Options in FLL post cruise

[southwardbound]

Our plane departs FLL at 8:45pm. We will be coming back to Miami via Valor earlier that same day. Any ideas for fun things to do in FLL or Miami before we head north? We will have a car.:)

[TrentS]

Well, define "fun"... There are a lot of things you can do, but it's hard without knowing what kind of things you like, but I'll start in Miami and give you a few ideas...

 

Walking around South Beach is always fun and interesting. Ocean Drive has many many sidewalk cafes that offer some of the best people watching on the planet.

 

Drive up through Miami Beach on Collins Avenue through Bal Harbour, Sunny Isles Beach, and Golden Beach into Broward County.

 

If you like shopping Bal Harbour Shops has great upscale shopping... http://www.balharbourshops.com/

 

Aventura Mall is one of the largest mainstream malls in the area... http://www.shopaventuramall.com/

 

Sawgrass Mills is one of the world's largest outlet malls... http://www.sawgrassmillsmall.com/

 

If you like eating ;) the Rascal House in Sunny Isles Beach is a local institution... http://www.rascalhouse.com/rascal_home.html

 

If you want to do some gambling the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino... http://www.seminolehardrockhollywood.com/

 

And Seminole Paradise are 15-20 minutes west of FLL... http://www.seminoleparadise.com/

 

Las Olas Blvd. is a great shopping and dining street just east of downtown Fort Lauderdale... http://www.lasolasboulevard.com/

 

Also in downtown Fort Lauderdale, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts has some great plays and shows... http://www.browardcenter.org/

 

If you're going to be here between December 15 - April 23 the King Tut exhibit will be at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art... http://moafl.com/kingtut/

[southwardbound]

Thanks for the reply. Great ideas to think about. I will put them in my file to discuss with family. Our kids are teens, ages 12-17. A nice safe beach in FLL or Miami (thanks for your imput on South Beach) or some entertainment outdoors would be nice. I guess I like the idea of heading up to FLL so that we have a closer proximity to the airport. I read in another one of your reviews that FLL is not real user friendly. Over spring break should we plan on getting to the airport 2 hours ahead of time?

[TrentS]

Well FLL is just very overcrowded on winter weekends with all the cruise ship passengers plus the normal tourists, but leaving that late at night the big rush should be over. It's at it worst from mid-morning through the afternoon.

 

South Beach is very nice, and safe, as is Fort Lauderdale Beach. If you went on up to Fort Lauderdale go over SE 17th Street and there's a large parking lot opposite Bahia Mar, just past the Sheraton Yankee Clipper. The beach in that area and to the south of there is very nice. There are bathrooms and showers as well.

[southwardbound]

Thanks for the suggestions. We are looking forward to a fun trip and it helps to have some directions as to where would be a safe and fun beach. They are recorded in my file!:)