On Saturday 08/30/24, we took a road trip to the Pompano Beach area to sight see the area. We found…read morerecommendations to see the Hillsboro Lighthouse, Roy L. Rogers Park, and the museum. We love to visit lighthouses when we can and decided to see one this also. At Hillsboro Park, also called Roy L. Rogers Family Park, we came across this small but pretty park and museum and decided to explore. It is a one room museum filled with information about the lighthouse that was built in 1907. You can sign up for boat tours to visit the Lighthouse once a month thru the museum. It is free. Only 8 people can comfortably fit inside, so there is a waitline. But it goes fast. Some people choose to climb up the outside of the Lighthouse at their own risk. Others climb the 175 stairs inside to get to the top. The tours are short and they are once a month. Sign up at the museum. It is an active Lighthouse that still send signals. This is worth seeing close up.

Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse is an easy Five Stars. Growing up in South Florida and being Aquarius I…read morelove lighthouses. This one was one of the first lighthouses I remember as a child. I really miss seeing it now. It's been beatified a lot over the years. The lighthouse was constructed in 1907. It's automated now and flashes every 20 seconds. If you're in the area check it out.

In 1913, Arthur Galt, a Chicago lawyer, bought the property that is now named in his honor along…read morewith 8,000 acres west of the Intracoastal. Galt was the son of the law partner of Hugh Taylor Birch, who once owned most of what is today's Fort Lauderdale Beach. During Florida's Land Boom years in the 1920's, the the Countess of Lauderdale, Gwendolyn Maitland, decided to create a resort to rival Palm Beach in Fort Lauderdale. Her partners in the project included two Lords, a Viscount, an ex-King of Greece fellow aristocratic Palm Beachers, including society's ruling Grande dame, Mrs. E.T Stotesbury.The new resort town, incorporated on November 25, 1925, was called Floranada, a combination "Florida" and "Canada." The cornerstone was laid for Florinada Inn, a golf course was built and a narrow-gauge railroad was ordered. Hurricanes and the Great Depression caused the end of Florida's land boom. The company had sold only a few lots and the money on these was refunded and the land reverted to Galt with no other buyers. In 1927 the last remaining oceanfront public beaches in the city of Fort Lauderdale were declared off limits to blacks, so they used the Ocean Mile, which became known as the black beach. Galt held on and refused to sell his land to just anyone and he turned down an offer for a trailer park. In 1953, Coral Ridge Properties, Inc. formed by James S. Hunt and Stephen Calder purchased a tract of land from Arthur Galt from what is now Fort Lauderdale north from Sunrise Boulevard, between U.S. 1 and the Intracoastal Waterway north to Floranada Road plus the ocean frontage north of Oakland Park Boulevard. The sale was $19.4 million, the largest real estate development deal ever recorded in Florida at the time. Coral Ridge Properties subdivided the land and as sections were developed, they were annexed by the City of Ft. Lauderdale. Soon after hotels and other buildings began popping up. The first building was The Beach Club located where part of the L' Hermitage Condos now stand. The first oceanfront hotel, the four million, 257 room Galt Ocean Mile Hotel opened in 1957. Coral Ridge Properties then built the Ocean Manor, the first high-rise hotel with beach frontage. The Mile developed rapidly as a local and tourist hot spot and sales began to boom with The Fountainhead and The Ocean Summit followed by the Commodore in 1965. Galt Ocean Mile became the premier spot for affluent retirees from the Northeast, the Midwest and Canada who wanted to escape harsh winters and bathe in the sun. Today, the Galt Ocean Mile is lined with high-rise condominiums and luxury dwellings worth millions of dollars. It is prized for its restaurants on the Intracostal Waterway, marinas, and proximity to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The community is considered to have the largest strip of high-rise condominiums in Fort Lauderdale and even has its own road, Galt Ocean Drive, which veers off State Road A1A at Oakland Park Boulevard. Through the years the once elderly population is shifting younger as it becomes attractive for up-and-coming professionals around the country. I like to visit Galt Ocean Mile for the restaurants like Smoke BBQ, shopping, and beach parks.

Stretching for about a mile along the beach is Galt Ocean Mile, a collection of the ugliest high…read morerise building structures ever created. They're mostly creations of the 70's and totally lacking in architectural design. They block any view of the beach and do their best to prevent public access to the beach, which though illegal, they get away with it anyway.

