LauderBlog

In a plugged-in world, here's a blog about unplugging. Briefly, just briefly. And it's also about enjoying time in South Florida as a family. Why not do it for the kids? Assuming for the moment that you have kids. (Maybe my suggestion wouldn't hurt any of us, whether we have kids or not.) All right, let me back up a bit to explain. So your children have still got ... what? Around a month or less of summer vacation before returning to school, right? I'm going to take a wild guess that those school-age kids in your house have been pretty busy over the past several weeks. Possibly summer education of some kind to help them get ahead in their classes or it might have been camp somewhere or vacations with family or friends or whatever else.

I'll also venture another wild guess. In between all those busy outings here and there, your kids have spent a lot of their time texting friends. As most of us know, texting is huge with the younger set these days. Scary huge, if you ask me. And when they're not texting, it seems, they're online.

All right, now for that radical idea about unplugging. I'm putting forward the notion here of one e-free day each week for the rest of the summer. Not just for the kids, but for your whole family. Wow, an entire 24 hours without email or web surfing or texting. Nothing. Nada. Yes, that means you too. I know, I know. Sounds painful at first, doesn't it? But before you dismiss this out of hand, stop and consider the possibilities for a second. It could work something like this: At an agreed upon day and hour, you round up all of your family's cellphones and computers. If there's a desktop, take the keyboard and mouse. Only one cellphone for emergency calls would be allowed on this e-free day. Until that same hour the next day, your family mission becomes all about connecting - with each other. Without electronic interruptions. This might mean playing a board game together that evening or going out to dinner and then grabbing some ice cream. During the daytime, you could visit one of Greater Fort Lauderdale's gorgeous beaches. Maybe the next week you might want to head over to the Bonnet House or Butterfly World. Or take an Everglades airboat ride. Anything that will get the kids enthused and allow all of you to actually talk to each other. And laugh with each other as well. I admit that my suggestion has a slightly extreme ring in this society of texts and tweets and status updates. You just may be surprised by the results, though. For everyone in your family. Sometimes a little old-fashioned fun together can go a long, long way.

Wow, I feel sorry for you guys up north. Sweltering through a blistering summer. Hey, just a minute. Isn't that your line about us down here? I mean, we're the folks who are supposed to have the moist tropical heat in July. But I keep talking to friends and relatives in places like Illinois and North Carolina. Even Vermont. Many spots along the east coast this year have been a lot hotter than South Florida. My sister in Raleigh says she can't keep her plants alive because the water she sprays on them just evaporates so fast. Well, I'm here to tell you about our version of summer heat. Because we're lucky enough to enjoy something most of you don't have. Beach breezes. They're wonderful things, those cooling winds coming off the sea.

Without the beach breezes, temperatures in the high 80s and above can feel unbearable. To me, the kind of heat you experience in cities like New York and Chicago is stifling in ways that our heat isn't. You've got all that concrete and brick to absorb and radiate the sun's rays, for one thing. And you don't have our beach breezes.

But here? Here in Greater Fort Lauderdale, the air currents often blow off the ocean and up our canals and rivers. Along our streets too. Many days you can sit downtown sipping iced coffee and feel the seaborne breeze. And beside the Atlantic Ocean you usually can count on some kind of wind - often during the hot days, almost always during the tropical evenings. The breeze sweeps into shore behind the waves it makes, rustling the lazy palm fronds and sifting over the white beach sand. This is perfect weather for sitting cafeside somewhere, frozen rum runner in hand, as all those puffs of delicious beach wind blow over your flip-flops and cool your toes. By contrast, it was 110 degrees in Washington D.C. just a day or so ago. Can you imagine? Whew, no thanks. That doesn't happen here, hitting three-digit temps like that, and we have the beach breezes to thank for it. Yep, in South Florida all you need to do is find a nice patch of shade near the sea in order to chill out during the hottest months of the year. That's a nice option to have available any time, a great way to get through the summer. As I said, we're lucky. And if you're also lucky enough to be around now, you know what I'm talking about.  (photo credit: http://facebook.com/ftlauderdalesun)

It's Saturday night. Again. But it's not the usual thing this week. Because we're going to this "Saturday Nite Alive" deal my friends were talking about. Basically it's a big street party on the Fort Lauderdale beach. Supposedly pretty cool, even if it's been arranged by spelling-challenged promoters. Haha. Yeah, yeah I know - it's officially called "Saturday Nite Alive." Whatever. We took a free trolley to get here but they have reduced parking rates for anyone who wants to drive, I guess. Not sure it's going to be worth the time to check it all out but what the heck. Give it a try, right? So now here we are walking north on A1A and there are like so many bands everywhere. I'm hearing something that sounds like flamenco music, acoustic guitars being strummed like mad. Kinda fun. Then that flamenco sound starts blending in with some Caribbean stuff on steel drums and whatever else is in the air right now.

