Aug 13: Saturday Night Alive

Live from Fort Lauderdale, it's Saturday night! Sorry, couldn't resist. Though really I should say, "Alive from Fort Lauderdale ..." For the past two Saturdays and for the next two Saturdays as well, there's a major party going on at the famous beach. Through August 22, live performers spread out for a mile along Fort Lauderdale's A1A on Saturday nights from 7-11pm. Some 20 acts ramp up the usual Saturday night entertainment mix, adding sidewalk DJs and mariachi bands and salsa groups. You also are likely to discover a dash of whimsy blended in as well, with puppeteers and magicians doing their thing. And some dude wanders the crowd on stilts. Ha. I love it.

You'll find this mega-block party stretching from Bahia Cabana to the south all the way north to Café Bluefish - from Harbor Drive up to Sunrise Boulevard. The entertainment is all free too. And if you want something to eat or drink, naturally you'll run across lots of options. There are 30 restaurants and cafes along the way, plus many oceanfront patios where you can grab an icy margarita to go with your mariachi band. Or whatever.

There's another attraction to Saturday Night Alive. You may or may not know about all the high-end hotels that have popped up on this same section of the beach in the past couple of years. The list is impressive these days, including The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale, Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach, Westin Beach Resort, Fort Lauderdale and The Atlantic Hotel. And of course the newest, hippest addition - the W Fort Lauderdale. I'm told that these hotels are doing a sort of open house during Saturday Night Alive, welcoming curious folks inside for a glance around. Kinda cool. The Atlantic Hotel even has a promotional dinner deal through August 28 so you can eat well after checking out the music. A $39 three-course dinner and glass of wine are waiting for you at Trina, the lovely hotel restaurant, if you go to this link and print out the page: http://www.thenewfortlauderdalebeach.com/promo-atlantic.html. Just take this web page with you and show it to your server. You'll see plenty of parking near the beach, of course, and there's a free trolley you can hop on and off as often as you like to get around Saturday Night Alive. It all sounds like a very good time to me. Nothing like a good party on a Saturday night - just you and several thousand of your closest friends.