Life at Latitude 26
You may have been reading this blog for a while, or you might be new -- hi to everyone! -- but I'm pretty sure I haven't shown you around my hometown other than through Tropic of Mom's South Florida photo gallery (aka Wordless Wednesday). Well, good ol' bloggy friend, Carabee, invited me to bore you to tears show off my part of the world with everyone at BlogTrotting, one of her blogs.
Southeastern Florida is basically one big metropolitan area where all the cities and towns bump up right next to one another. I live in Broward County, the second-most densely populated county in the state. The biggest city is Ft. Lauderdale, and depending on the decade, you might associate Ft. Lauderdale as either Where the Boys Are, the location of the Dollhouse in the Motley Crue song Girls Girls Girls (which was wrong -- the Dollhouse was actually in Pompano Beach!), the city that banned 2 Live Crew for obscenity or the pill mill ("pain clinic") capital of the country.
Do I make a great first impression or what?
Actually, living here does have its advantages. There is always something to do. We have several public beaches.
The Intracoastal runs somewhat parallel to the beach, so boating is popular in our area. Every year, the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show is a big deal. So is the annual Winterfest Boat Parade that I desperately want to kayak in just to represent.
Almost everyone here has a boat, even if it's a dinged-up dingy. We are surrounded by canals, some of which eventually lead to the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, Ft. Lauderdale is called the "Venice of America" because of all these canals. You can even get around by Water Taxi.
In addition to the ocean and canals, we have lots of swimming pools. My family also enjoys the water parks run by the county.
A different kind of water -- the River of Grass -- the Everglades takes up the western half of Broward County.
We have lots of museums, including two that kids love: Young at Art and Museum of Discovery and Science (which has an IMAX theater). We don't have a zoo per se (although you can find three nice zoos within an hour's drive), but my family has enjoyed Flamingo Gardens:
and Butterfly World:
For indoor fun, we have North America's largest outlet mall -- Sawgrass Mills -- and rumor has it if you walk the whole thing, you've walked a mile. Inside the mall is Wannado City, a fun children's play area. More children's indoor play areas are popping up all the time. We also have the Florida Panthers ice hockey team (yes! Ice hockey in a place where it never snows! Awesomeness.), whose stadium also enables us to have ice shows.
Besides all that's right here in Broward County, there is even more to do in Miami to the south or Palm Beach to the north. Drive just a bit farther, and you can be in the Florida Keys (south of here) or Orlando (north) with all the theme parks. You can also fly to the Bahamas in an hour or cruise to the Caribbean pretty easily.
These are great perks, which as a South Floridian, you try to remind yourself of when it takes you six hours by car just to get to the state line.
Welp, this is just a slice of life at Latitude 26. If you ever come my way, let me know!
Southeastern Florida is basically one big metropolitan area where all the cities and towns bump up right next to one another. I live in Broward County, the second-most densely populated county in the state. The biggest city is Ft. Lauderdale, and depending on the decade, you might associate Ft. Lauderdale as either Where the Boys Are, the location of the Dollhouse in the Motley Crue song Girls Girls Girls (which was wrong -- the Dollhouse was actually in Pompano Beach!), the city that banned 2 Live Crew for obscenity or the pill mill ("pain clinic") capital of the country.
Do I make a great first impression or what?
Actually, living here does have its advantages. There is always something to do. We have several public beaches.
The Intracoastal runs somewhat parallel to the beach, so boating is popular in our area. Every year, the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show is a big deal. So is the annual Winterfest Boat Parade that I desperately want to kayak in just to represent.
Almost everyone here has a boat, even if it's a dinged-up dingy. We are surrounded by canals, some of which eventually lead to the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, Ft. Lauderdale is called the "Venice of America" because of all these canals. You can even get around by Water Taxi.
In addition to the ocean and canals, we have lots of swimming pools. My family also enjoys the water parks run by the county.
A different kind of water -- the River of Grass -- the Everglades takes up the western half of Broward County.
We have lots of museums, including two that kids love: Young at Art and Museum of Discovery and Science (which has an IMAX theater). We don't have a zoo per se (although you can find three nice zoos within an hour's drive), but my family has enjoyed Flamingo Gardens:
and Butterfly World:
For indoor fun, we have North America's largest outlet mall -- Sawgrass Mills -- and rumor has it if you walk the whole thing, you've walked a mile. Inside the mall is Wannado City, a fun children's play area. More children's indoor play areas are popping up all the time. We also have the Florida Panthers ice hockey team (yes! Ice hockey in a place where it never snows! Awesomeness.), whose stadium also enables us to have ice shows.
Besides all that's right here in Broward County, there is even more to do in Miami to the south or Palm Beach to the north. Drive just a bit farther, and you can be in the Florida Keys (south of here) or Orlando (north) with all the theme parks. You can also fly to the Bahamas in an hour or cruise to the Caribbean pretty easily.
These are great perks, which as a South Floridian, you try to remind yourself of when it takes you six hours by car just to get to the state line.
Welp, this is just a slice of life at Latitude 26. If you ever come my way, let me know!
Labels: fun times, Latitude 26, SoFla landmarks, things to do, travel
posted by Holly at 12:06 AM
13 Comments:
You always have fun pictures and love the beaches and ocean.
Fisherhubby is from Fort Myers. He is grieving over the oil spill. We follow the progress of the oil slick/tar balls and the lack of progress of the clean-up and we shudder.
I've wondered which beach you were near - - - not realizing until now that you are on the east coast.
Still - - - we better pray they get a handle on this, stop the flow, and get the mess cleaned up. If not - - - currents could very well carry this mess right around the tip and to who knows where!
Thanks for showing off your town...is that also the area the Golden Girls lived?
visiting from Blogtrotting!
Hello there and thanks for sharing your part of the world with us. I live in north florida and have actually never been further south (that I was old enough to remember) than Tampa/St. Pete. I think that I might like to go further south if only to enjoy the scenery. Those pictures of the beach and the pools were awesome. Thanks again.
Looks like a fun and kid friendly place to live. I'm envious of the butterfly garden.
You paint a very pretty picture....and you need to stop that at once ;) ;) We don't need anymore people down here, dammit .....just kidding!
And 2 Live Crew ! Hahaha, snort, snort. Just the thought of them makes me laugh.
I have loved seeing all of your pictures over these years. Particularly in the long winter months as we suffered through all of the cold up here in Maryland.
Your tour definitely lives up to the previews. Such a beautiful place with so much to do. One of these years, I will visit!
Thanks so much for being a part of BlogTrotting!
I love South Florida! I don't think I could live there because I sweat too much, but what a wonderful place to visit. I've never been with my kids but I'm thinking they would love the butterfly and flamingo places.
Great tour!
I totally miss living in FL!!! We lived in North Miami Beach for a few years and then in Cooper City for quite awhile before my dad got relocated to CA. I miss the beach...we would go every weekend. The west coast beaches aren't as nice as the east coast ones.
Definitely never a dull moment, is there? I wish we had splash pads like those here!
PS You might want to check your feed from me...you might need to re follow..it's acting funny!
Yeah, okay. I'm officially jealous. I spent about three hours yesterday trying to see which friend of mine was home so I could use a POOL. You have those beaches...oh, the beaches...
This was a great post! I love that you mentioned that we're the "pill mill" capital of the country. When I get off on my exit on 95, the first thing I see is a pain clinic. Sigh. It seems more and more are popping up every day!
And to the person who asked, the Golden Girls lived in Miami, not Ft. Lauderdale.
Sigh --- yet another town in Fl I'd love to visit! Awesome post!
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