Those friends who came here last week told me there's like 20 bands spread out from the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel north to the Atlantic Hotel. All I know is that I'm hearing a lot of music of all kinds. Even some hip-hop and electronic mixed in. Yeah, ok, this is cool. I admit it.

It's one of those typical summer nights on the Fort Lauderdale beach. The air feels sultry hot. Sweaty. Sexy. So many good-looking people walking around in everything you can imagine. Fine linen pants and dress shoes, cut-off shorts and flip-flops, dressed-up couples and dressed-down groups of folks. It's fun. I read somewhere that they have 25 restaurants and outdoor cafes along this stretch of the beach. That's easy to believe from the looks of it. Anyway we decide to slide into a couple café seats now and order. One margarita, one mojito please. Maybe then we'll wander somewhere else for dinner, ok? There's a beautiful, sweet seabreeze that cools things off as we sit listening to some Latin band. The moon is rising all ivory over the ocean and we're sipping those cocktails now and just smiling a lot. I'm not sure where we're going next but, like, who cares? The party started at 7 p.m. and goes up to 11 p.m. so we still have some time. Ya know, this Saturday Nite Alive thing is a great idea really. It happens every Saturday night in July so maybe we'll come back next week too. We'll see. For now, I don't want to think ahead even that far. Yeah for right now, this music and my mojito and the moon - they're enough for me.

I love summer cruising. I was just on a summer cruise last month, actually. The weather was perfect and the seas were flat as granite. Ideal, really. I think anyone considering a cruise most definitely should think about going in the summer months if that's possible. That's especially true for those who want to sail the Caribbean. I once interviewed a Norwegian sea captain about this very thing, a man well-known in the cruise biz for his experience. His comment: "Summer is the best time to cruise the Caribbean. The ocean is very calm and the breezes keep things cool." Remember, that remark came from someone who had spent his life taking passengers on voyages, mostly trips around the Caribbean. There's still some lingering misconception that summer Caribbean cruising is too hot or can be stormy or whatever. In reality, ships are the most mobile of summer resorts.

If there's any kind of really nasty weather, cruise ships can easily pick up and move somewhere else. And that's just what they do. Besides, the Caribbean can get pretty rocky during the winter months. Unless you enjoy rougher seas, and some folks do, you have one more reason to consider a summer sailing.

So for what it's worth, this is what I would plan if I was in New York or Toronto or Chicago or Montreal or wherever else and wanted to come down to South Florida for a cruise. Fort Lauderdale is by far the easiest port for Caribbean cruising, so I'd leave from here. The airport is just minutes from the port and local hotels and beaches are just a few minutes farther. There's a good reason that Fort Lauderdale is about to become the world's largest cruise port, probably in 2012, taking over that title from Miami. If I could afford it, I'd plan to stay at one of our oceanside hotels - ideally, a short stay before the cruise to get over the hassle of my flight, then a longer stay afterwards to savor the cruise and extend my vacation. Hey, why not right? In the summer, our Blue Wave beaches offer warm seas for swimming and intense sunshine for tanning. With lots of nearby cafes for cooling down with a mojito or something. I'm just saying that, based on my own experience as a former cruise columnist, I always recommend summer Caribbean cruising. I wanted to share that recommendation with you now. Because cruises make great vacations any time of year, of course. But in August, those post-cruise mojitos along the beach sure go down a lot better.

We're glad about The Glades. I feel pretty safe in suggesting that most of us around Greater Fort Lauderdale think it's cool that a major cable network program is being filmed in our backyards. Sometimes literally in our backyards. So I wanted to extend my personal welcome to The Glades' cast and crew, for whatever that's worth to them. Hey, I caught their premiere episode that aired last Sunday night. Good characters, I thought. A little quirky too and a little funny, though I was sorry to see the main cop's partner written out so soon. He's off to jail, in case you missed it. That main cop is played by Australian actor Matt Passmore, who manages his American accent wonderfully as Jim Longworth. This tough dude is an ex-Chicago police officer forced to relocate to a small town in Florida. The community is fictional of course, "Palm Glade," and it seems a very dangerous place. Of course.

