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.

Not a business, but definitely worth a visit during the holiday season. The family puts in so much…read moretime and effort into their set-up, and all to benefit the local high school. I loved that there were students volunteering! Everyone is friendly and their enthusiasm and effort is evident. Highly recommend you add this to your holiday lights tour!

Lights are up and ready for visitors! 102 Dalmatians, Ginger Bread Land, Hess Trucks, and more!…read moreSanta starts Sun Dec 21 and we'll be there thru Tuesday!

Only a short drive from the Saw Palmetto Natural Area and could not find a designated parking lot…read moreon the North side, but I think it was at another end, so parked on the grass swale and walked inside. Very thick foliage on the sides of the cement paths that were like a serpentine shaded by large pine trees. A billboard had a game to find a bunch of different wildlife including snakes, birds and butterflies. Trying to locate butterflies without success but the main concern was a caution sign for coyotes in the area. Nice area to burn off some calories.

My family and I have enjoyed morning walks here. It's such…read morea clean preserve and the trail is not long. Highly recommend.

Olas the snowman makes an appearance every year over the Christmas period. Apparently he has a…read moredifferent them each year. I came for a look. It was nice to watch people take their Xmas snap shots. Debuted in 2015, he was named Olas as a nod to Las Olas Boulevard and a playful take on Disney's Olaf.

This snowman changes year to year (from its inception in 2015). If you're visiting Fort Lauderdale…read moreBeach, you might as well get your "snow"man ... sandman ... sand snowman photo. Viewing other picture on this post, I like 2025 better than the others. (Posting November 2025) Is Olas amazing ... well, maybe not that ... but with the entire waterfront dressed for Christmas, you should definitely take a picture with Olas too! It is a cute statue!

There isn't very much park, it's only .10 acres. If you don't live in the neighborhood there is no…read moreneed to stop by. Wilton Manors designates this as a pocket park. There isn't even parking. What you will find is a small garden that is one of more than 200 designated National Wildlife Federation as Wildlife Habitats in Wilton Manors. Supposedly there are more than 100 varieties of native wildflowers and other butterfly attracting plants and trees. I didn't see any flowers blooming or any butterflies for that matter. The park had it's name changed from Slash Pine Park to M. E. DePalma Park in 2010. DePalma was recognized by the Wilton Manors City Commission on May 9, 2017 as a Wilton Manors Pioneer. She has served on the planning and zoning board and was instrumental in getting Wilton Manors certified as a Community Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation in 2006. When they renamed the park the city added a walkway and a monument to DePalma was installed. There is also a cute butterfly chair that is nice for taking a picture in. At that time native butterfly attracting plants such as salvia, beauty berry, wild coffee, milkweed, porterweed, pentas and wild lime were added. Since that was 9 years ago it doesn't look the plants are being maintained. The park could use a little TLC.

An Amethyst Hairstreak??? It can't be! And when I got to DePalmi Park it wasn't. It was a enough…read morelook alike of a butterfly but not the elusive, rare and endangered Amethyst. So that is pretty much the story how I came across this lovely little park. It's less than a tenth of an acre, not even the size of a building lot, referenced by the City of Wilton Manors as being a "pocket park." However, it's a really great little park with a distinct focus and dedication toward butterflies. It has plenty of butterfly attracting flowers, ground cover, some slash pine, silver buttonwood and a peaceful butterfly bench upon which to sit along with some other butterfly décor. It's one of these very delightful little patches of greenspace that make a neighborhood a comfortable place to live, and for being just a tenth of an acre park, it's really about the best in that size category that I've come across. Hence, my Five Stars.

