Don't miss in FLL?

[terkatz56]

Will be in FLL Dec 2010 and have a day or two post cruise, what is there to do or see that shouldn't be missed?

[royalcruz]

Las Olas Blvd downtown (great live bands at Mangos and Smith & Jones)

 

a walk along the beachfront both daytime and evening (A1A)

 

a river cruise on Carrie B

 

if you have a car, Vizcaya in Miami and

Sawgrass Mills outlet mall in Sunrise

[terkatz56]

Thanks for the ideas, we are still looking at hotels. Pre-cruise we will go cheap as it will just be a place to shower and sleep but post cruise I want something nice, also close to beach. But as you can see I have LOTS of time to plan. I have gotten some brochures from sunny.org but it is nice to hear from the locals.

[bills blasters]

We really love the water taxi. Go on it everytime we are down there. You can get off at lots of places and there are lots of restaurants, shopping and even the beach along the route. We spend about 6 to 8 hours on it. Great for sightseeing.

[royalcruz]

Thanks for the ideas, we are still looking at hotels. Pre-cruise we will go cheap as it will just be a place to shower and sleep but post cruise I want something nice, also close to beach. But as you can see I have LOTS of time to plan. I have gotten some brochures from sunny.org but it is nice to hear from the locals.

 

From the locals...We've stayed at the W Hotel across the street from the beach a few times. It's a very hip place and is walking distance to lots of restaurants. The lobby bar turns into a popular nightclub on weekends, and the pool deck is gorgeous. It is surrounded by the Westin and the Hilton which both seem very nice but I haven't been in the rooms.

[terkatz56]

Thanks for the suggestion. I see in your first post you have the letters (A1A) after walking along the beach...what does that mean?

[lilpootr]

We really love the water taxi. Go on it everytime we are down there. You can get off at lots of places and there are lots of restaurants, shopping and even the beach along the route. We spend about 6 to 8 hours on it. Great for sightseeing.

 

 

I second the water taxi! My friend and I just did this last month, what a blast. If I remember it was around $13 to ride for the day, we really got our moneys worth (much cheaper than the taxi).

 

On one of our stops we were able to make a pina colada run, which we were able to bring on the water taxi. That made for a very pleasurable trip :)

[buelah111]

Thanks for the suggestion. I see in your first post you have the letters (A1A) after walking along the beach...what does that mean?

 

I'm not certain this is what royalcruz meant, but A1A is the name of the road that follows the Atlantic coastline in Florida. I'm not familiar with the Ft Lauderdale area, but my guess is this is the road that will have the beachfront hotels and condos.

[terkatz56]

Thanks for clearing that up buelah111, makes sense.

lilpootr...sounds like fun and I am always in favor of a designated driver! I think that is what my sister and I will do, finish spending any money we have left...lol

[lilpootr]

Thanks for clearing that up buelah111, makes sense.

lilpootr...sounds like fun and I am always in favor of a designated driver! I think that is what my sister and I will do, finish spending any money we have left...lol

 

Oh, another must try...a blue martini!! If you get off the water taxi at the Galleria Mall stop you can get a coupon book in the mall @ customer service. In the book is a coupon for buy one blue martini get one free. They are $12 each, so it's a pretty good savings. They are worth every penny...

[royalcruz]

I'm not certain this is what royalcruz meant, but A1A is the name of the road that follows the Atlantic coastline in Florida. I'm not familiar with the Ft Lauderdale area, but my guess is this is the road that will have the beachfront hotels and condos.

 

Yup! A1A changes names every few miles, so we just call it A1A.

[Ang in Miami]

If you're in Fort Lauderdale for the Holiday Boat Parade, which I believe is typically the second Saturday night in December, that's always something to see. It's actually called the Winterfest Parade. http://www.winterfestparade.com/index.cfm

[terkatz56]

We will be gone by then "Ang in Miami" but thanks for posting, maybe someone else can use the info to go. Is there a website besides sunny.org to tell a person of festivals and such? Maybe chamber of commerce?

Another question, may seem silly but being from Montana we do not have water taxi's...are there many water taxi business' to choose from or is this a city funded program? How many miles of travel are we looking at to go to all these "stops" "lilpootr" mentioned? I guess I am having a bit of a problem envisioning this. Thanks for all your responses people, CC people rock!

[BlueHerons]

If you're in Fort Lauderdale for the Holiday Boat Parade, which I believe is typically the second Saturday night in December, that's always something to see. It's actually called the Winterfest Parade. http://www.winterfestparade.com/index.cfm

 

It was AWFUL last Saturday. Because of the wind and the rain, we had to skip the parade.

[bills blasters]

See if you can get this link to the water taxi to work.

 

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=111808212097114498924.0000011303ce7c1b7f0a1&z=13&om=1

 

There is only one water taxi, but it has many boats that run about every half hour, and they stop at many places along the intercoastal waterway. You can get off and on as you please. It is $13 per person for the entire day. I think it starts about ten a.m. and runs till after ten at night. Maybe later on the weekends. They give a very good sightseeing tour and lots of information along the way. You get to see a lot of the very expensive mansions along the way and plenty of yachts. I have been on it for 4 years now, and never get tired of it.

Not sure where you will be staying, but there are lots of hotels very close to some of the stops. We stayed on 17th street and only had to walk a few blocks to the nearest stop.

If you google water taxi, ft. Lauderdale, you can find out more information.

[terkatz56]

Thanks bills blasters, that was helpful info and I have bookmarked that site to work from.

I am hoping I can convince my sister to stay an extra day in FLL, so we would have have 2 post cruise days to enjoy, before heading back to chilly Montana.