Anyway, Mr. Passmore and his fellow actors are all over Broward County filming this series. They began in Tampa for whatever reason - but decided quickly to come here instead. Turns out we're friendlier and better to work with. Take that, Tampa ... Locations so far have included Fort Lauderdale's Bonnet House, as well as spots in Pompano Beach, Oakland Park, North Lauderdale, Hollywood and Dania Beach.

For the most part, The Glades isn't showing a prettified South Florida like another top cable series that's being filmed around these parts. That show, called Burn Notice, tends to use the most beautiful scenery and most beautiful people. The Glades is something different. This program is going for that Everglades feeling. Densely tropical, watery, hot and humid and filled with alligators. Geez, Jim Longworth even got his hand chomped by a gator early in the first episode. I was amused by the Spanish moss hanging from some of the trees around Palm Glades since there isn't any in the real Everglades. None that I've ever noticed anyway. But as I said, it's a fun show with good characters and I hope this thing is a big hit. Look for it every Sunday night at 10pm on the A&E cable channel. I like trying to spot my favorite Broward places in the background. I was pretty sure that I saw Aruba Beach Café in the final scene this week. If so, the real location sits on a gorgeous stretch of beachfront in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea - many miles from the Everglades. Which is totally fine with me, by the way. If they want to shoot a big TV show around here, The Glades folks can make South Florida look any way they want as far as I'm concerned.

I'm all hot for summer this year. The usual seasonal changes seem just fine with me for some reason in Summer 2010. I'm not even sure why. In the past when friends have asked me about living here in the summer months, I normally said things like, "I don't mind the summers in South Florida." Translation: It's really hot and humid and there's storms but I love South Florida so much I can cope with it. Because let's face it - it's different when you live with this weather all the time. Summer visits to South Florida are something else. They're wonderful. On my first two trips to this state, I arrived in the dead heat of mid-summer and loved it totally. I had come down from Michigan and Vermont, respectively, and so the humid shimmering warmth felt great.

The ocean here is like bathwater, the sun is intense, the drinks are chilled. What's not to like when you visit in July or August after enduring January and February up north? And that brings me back to our own South Florida weather this year. Now that I think of it, we did have a colder-than-normal winter. Not exactly frigid temps, mind you. But we really did experience unusual stretches of weather in the 60s and 50s. That's cold for us.

Do you think that's the reason I'm soaking up this July heat with relish? Hmm. Maybe. In early 2010, I had that slight, slight taste of an extended winter again. As an ex-northerner, I found that even a mildly wintry winter in South Florida served as some kind of reminder to me. I could more clearly recall those endless New England months when I had to zip up jackets and put on hats and boots just to go outside to empty the garbage. And I could remember the feeling of craving hot, hot sunshine. Yeah, maybe that is the reason that South Florida's summer weather feels especially fine to me this year. I open my door to step from air conditioning into powerful humidity and I actually enjoy the sensation. I sometimes find myself sitting on my patio without even clicking on the ceiling fan to create a breeze. And I'm loving those summer storms even more than I usually do. They come and go with a dramatic intensity, brief bursts of rain and thunder and lightning, normally followed by clear skies. I've always understood why northern folks would want to visit South Florida, including during our hot summers. We offer a taste of tropical refreshment after a diet of winter bitterness. But this year at least one full-time resident is eagerly sucking up the summertime tropics too.

There's something new to do on Saturday nights this summer. Along the Fort Lauderdale beach, Saturday night is alive. Well, ok, it was always pretty active anyway. Plenty to do, plenty to eat, plenty to drink. But the week's biggest party night has a different twist from 7 - 11 p.m. throughout the rest of this month. New bands, new people, new stuff to eat and drink. That's because of the weekly event called "Saturday Nite Alive." The big free bash brings lots of street vendors to A1A as well as 20 live bands. This thing stretches from the south at Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel all the way up to the Atlantic Hotel at the northern end. If you don't know it well, that stretch of our seaside road is fairly lengthy. This isn't your average beach party.

The good reasons to try out Saturday Nite Alive include some special deals. Like reduced parking rates, for instance. And trolley service up and down the beach. There's also something organizers call an "open house feel" to the hotels and other beach properties during this event.

