Fodor's South Florida 2001
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No matter what your budget or whether it's your first trip or fifteenth, Fodor's Gold Guides get you where you want to go.
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Insider info that's totally up to date. Every year our local experts give you the inside track, showing you all the things to see and do -- from must-see sights to off-the-beaten-path adventures, from shopping to outdoor fun.
Hundreds of hotel and restaurant choices in all price ranges -- from budget-friendly B&Bs to luxury hotels, from casual eateries to the hottest new restaurants, complete with thorough reviews showing what makes each place special.
Smart Travel Tips A to Z section helps you take care of the nitty gritty with essential local contacts and great advice -- from how to take your mountain bike with you to what to do in an emergency.
Full-size, foldout map keeps you on course.
We've compiled a helpful list of guidebooks that complement Fodor's South Florida 2000. To learn more about them, just enter the title in the keyword search box.Fodor's Exploring Florida: An information-rich cultural guide in full color.Fodor's Compass American Guide Florida: A full-color guide, providing in-depth coverage of the history, culture and character of Florida.Fodor's Citypack Miami: A full-color pocket-size guidebook and a full-size color map, all in one sturdy plastic sleeve.
Destination South FloridaConsider the sizzling salsa culture in South Beach and the preppy chic of Palm Beach. The coexistence of these two wildly different styles is just one example of the region's great diversity. The landscape ranges from the coral reefs of the Keys and the amazing water-based prairies of the Everglades to Atlantic-pounded beaches, which stretch from Miami to Palm Beach and on up the Treasure Coast. When you meet the people who call the area home, you encounter a veritable United Nations. Bahamian conch divers, European boutique owners, Cuban cigar rollers, and Yankee blue bloods. Meanwhile, foodies love South Florida. Culinary invention makes headlines at new restaurants, fresh-caught seafood still sings of the sea, and ethnic cuisine -- especially Latin -- spices up menus. The texture of the region richly rewards those who take the time to know it better.
Miami and Miami BeachTo get the most out of Miami and its neighbor, Miami Beach, it helps to be a bit of a hedonist. By day, many local pleasures revolve around water and sunshine, as at the
Venetian Pool, perhaps the most whimsical municipal swimming hole anywhere, complete with gondola moorings and Italian architecture. You can also learn to enjoy life with a Latin rhythm. Practical seminars are are on view daily at Little Havana's
Domino Park, on Southwest 15th Avenue, where Cuban-American retirees spend long afternoons indulging their passion. Forget about joining them, even if you think of yourself as a pretty fair domino player -- these guys will clean your clock. Instead, watch and wait for the subtropical sunset to turn the tempo way up: After nightfall, Miami is playland for party animals. Street musicians rule on
Calle Ocho (Southwest 8th Street), not far from Domino Park. The area around the
Bayside Marketplace offers live music and cuisines of the world until late, as well as til-you-drop-shopping until 11 on weekends.
The EvergladesTo visit the Evergades is to see South Florida as it has been for millennia, since long before the coastal swamps were drained and long before Miami rose a short heron's flight to the east. This wilderness of almost otherworldly beauty stands in perfect, fragile counterpoint to Miami's throbbing Latin energy, offering refuge not only to hundreds of species of plants and animals but also to humans in need of communion with the natural world. On guided day trips, by walkway or boat, you'll see things of ineffable beauty, like snowy egrets feeding among the mangrove trees, in zones where no discernible boundary exists between the sea and the land.
Fort Lauderdale and Broward CountyFort Lauderdale has undergone a renaissance in the past decade. Once the premier spring-break spot to party hearty, the city has been transformed as officials have put the sqeeze on student revelers and massively renovated the downtown and beach areas. In fact the
Fort Lauderdale beachfront is looking better than ever. Yachts are spiffily tied up next to humbler craft at Pier Sixty-Six and along the city's characteristic canals, which edge the backyards along residential streets such as
Gordon Drive. If you're yachtless, not to worry: Grab a water taxi to tour the city's 300 miles of navigable waterways.
Palm Beach and the Treasure CoastPalm Beach was built by -- and exclusively for -- the very wealthy. The stage was set by Whitehall, now the
Henry Morrison Flagler Museum, named after the Standard Oil cofounder and railroad baron, who spared no expense in its construction. During ensuing decades Flagler's trains ferried other plutocrats, who created yet other trophy retreats, and today Rolls-Royces jostle Bentleys for parking spaces on
Worth Avenue. Other towns above and below Palm Beach have their own affluent populations. But even in elegant communities such as Boca Raton, places like
Gumbo Limbo Nature Center let you get away from it all -- and back to nature.
The Florida KeysNo other place in America, much less Florida, resembles the Keys. For starters, the largest portion of the continental United States' only living coral reef is here. Protecting the reef and the fragile ecosystems it supports is of critical concern. Appreciate the reef when you drive the Overseas Highway; it may not be with us forever. The beauty of the Keys would be reason enough to visit. A bonus is the Keys lifestyle. This is where America goes Caribbean. Your wristwatch starts to chafe, and napping at midday feels obligatory (though not much else does). Welcome to the Land That Stress Forgot. As you roll westward, leave the highway now and again to marvel at sun and sea or lay your head in places like
The Moorings on Islamorada, as charming a lodging as you'll find, or the
Hawk's Cay Resort, with its own movie-set appeal. The end of the road, literally, is Key West, a capital of High Quirk and, regrettably to admireres, no longer off the beaten track.
