks leading green initiatives locally. But there's also helpful info about next month's Las Olas Food & Wine Festival as well as some new spots to eat. One of these is a specialty cupcake shop, believe it or not. Yep, Lola's Cupcakery, located on the very fringes of downtown Fort Lauderdale. Clearly this is a shop requiring some serious investigating on my part for a future blog. Really, though, I always get a lot from Go Riverwalk, one way or another. My friend, Patsy Mennuti, is the magazine's executive editor and also president and CEO of the Riverwalk Trust. Busy woman, Patsy. Along with publisher Mark Corbett, she does a great job of putting together an appealing, informative issue twelve times a year. As I said, Fort Lauderdale is always changing in some way. Happily, the quality of Go Riverwalk magazine is one thing that doesn't change.

South Florida is a true crossroads. It's a place where diverse cultures meet, exchanging ideas and traditions. Such intersections have been important throughout history to help advance knowledge in many fields, including the arts. They offer cross-pollination among human beings and enrich everyone who spends any time around them. That's happening right here, right now. People who arrive in South Florida to visit are part of this scene, as are those of us who come to make this our new home. We all bring our own kind of vibe, a hodgepodge of upbringings and beliefs and talents and tastes that together create an excitement to enjoy and a wild variety of influences to learn from. I was lucky enough to sample some more of those influences over the weekend, both at a public event and a private party.

It began with another great concert in the series of Fort Lauderdale performances by masters of classical Indian music. The Association of Performing Arts of India brings these extraordinary virtuosos to town a few times each year. On Saturday night, Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain Khan and his two sons gave a memorable show on their shehnais, accompanied by Pandit Subhen Chatterjee on tablas.

I've been listening to Indian music since I was a teenager but didn't know what a shehnai is until now. This instrument is similar to an oboe, double reeded, but with a very different tone and technique. Tablas, of course, are Indian drums played with the hands. In the crossroads that is South Florida, I was able to experience two hours of this uncommonly beautiful music just a 15-minute drive from my condo. Then on Easter, I was at a local party with folks from everywhere - as far away as Sierra Leone in Africa, Japan and Sweden as well as all over the United States, from New Jersey to Minnesota to California. Fun group. Coming one day after the Indian concert, this party emphasized again for me what a rich place South Florida is. Sure, many of us arrive here initially for the weather, tourists and residents alike, just as I did in 1989 when I moved away from Vermont's endless winters. And yes, the weather is part of the reason we stay or return year after year. But only part of the reason. In addition to the subtropical climate, our vibrant, patchwork culture is central to my love of the Fort Lauderdale area and I suspect it has much to do with our tourist appeal too. The sun and the ocean create the lovely South Florida melody. But it's the people from around the world who give us our harmony and rhythm and make the music whole.

I get that question sometimes. "Why should I go to the Mai-Kai?" Not because it's truly an institution among South Florida attractions, though it is. Not because it's something different from anything else around, though it is. Not even because the place just got a big facelift, though it did. No, the reasons to visit the Mai-Kai are more subtle, more human. They're all about the way you feel here, the change in your mood between the time you walk in the door and the time you walk out. I was reminded of all this on Tuesday night when I was lucky enough to enjoy another memorable evening of tropical cocktails and tasty food and South Pacific dancing under its pitched roof.

That facelift I mentioned brought renovations of many kinds, all good ones. The entrance of wood-planked bridge and thatched canopy has been completely redone, along with a new north wall and three new front doors. The always-delightful Molokai Bar got a major makeover, as did the gardens and Lanai dining area and the main restaurant. The place looks great.

But beyond the physical improvements, the Mai-Kai retains the same charm as ever. I've traveled to Hawaii as well as to the real South Pacific, places such as Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. When I walk in those grand Mai-Kai doors, I feel somehow transported back to that part of the world. On Tuesday, Gwendolyn and I began with Mai Tai cocktails, which you may notice us holding in the photo. We weren't about to let those out of our sight. Dinner included Chilean sea bass in a lovely sauce and petite filet mignon along with crisp vegetables and fried rice. The Mai-Kai's new wine list gave us a nice cabernet sauvignon as an accompaniment to all this. Then the show began. The three men and three women always put on a wonderfully entertaining program of genuine Polynesian dances backed up by a live band of South Pacific musicians. We topped off the evening with a flaming Kona coffee before heading home. By the time we climbed back in our car, I know both of us felt greatly de-stressed. We had escaped the daily cares for a few hours, replacing the bills and the deadlines with garden waterfalls and fire dancers. If you want to know why you should go to the Mai-Kai, that's why.

This was ... well, unexpected. I had a real Fort Lauderdale moment the other day. Just an instant when the essence of this tropical place seemed captured briefly by something I saw. Or more accurately, someone. And it was someone I've never met, never seen before and likely will never see again. My experience wasn't about her beauty, though she was beautiful. It's only with tongue in cheek that I called this blog, "Ten," after the old Bo Derek movie. No, it was the woman and the sea and the sand and the sky and the flawless framing of it all, everything coming together wonderfully as if I was in just the right spot at just the right moment for a classic Fort Lauderdale photograph. Except I was in my car at that serendipitous second, motoring merrily north on A1A.

Here's what happened. This was a couple days ago, another beautiful sunlit afternoon with a freshening breeze rolling off the Atlantic. I was out for a drive, going nowhere special. I pulled up to the intersection at Sunrise Boulevard, glancing over at the vigorous green sea and the folks strolling past. That's when I noticed her.