I enjoy events where you pay one price for different samples of food and drinks. I've gone to…read moreTastemakers at Mizner Park for several years. The event has changed, but the concept is the same. It has gotten smaller with fewer restaurants participating. A few years ago it changed from two days to one. With fewer restaurants it's not hard to get to every one in an evening. What remains the same is you can purchase a booklet with a list of participating restaurants. You can go to each restaurant for a sample of their food and an alcoholic drink. You can use your Tastemakers booklet to get discounts at participating restaurants for three months, September through November. A little about each restaurant: Dubliner - Food- Shepherd's pie and Guinness mac and cheese. Drink- Guinness and cider. Delicious Shepherds pie and mac and cheese. My favorite of the evening. Kapow - Food- Banh mi Vietnamese sandwich. Drink- Spicy lover - tequila, cucumber, lime, Tabasco. Sweet and spicy. I've had better Banh mi, but it was okay. The drink was very good. Max's Grille - Ahi tuna poke. Drink- Sangria. Food- small plastic cup of ahi tuna. It tasted good and was very tender. Drink- choice of red or white sangria. I got red. It was just okay. Racks - Food- Chicken taco Drink- Ginger my apple which was vodka, ginger, apples, citrus. Good size taco with chicken and other toppings. Food and drink were both very good. Ruth's Chris - Food- Ahi tuna. Drink- Chardonnay. They served a plate with sliced ahi tuna. The tuna was good. The wine was good also. This was the second year they served tuna. Ruth's Chris is a steak house. A few slices of steak or even a hamburger slider would have made more sense then tuna. The food and wine was served away from the restaurant. An employee led me half way around the block to a dark courtyard with no chairs or tables. I think we were the last people served before they ran out. They turned a few people away. Tanzy - Food- Beef short rib with barley. Drink- Norma Jean which was strawberry vodka and strawberry lemonade. They gave out a plate with short rib on a bed of barley. The meat was very tender and had a nice sauce. There was no place to sit, but they had high top tables outside which was okay. Food and drink was delicious. Truluck's - Food- Crab claw. Drink- Poema Cava. Small crab claw not completely cracked, served with a dab of mustard sauce. Tiny serving of wine. My least favorite. Uncle Julio's - Food- Guacamole. Drink- Margarita. Plate of chips with pineapple guacamole. The food was very good. For the drink they served a fruity margarita. I loved the drink. Villagio - Food- Bruschetta. Drink- Bellini. Crispy bread served with a cup of chopped tomatoes. The food was good. The drink was good also. We went to sit at one of their outside tables. One of their employees immediately ran over and apologetically said that management told her not to let Tastemakers people sit there. We found a few chairs nearby and balanced our plate and drink on our laps. What a turn off. I've eaten there several times but I don't think I'll be back. Yard House - Food- Choice of chicken or swordfish taco. Drink- beer. I chose the chicken taco with all the toppings. It was delicious. It was so loaded that I had to eat it with a fork. The half glass of beer was cold and frothy. I enjoyed it. Best and Worst First Place- Dubliner. Second Place- Yard House. My favorite of the night was Dubliner. The food was absolutely delicious. There was plenty of places to sit and enjoy the food and drink. The people who served us went out of their way to be friendly and helpful. Thank you Sean. Worst- Truluck's and Ruth's Chris My choice for worst was Truluck's. They served one small crab claw and a tiny serving of wine. My crab claw wasn't cracked and it was almost impossible to eat. I told Stacy, who was checking people through the line, that my crab claw wasn't cracked. She could have asked someone to help me or offered another crab claw. Instead she did nothing. To their credit it was nice that they had tables and chairs in their courtyard. There were only ten restaurants this year and two of them were serving ahi tuna and two were serving tacos. Yes the tuna and tacos were good, but that didn't make sense. Every participating restaurant should have provided at least a table and preferably a table and chairs. When I asked the people serving for Ruth's Chris where we were supposed to eat i was told that most people had put their plates on an outside windowsill. That's ridiculous. We ate ours in our car. I still like Tastemakers Most of the food and drinks were great. I hope to go again next year.

Tastemakers at Mizner Park was a fantastic event. It was very well planned except for the Ruth's…read moreChris area which was sort of idiotic. They had their booth well away from the restaurant where I'm sure many people didn't think of looking. It was sort of a a half-assed effort that didn't quite cut it. I'm sure many people bought their Tastemakers ticket because they love Ruth's Chris as I do. They were no doubt very disappointed as I was. If you contrast their effort with the effort of the owner of Dubliner and Kapow who went way out of his way to make sure his customers were well satisfied, it was pathetic. Sean did a fantastic job going from table to table to see that everyone had what they needed and were pleased. This type of effort is what builds a relationship with customers. I had a great time at Dubliner and most of the other participants at Tastemakers. Overall it was a fabulous evening. Not too hot, a very pleasant night of great food and drinks.

Small strip mall located on the north side of Commercial, right before you get to A1A if you are…read morecoming from Federal. It has a variety of restaurants, massage place, insurance and doctor's offices, tobacco shop, French bakery, tailor shop and some boutique shops. The stand outs are the Caribbean restaurant Alexsandra's and the sandwich shop Laspada's Hoagies.

Lauderdale by the Sea Sea is such a charming beach town and this strip mall plaza fits right into…read moretheir aesthetic with its pastel colored buildings. Green Turtle Plaza is located on the north side of Commercial Boulevard on the beach side when you cross over the Intracoastal. Businesses in the plaza include La Spada's, the best sub chain in South Florida. The original LaSpada's was also in Lauderdale by the Sea but at a different location south of Commercial Boulevard. They moved to this larger location in 2013. Other businesses here include Frenchy's, a massage place, a dentist and doctor offices, a frame and art store, and an Allstate office. Parking in this plaza is not free. You can park by app or feed the meter. Lauderdale by the Sea took inspiration from the ocean when naming this plaza and the Parrotfish Plaza across the street. My favorite part of this plaza besides LaSpada's is the Green Turtle and Blue Tang sculpture by Laura Fisher Huck (2013) at the entrance. The colorful sculpture has a plaque on it explaining the unique relationship between sea turtles and blue tang fish. The fish give the turtles a kind of bath by eating the algae off their body at cleaning stations throughout the reef. The plaque also reminds me people that the green turtles are a protected species. This sculpture is so pretty and there are several other similar ones around this area of Lauderdale by the Sea adding to the loveliness of this beach town.

I discovered this stunning mural while walking around downtown Ft. Lauderdale. It is on the west…read morefaçade of Broward College across from NSU Art Museum. Rebirth was commissioned by Cirque du Soleil to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Alegría. The mural was created by artist Ernesto Maranje, a Cuban-American artist born in Chicago, Illinois in 1983 and raised in Miami, Florida. He discovered his interest in art at 27 while serving in the Coast Guard. The subjects of his murals focus on flora and fauna, biological evolution, and plant and animal relationships. Maranje has created murals all over the United States and abroad. For the mural Rebirth, Maranje worked with the curators Twenty6North Productions during Fort Lauderdale's Art and Design Week in 2020. The mural was inspired by the Cirque du soleil show Alegría. It depicts a performer dressed as a phoenix with wings outstretched. The mural is meant to convey the unity of plants and animals and the relationship that all living things share. I love the subject and colors and it looks especially nice lit up at night.