Green Turtle and Blue Tang is another one of the beautiful public art works in…read moreLauderdale-by-the-Sea by artist Laura Fisher Huck. I have always admired this piece at the entrance to Green Turtle Plaza, the home of one of my favorite sub shops, La Spada's. Laura Huck created several pieces for Lauderdale-by-the-Sea including the Coral Reef Arch at the town entryway. Town Manager Connie Hoffman first spotted Huck's work in Nova Scotia where the works were installed in 2002. Huck specialized in outdoor painted sculptures and has developed a process where they do not weather. She ended up designing five colorful sculptures for the city with inspiration drawn from her dives with scuba instructor Rene Bobadilla. Artist Laura Fisher Huck visualized, researched, designed, and then drew the art work. It was then cut and fabricated by a structural engineer. The pieces were made out of aluminum so it would not corrode, coated with zinc oxide primer, and then hand painted with UV protecting acrylic paint. During the last step, six coats of UV protecting epoxy were also applied. Green Turtle and Blue Tang was installed in 2013 and features a green sea turtle, the largest of the hard shelled turtles. They are unique because they are herbivores with a diet consisting of sea grass and algae. Green turtles are found around the world but their numbers have declined as they have been used for their meat and eggs. They have also lost nesting habitat due to coastal development. They are listed as an endangered species. Surrounding the turtle are colorful blue tangs, a fish often seen on Florida's reefs. The blue tangs are giving the turtle a bath by eating the algae off of its shell. In 2021 Lauderdale-by-the-Sea budgeted $200,000 to restore the Laura Fisher Huck sculptures by the beach. Green Turtle and Blue Tang has never looked better. I love the intricacy of this sculpture and it's theme. It's a great reminder to protect endangered sea turtles and keep your garbage off the beach. These and other sea turtles nest on the beach a few feet away March through October.

This by far was the best picnic I have ever been to! The food, the atmosphere, and most of all, ALL…read morethe great Yelpers! I met so many new people at this event and loved it! It wasn't like everyone stayed in their own areas.. Actually everyone moved around, conversed with each other, and got to know one another. Let's start off with the most important ingredient involving a beach party and this is the alcohol! We had Rum & Coke, delicious unique beer, a couple of different Rum Punch-ish Juices and for the very first time I made Fireball Jello Shot and Hawaiian Fire Pudding Shots!! Everyone was enjoying their drink of choice while spending time together! For the food, there was everything from Fried Chicken to Guacamole & Chips, Pin Wheels, Corn & Black Bean Salsa, Croquettes, Salads, Roasted Veggies, Short Ribs, Pulled Pork, and much much more! The Chocolate Stout Cake was amazing that Jeanne baked for the crew and I kid you not.. There was not a crumb left out of the whole cake! Even though the blistering cold winters this SoFL gets at a fringed 68* there were some brave soles (check the page for the videos :)) that plunged into the water to come out to the windy cloudy kind of day we were having but that did not stop them!! Congrats!!! (I was not one as it was far too cold fully clothed :)) So no matter if you are into the "Pinky Plunge" part or not, this event will not let you down and I am already super excited for 2016's Third Annual Pinky Plunge!! **As always it was soo much fun seeing new and familiar faces and being able to hang out in such a relaxed atmosphere! Couldn't have planned and put together a better Saturday Pinky Party for all of us Jeanne! Thank you! :))