She was tanned a pale amber, with full brown hair in a tumble over her shoulders and down her back. She almost bounced into view, a spring in her movements that seemed happy. She wore an attractive dark bathing suit, revealing but also tasteful and entirely appropriate for her athletic body. You might see in your mind's eye a 20-something girl but that wasn't the case. I'd suspect this woman was well into her 30s judging from the character lines apparent in her face. She was looking down, perhaps reaching for a ball or something. I'm not sure. Smiling, she stepped between two coconut palm trees as I sat waiting for the light to change. That was the photo opportunity. Click. An unusually lovely person, full of life, posed ideally while playing on one of the world's great beaches. And just then it occurred to me - this is Fort Lauderdale. The sunshine and the ocean and the gorgeous people. She could have been an equally appealing he, though the impact on me wouldn't have been quite the same of course. Still, this wasn't about her sex appeal really, as if she embodied some true life version of Bo Derek's onscreen perfection. No, this was about the appreciation of an almost surreal moment that flared suddenly, then very quickly flickered away. She turned and bounced off toward the ocean and then the traffic light switched to green and I watched her while I could. Just for another instant before I drove on. But I'll remember her for a long time.

Did you know that the whole cruise industry is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale? Yep, sure is. An organization known as CLIA has its main offices right on SE 17^th Street beside Port Everglades. That should tell you something about the importance of this city to the cruise business. CLIA is an acronym for Cruise Lines International Association, which represents 23 major cruise lines serving North America. I mention this because right now CLIA is hosting a major conference for those who work in cruising. That means thousands of travel agents, along with executives from the cruise lines and the travel industry in general. And some cruise journalists mixed in for the heck of it. It's a big deal, really, this event called cruise3sixty.

Starting now and running through Monday, the Broward County Convention Center becomes cruise central. I've gone to these conferences in the past and they're fun. Everyone is buzzing with gossip about the latest ships ready for launching or the rumors about some company's new itinerary. Most of these folks have been on many, many cruises themselves, of course, so it's always a kick to trade stories about some recent adventure.

It is no coincidence that cruise3sixty is held here, just as it's no coincidence that CLIA is based here. Port Everglades is one of the busiest cruise ports in the world. And now it also has been selected as this country's best. Porthole Cruise Magazine picked Port Everglades as the finest home port in the United States. That's a very nice honor - and well-deserved. Which is one big reason why so many cruise ships come and go from Fort Lauderdale throughout the year. This is a pleasant port, easy to use, with a major airport and fine hotels and some world-famous sights all within a short taxi ride. I've mentioned before that I'll often see seven or eight ships at a time waiting to leave on Sunday afternoons during the autumn through spring high season for Caribbean cruises. This is a true cruise capital. So as a former cruise columnist for Budget Travel magazine, I'd like to welcome my colleagues to Fort Lauderdale for the weekend.

In the distance, the clock tower chimes out a late afternoon welcome to the Central Broward Regional Park.  Slowly, the rust-colored buildings and green and gold umbrellas rise into view like a mirage.  Greater Fort Lauderdale's newest sports and recreational hub seems to have sprung up overnight, similarly, in the city of Lauderhill just west of downtown Fort Lauderdale. 

The park is located in the nexus of a vibrant mixture of cultures from the African Diaspora, but it is also positioned at a crossroads, historically.  It sits near the corner of U.S. Highway 441 (State Road 7), which was once considered the end of urban life in the county, and Sunrise Boulevard, which was once considered the dividing line between Black and White neighborhoods.  With westward growth, the area was bypassed over time. 

Today, however, multicultural family reunions, corporate and conference groups, and individual visitors can enjoy a range of recreational experiences there that are unmatched elsewhere in South Florida, from team-building to intergenerational play.

Children have two playgrounds and an aquatic center that is specially-equipped with a swimming pool and slides, a 30 ft. high rockscape waterfall, and lifeguards on duty, as well as an instruction area. Athletic adults can play tennis, basketball, netball, and cricket or watch cricket  and Australian rules football tournaments with 5,000-15,000 people in the first stadium of its type in North America that is capable of hosting major international sports championships.

Nature lovers can walk trails through wildlife areas where burrowing owls nest undisturbed,  paddle boats along the lake, or just spend quite time in seating areas and overlooks.

The Regional Park is also poised to become an anchor for an exciting new entertainment district with international impact and media development potential that promises to further revitalize the area. 

Plans are already underway for the surrounding grounds to include a cultural center and arts park; a library; the Carishoca Town Center, a multicultural retail center with restaurants, nightclubs, art museums and hotels celebrating Carribbean and African cultures; and the International Gospel Complex for Preservation and Education, which will showcase and preserve the history of gospel music and is it is expected to draw over 100,000 people annually.

Paralleling this cultural activity is the increased promotion of Greater Fort Lauderdale as a film, music, and television production center with the Lauderhill entertainment district playing a key role.  A creative arts conference presented by the Gospel Complex May 2-6 at Nova Southeastern University will place the national spotlight on the area, bringing together people from a wide range of media including the Word Network; the Gospel Music Channel; BETJ, which will do a taping at conference; representatives from urban radio networks, record labels, independent media production companies; filmmakers Reuben Cannon and Eric LaSalle; and actors from Tyler Perry's stable of plays and movies. 

In the midst of it all, the new Central Regional Park continues to sit at the crossroads - of the future, now.  

-Kitty Oliver, Ph.D.
 Oral Historian