US Travel Guide - Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale Entertainment

Fort Lauderdale is nothing if not entertaining.

From 'thankfully' long-gone days when an unremarkable film called Where the Boys Are skyrocketed the city to collegiate fame, to these simply sunny days when sophisticates have taken over the sands and ousted the undergrads, the city has learned many a lesson about entertainment.

Today, you won't find cavorting students hanging from the lampposts but you will still find the satisfying selection of to-dos that has long drawn sun-seekers. Diversions are wide- ranging, from discos to down-under adventures among the just-offshore reefs, from alligator feedings to riverboat rides through a myriad of canals that have given this seaside city the nickname Venice of the Americas.

Disneyworld and all its offshoot attractions are just a few hours drive away, but most folks do not come to Fort Lauderdale for wild rides - although those are available - and endless lines. Rather, they come here to recover from those and other stresses on more than 20 miles of soft sands that bake in sunshine that is just as reliable in the sludgy, slushy days of February as in the breezy days of May.

Temperatures here rarely reach below 60 and generally stay at a toasty 70-plus; rains may be torrential but they are short-lived; and C-O-L-D is considered a four-letter word. That means that any time of year you can come out to play here and find plenty of ways to do it.

Nature fans head to such spots as Everglades Holiday Park, where strange contraptions known as airboats skim across shallow waters for a look at that vast "river of grass" heralded by authors and closely guarded by environmentalists. Here baby alligators play, deer seek refuge on high spots, birds swoop and squawk and visitors marvel at miles and miles and more miles of tropical trees, greenery and grasses as far as the eye can see.

For a man-made look at the creatures with whom we share the planet, a stop at Lion Country Safari is a not-to-be-missed diversion. Animals of the African veldt roam free while you stay caged in your car as they stare curiously at those strange creatures behind the glass - a nice twist on the zoo scene and an intriguing way to go nose-to-nose with a giraffe.

Those set on having a toe or a whole body immersed in water as often and as long as possible can find no more serene spot on the Gold Coast to do just that. Of course, the beauty of serenity is in the eye of the beholder, so various parts of the citys famed seven-mile strip of uninterrupted sand is staked out by a variety of special interests. There are beach areas favored by families, by alternative-lifestyle folks, by teens and coeds, by tourists and locals, so you are sure to find a crowd that suits your style.

Many are prepared to help you find your diversion du jour, whether it be a rip-roaring ride across the waters on a speeding race craft or a slow sail along the coastline in a sleek sailboat. If you would rather be under the water than atop it, dive shops will sail you off to nearby reefs where rafts of rainbow-hued marine creatures will give you a curious look as you snorkel or scuba through their realm.

If history is your book, the citys small Himmarshee Village area focuses on the past. The citys first hotel sits serenely by the water, and some of its first homes are now on display, or in use as chic riverside restaurants. Star of the history scene is tiny Stranahan House, the antique, New River home of the citys founders: she a teacher, he operating the ferry that was once the only way to cross the river and make your way to Miami.

Farther north, in Palm Beach, the home of railroad entrepreneur Henry Morrison Flagler provides a look at quite the other side of the housing coin with its dozens of gilded, marbled rooms and its towering facade.

In the urbanity that now characterizes the Gold Coast, it is easy to forget that an unusual tribe of runaway Creek Indians from Georgia and the Carolinas were among the first inhabitants here. To learn a little about the Seminoles, whose flight from their own tribe ended in yet another flight from British, Spanish and American usurpers, visit Ah Tah Thi Ki Museum, in the heart of Big Cypress Reservation. One Seminole, a member of the Billie clan, created the Everglades' Billie Swamp Safari. You can paddle a dugout canoe, tune in to a Seminole storyteller or stay overnight in palm-thatched "chickee" huts.

If sports are the diversion of choice, Fort Lauderdale and environs present not dozens but hundreds of golf courses and tennis courts, a bicycle velodrome, a skateboard park and plenty of oceanfront rollerblading space.

Stage, ballet and opera performances take place at a variety of venues throughout the city, with touring Broadway plays going on stage at the showy waterfront Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Just across the street, the Museum of Discovery and Science offers its own kind of theater in a huge-screen IMAX Theater, as well as in a variety of intriguing exhibits, even including a spot thats for children only, off-limits to adults. Theater productions also take place at cozy Parker Playhouse, the citys first full-fledged theater, and touring bands and singers take to the boards at the Sunrise Musical Theater.

Nightclubs, discos, dance spots? Of course. Fort Lauderdale didn't earn its Fort Liquordale nickname for nothing!

Finally, to unite history, water, nature - and to toss in a little dining, singing and comedy thats tame enough for any age or sensibility - a visit to Fort Lauderdale simply must include a lunch or dinner sail aboard the venerable Jungle Queen Riverboat, one of the states oldest attractions. As you float by, homeowners come out on their lawns to wave, proving once again the joys of a small town thats small, but significant.

Marylyn Springer