In other words, their doors are open to the public in ways these properties normally don't offer. You can feel free to wander inside without pretending you're a guest. (Isn't that an awkward feeling, though? Hey, we've all done it.) Anyway, go check out that deluxe hotel you've been curious about. And you can also dine at any of the 25 restaurants and outside cafes or just sip a drink from some oceanside patio if you prefer. Or don't buy a thing. Simply come and walk around, people-watch and scope the bands. This is an evening that can be as cheap or as expensive as you want. That's one of the nice things about it, I think, especially for families that may be on a budget these days. Yeah, you can just take the trolley or park your car somewhere and wander up and down the gorgeous Fort Lauderdale beachfront, listening to oldies rock and Latin music and whatever else the bands may have to offer that evening. You can maybe watch the moon rise over the sea too, and then take your shoes off for a pleasant amble along the sand. Or bar hop til you drop. Well, it is Saturday night after all. Saturday Nite Alive has the music and food and whatever beverages you may want. The party is there for you. What you do with it is entirely your call.

I was talking with a close friend about Fort Lauderdale. About its transformation over the past two decades. That's the advantage of having lived here so long - nearly 21 years for me now and counting. This long perspective puts you in a position to watch a place change slowly, as places tend to do. You can see them evolve from one thing to another thing to yet another thing over time. My friend moved here the same year I did: 1989. Sounds like an eon ago, doesn't it? So last night we got into a brief round of reminiscing about the old Lauderdale we each first discovered back then. I'll bet most of you don't know that this town had a topless doughnut shop, huh? And a topless car wash that my newsroom buddies at the time talked about with great amusement.

Even more recently, going back maybe ten years, hot dog carts staffed by buxom babes in revealing outfits were sprinkled around Broward County. One of the best known was just outside our county courthouse. The beach? Hey, the water was the same and so was the sand more or less. But believe me, there was no Ritz-Carlton or W or Hilton anywhere nearby.

That was then. It's fun to look back and remember what we were. And how far we've really come in a relatively short time. This past holiday weekend, folks were streaming to that same beach, many of them from hotels in those very chains I just mentioned. Our water is still clear and lovely and our sand is probably even cleaner now than before. But Fort Lauderdale and environs attract upscale vacationers from around the country and around the world. We have superb restaurants that didn't exist in 1989 or in 1999 for that matter. We have a world-class casino and nightclub complex too, as well as other nightlife that pulls some folks north from Miami on weekends. It truly is a different place in many, many ways than when I moved here. The tacky anything-goes beachfront vibe is part of our history now - a charming era that I nonetheless was glad to see end. I can laugh about that past with friends these days. Perhaps my pals and I will get to share some of these moments at one of Fort Lauderdale's tony hotel bars overlooking the Atlantic, mojitos in hand, trying to recall which beer joint was located in that same spot long ago. My guess is that we won't remember the name of that old place. Or much care.

Yes, the Fourth of July is coming up quickly and that means everything from parades to fireworks will be taking place this weekend. So bring the family or just kick back with some friends.

On July 3, there will be a parade in Plantation starting at 9am. And along Fort Lauderdale Beach July 3 is the first Saturday Nite Alive, with 20 live bands, street vendors, special parking rates and trolley service.  Experience the "Open House Feel" of the resort properties and your favorite Fort Lauderdale beach spots along A1A from The Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel (south) to The Atlantic Hotel (north).  Dine at 25 restaurants and outdoor cafes, enjoy cocktails at patio and oceanfront lounges and stroll along the beach with indoor/outdoor entertainment.

On July 4^th Deerfield Beach offers rock wall climbing, games, and live music followed by fireworks.  There is free jazz along the Riverwalk for the Sun Trust Sunday Jazz Brunch.  The "Ford of July" Fourth of July Spectacular on Fort Lauderdale Beach is free 11am-9:30pm. Live musical entertainment as well as family beach activities including contests with a fireworks finale at 9pm.

Food eating contests anyone?  The Beach Theatre at Johnson Street in Hollywood will host a roasted corn eating contest along with an apple stacking contest and the Little Miss Firecracker contest.  And Journey fans "Don't Stop Believin,'" at the Pembroke Pines Recreation Center with a Journey tribute band at 6pm.

End the Fourth of July weekend with a bang with a choice of fireworks displays in Coral Springs, Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Margate, Miramar, Pembroke Pines, Plantation, Pompano Beach, Sunrise and Tamarac.  Fireworks start at 9pm.  Check out more Fourth of July activities at http://sunny.org/july4

Jillian Fink, Intern
Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau