Fort Lauderdale Area

The southeast portion of Florida, on the Atlantic coast, surrounding Fort Lauderdale, is a fun place to visit.  It’s one small town after another–it’s hard to tell when you leave one and enter another.

In West Palm Beach, Havana has some of the best Cuban food in south Florida–and the crowds prove it!  Though much of the food is awesome, their cubano is the best I have ever had!

Delray Beach is a great little town.  The main drag is Atlantic Avenue.  Sit on the deck of Rappaport, on the intercoastal waterway, for delicious shrimp or mahi tacos, or Hudson’s, on the same waterway, for a drink while watching for manatees.  Shop at Snappy Turtle for affordable beach bright cashmeres or across the street at C. Orrico for a Lilly Pulitzer popover shirt.

Down the street is  the Colony Hotel, built in 1926.  It still has its original wicker furniture in the lobby, as well as its manually operated elevator–it has been owned by the same family since its inception.

 

The Porch Bar is a terrific place to sit and watch the world go by!

 

Or have a drink on a sofa under a banyan tree at Salt 7.

Head east on Atlantic Avenue to A1A, then north for one of the most scenic drives on the east coast; the next 20 miles will take you by white-capped stretches of turquoise ocean and meticulously manicured waterfront estates.  On this drive, you will pass Southport Raw Bar, which has excellent fresh seafood.

The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens is a quiet and beautiful place to visit.

 

The Wakodahatchee Wetlands has a mile long boardwalk over tropical waterways with cooters (turtles), gators, massive iguanas, heron and spoonbill.  When the weather is unseasonably cold, iguanas fall from the trees to the ground below, appearing to be dead; once the sun warms them, they come back “alive”–watch out!

Before leaving for home, we picked up truly delicious bagels at Brooklyn Water Bagel Company, where the bagels are just as good as they are in New York.

Good food in the Plantation/Weston area are Arepa Pueblo for Colombian/Venezuelan eats; Tin Fish for very good seafood and live music on the patio; and Kristof’s Café for tremendous breakfasts.

The most fun thing we did was to take the new Pompano Beach Water Taxi for a 4-hour ride through all of its route, from Lighthouse Point to Bokampers in Fort Lauderdale.

Upon our return to Lighthouse Point, we took a 5-minute ferry to Cap’s Place for dinner.  You feel like you are on an expedition into another era–and you are.  Built in 1928, it was a rum running operation and speakeasy in the middle of the swamp; since then, a lighthouse, houses and a marina have built up around it.  You now have dinner and drinks in the original old building.

 

Sanibel & Captiva Islands

Sanibel and Captiva Islands are located on the Gulf Coast of Florida.  Both islands are relatively small , laid back and great places to visit.  Sanibel Island is connected to mainland Florida by a short causeway, and Captiva Island is connected to Sanibel Island by a short bridge.

We stayed on East Gulf Drive, which turned out to be a terrific location.  Our rental had a large heated swimming pool just below our balcony, and the Gulf, with its white sandy beach, was just steps beyond the pool.  We also had access to bikes (to navigate the island’s 22 miles of paved trails), stand up paddle boards and kayaks.  And, of course, chairs and towels were also provided.

There are several beaches on Sanibel.  In my opinion, Lighthouse Beach and Bowman’s Beach are the best locations for shelling.  In addition, toward the end of West Gulf Drive, Beach Access #6 has a secluded swath of sand with a jackpot of shells.  It is said that Sanibel is the shell capital of the world as a result of the way the barrier island sits.

 

Tarpon Bay Beach has the prettiest water.  Blind Pass Beach has dangerous undercurrents so you shouldn’t swim there but it is a great place to view the sunset.

 

 

I was told that Sanibel has about 50 restaurants.  Lighthouse Café serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and I can attest to the fact that breakfast is truly delicious–we had our morning meal there several times during our stay!  We had lots of wonderful local seafood.  At Doc Ford’s Rum Bar and Grill, the Yucatan shrimp, in a dressing of butter, garlic, Colombian chilies, cilantro and key lime juice, was awesome, as was the banana leaf snapper!  At Cip’s Place, the fresh catch of the day was pan sautéed with a lobster citrus butter and was really tasty.  Gramma Dot’s, at the marina, had very good Cajun fish and chips, though not the type of chips you might imagine!  We liked the Italian fare at Matzilunas.  Also enjoyed Mad Hatters.   For your ice cream fix, Pinnochio’s Italian Ice Cream hit the spot; the adjoining Geppetto’s had good take-out Italian sandwiches and other tasty treats–suitable for taking to the beach!

 

The J. N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge has a 4.5 mile trail to drive, bike, or hike–you can also canoe along one side of it.  The refuge is part of the largest undeveloped  mangrove ecosystem in the US, and it’s famous for its migratory bird populations–so interesting!

 

 

Captiva is mostly residential, with old homes nestled in trees along the main road.  Andy Rosse Street is the original remnant from the old fishing village–named for a 90 year old fisherman.  There a couple of restaurants–The Mucky Duck serves English pub food with a spectacular view of the Gulf; Key Lime Bistro has live music on the patio;  The Bubble Room is a quirky place with ok food but the orange crunch cake baked by the restaurant is really good!