What better way to spend a Saturday at the beach, than with old and new friends from Yelp. Thanks…read moreJeanne for this great idea and so glad we caught it on the 2nd year, forever to return. Everyone brought a wide range of great food, drinks beer, wine, and of course charcoal and fluid for a great BBQ with Short Ribs and Sausage. It was a beautiful day, windy, a little cool, but the sun was out all day and we all warmed things up with Samantha's Fireball shots and Pudding shots. It really was fun watching my wife try to scoop the Jello shots out with her tongue. I guess this group is getting to know one another pretty well because she is not one to be watched by 15 people actually doing that. As we waited for the "plunge", we all experienced a great variety of food, from outstanding pulled chicken in BBQ Sauce, Pinwheels, mini sandwiches, guacamole, homemade Hummus, it goes on and on. Charmie even brought all the ingredients for a Peruvian dish. The Vodka punch that Samantha made started me off "nicely", ending the day with Charmie's punch. There were a couple of those Jello and pudding shots in between. Was feeling pretty good. When Blue and Rosario showed up with Pinky it was decision making time. To PLUNGE or not to PLUNGE. I decided that it was more important to take a video of the one's that did plunge, of which there were four. I believe we doubled the amount of plungers from last year, which was two. But,,it was not about the Plunge that made this a great day. Jeanne's idea was just a great theme to bring old and new friends together in a casual, Florida setting on the beach. I really love seeing my friends from Yelp and yesterday enjoyed meeting more friends, two of which are new friends on Yelp.com now. This is the best kind of event; one that is not restricted to a venue by time and space, but one which the end is decided when the last one goes home, where to sit and where to move around allows us to make new friends easier and talk to old friends wherever we want to sit an talk. Just a great day!!! It's ironic that the ones who write reviews about eating establishments in BPB, just created their own BEST, by all the efforts and care that went into the food and drinks we all shared together. Thanks Jeanne for such a creative way to all get together in such a casual way, on the beach with great people who share a common love for food, drink and new friends.

Kudos to the artist . We were near the mural in the small park listening to a free rock band …read more Apparently they have free monthly concerts near the old town mural . Yippy to free concerts and beautiful art .

In 2012 the City of Pompano Beach adopted an ordinance to place public art in the city. Works are…read morechosen by the Public Art Committee and the Old Town Mural is part of the public art program. It's so much fun finding new art popping up in different places in the city. There is a ten year master plan that proposes 27 new pieces of art. Periodically Pompano will list a call for artist submissions on their public arts page and at that time artists can submit their work for consideration for the next project. The Old Town Mural was created by South Florida artist Carlos Gonzalez. He won the competition held by the Public Arts Committee and his design was chosen. The mural is located on an exterior wall in the Old Town section of Pompano located across the street frrom the Pompano Beach Cultural Center. In bright colors, the 98 foot high mural depicts the landmarks and historic sites in Pompano Beach. Scenes include the Pompano Beach pier, the Hillsboro Lighthouse, fruilts and vegetables from when Pompano Beach started out as a farming community, historic buildings, and a Pompano fish. The best time to come and see this mural is during Old Town Untapped, a food arts, and shopping event held on the first Friday of every month. The city planted some flowers in front of the mural and it is the perfect back drop for taking pictures. I really love this mural and am excited to see what the committee approves next.

Great House !!! Swimming pool, on the water, fishing off the porch, boatdock, beautiful landscape…read moregrounds, Rolls-Royce in the carport

Built in 1971, the Moreth House is not a business, it's a private residence and neither it nor its…read moregrounds are open to the public. What it is, is an amazing point of visual design architecture as well as a matter of local flavor. Located next to the extreme northwest corner of Hugh Taylor Birch State Park it actually extends out over the Intracoastal Waterway. Being so unusual and unique, it abounds with all sorts of rumor and gossip. Any young local child will tell you it is the home of the legendary Captain Nemo while some tour guides claim it to have been the "playhouse" of Burt Reynolds while others say it was that of Hugh Heffner; all of which I believe to be hogwash. Some claim it as being a Bill Bigamy design in which every other floorboard is glass to watch the water underneath. The same architect that built 17th street bridge But I think the most credible statement is that of Dan Duckham, the architect who said: "The client was a bachelor and a general contractor who owned a unique lot on a very wide section of the Intracoastal Waterway. The unique part was that a portion of the lot was actually under water as indicated on the legal survey. The design proceeded with the bold assumption that we could actually do it, and amazingly it was approved by the Corp of Engineers. Part of the structure is on dry land but overhangs the seawall and the main living/dining/kitchen is suspended over the water, supported on two large pile caps. Columns and long span concrete beams were formed and poured on the site and lifted in place by crane. The landside part contains the owner's office, Master Bedroom and Guest Bedroom, and is connected by the Foyer. Miraculously, it's still there." But no matter, it's a site of local flavor and architecture not to be missed.

Strip mall located between the bridge and A1A in Lauderdale by the Sea. It has a variety of…read morebusinesses like a greek restaurant, bait and tackle store, hardware store, souvenir t-shirt store, bike shop, dentist, pizza place, etc. You have to pay to park. The Ace hardware store has customer parking in the back, but the Beach King store does not. Cute shopping mall.

This is shopping plaza located on the south side of Commercial Blvd on the beach side of the…read moreIntracoastal. Across the street is a similar looking strip mall called Green Turtle Plaza. Parrot Plaza is home of Chicago Stuffed Pizza Co. which I have bookmarked but have not checked out yet. This plaza also contains Uptown Keese's which is a Greek restaurant, an Ace Hardware store, and a bike shop. My favorite part of this plaza is the Queen Parrotfish sculpture by Laura Fisher Huck (2013) located at the entrance. Laura Fisher Huck also created a green turtle sculpture for the Green Turtle Plaza across the street. On the Queen Parrotfish sculpture there is a plaque that tells you different facts about parrotfish like how their buck teeth scrape off algae and that they change sex several times during their lifetime. The fish in the sculpture is displayed in elk horn coral which is considered to be one one of the most important types of coral on the reef because it grows quickly providing many habits for the creatures that live on the reef. I love finding these beautiful sea life sculptures that add to the beauty and charm of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

Reef Life is a public art mural on the outside of the Pompano Beach Pier Garage. It is located on…read morethe exterior of the southeast stairwell on the Pompano Beach Pier Parking Garage next to the Tourism Center. The City of Pompano Beach commissioned Reef Life from South Florida based street artist and muralist Taylor Smith, AKA DREAMWEAVER. Interesting fact about Taylor Smith is she is left handed. Taylor was born in Oregon and raised near Atlanta. She received her BA in communications and fine art from Georgia College and State University in 2017. She works in the medium of spray paint and if heavily influenced by street art and graffiti and her favorite subject matter is nature. Reef Life covers the five levels of the stairwell of the garage. Inspired by the rich colors and marine life of the South Florida reef, you can see many of the fish and marine mammals in the mural that are making their home a few feet away in the ocean off the beach. In the mural there are dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, jellyfish, sting rays, Sergeant Major and Parrot Fish, the coral reef, and much more. I see a message of ocean conservation in it. It is such a vibrant art piece when you see it in person and it adds beauty to the pier area of Pompano Beach.

Very nice beach. Multiple restaurants and hotels to choose from!…read more The restaurants and hotels range from high end to casual!

Pompano beach has become so beautiful . It is a peaceful place to come visit. The beach is amazing.read more

The one mile T-Rex Trail is a greenway, meaning a linear pathway closed to vehicular traffic where…read moreyou can safely ride a bike, walk, and jog. No you won't finding any menacing dinosaurs like Jurassic Park as you exercise. The trail is named after the T-Rex Corporate Complex (former IBM property) that it runs alongside. On the other side of the trail is a canal. You can access the T-Rex Trail from the Yamato Road Tri-Rail station where it is adjacent to the El Rio Trail. The T-Rex Trail goes from the Yamato Road Tri-Rail station, along Technology Way, under Spanish River Blvd, to Countess DeHoernle Park. During my exploration of the trail I saw a number of cyclists as well as lizards and birds sunning themselves on the banks of the canal. Unfortunately portions were overrun with invasive plants. During periods of heavy rain the trail has a tendency to flood out and portions have been washed out in the past or closed during area construction. When it is fully open the best feature of the trail is the safety it provides cyclists from traffic.

Another great attempt by the City of Boca Raton to provide a useful and cool perk for locals to…read moretravel on foot or bicycle between Yamato Road and Spanish River Boulevard... but it's not perfect. The trail starts on the south end at Countess De Hoernle Park on the south side of Spanish River Boulevard and travels north along the east side of Boca Raton Innovation Campus (formally the T-Rex Commerce Center and originally the IBM Campus which kinda put Boca on the map). The trail is separated from the Commerce Park by a thin run of dense trees and a drainage canal. The trail ends at the Boca Raton Tri-Rail Station to the north (at Yamato Road. The whole trail is roughly 1 mile; not the best for an exercise route but convenient for accessing the Tri-Rail and travel off the roadways and keeping bicycles away from the automobiles (safety is the key here). The only real dilemma is numerous times we attempt to pass through and the bulk of the trail (the entire section along the canal) is closed for one thing or another. I always assume it's related to improvements of the path where it is deteriorated or widening but once the trail reopens each time it appears to be the same as before it opened.