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HALL OF FAME PLACE TO RELIVE YOUR
CHILDHOOD
Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor Restaurant
and Country Store
128 S. Federal Highway, Dania Beach
954/923-4445
If you grew
up in South Florida, stopping at Jaxson’s very well may
bring back childhood memories; after all, the place has been
around for damn near 50 years. The experience begins when
you enter the parking lot and spy the old-timey sign and bright
bulbs illuminating the façade. The smell of popcorn
wafts into your nostrils from a machine out front, where you’ll
surely spend some time waiting in line either to get in or
to reach the takeout window. When you do get inside, the first
thing to greet you is a motley foyer of sweets, including
all-day suckers, licorice whips and those colored buttons
you have to chew off the paper. Antiquated signs and license
plates line the walls, and a straw-boatered fellow may very
well be playing the piano in the corner. If you really want
to feel like a kid, order the infamous Kitchen Sink: Not only
does it come with enough ice cream to feed a football team
and every topping you could think to ask for, it’s actually
served in a kitchen sink, crowned with sparklers and heralded
by a siren as it makes its way to your table.
MIND
BEST BOOKSTORE
Murder on the Beach
273 Pineapple Grove Way, Delray Beach
561/279-7790
www.murderonthebeach.com
In 1996, Joanne Sinchuk opened Florida’s
biggest mystery-book retailer in Miami Beach. This year, she
moved the store to Delray Beach, where she continues to host
loads of signings by local and national mystery writers. Hollywood
author Elaine Viets says Sinchuk persuaded her to write a
South Florida-oriented series, after pointing out that so
many locally set mystery series were written by men. (In May,
Viets released Shop Till You Drop, the first book in
her Dead-End Jobs series.) “[Sinchuk] and her
staff know mysteries,” Viets affirms. “If you tell
her you like to read hard-boiled mysteries or cozies, she’ll
show you eight or 10 books to whet your appetite.”
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BEST USED-BOOK STORE
Brandeis Book Store
9060 Kimberly Blvd., Suite 47, Boca Raton
561/852-2650
Run by a group of volunteers with a stock that is 100 percent
donated, this store raises money for Brandeis University and
its library in Waltham, Mass. In a relatively small space,
the store’s operators have crammed 20,000 books, a large
proportion of them fiction. Prices are $1 and up, depending
on popularity and condition. Every so often, the store sells
items for half price. Call to get on their mailing list for
announcements.
BEST LIBRARY
African-American Research Library and
Cultural Center
2650 Sistrunk Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
954/625-2800
www.broward.org/aarlcc
Open since last October, this architectural
showpiece in the historic black section of Fort Lauderdale
is more than a repository of 75,000 books, documents, artifacts
and related materials focusing on people of African descent.
The 60,000-square-foot space also has an exhibition area for
art, a computer lab, meeting rooms and a 300-seat auditorium.
Only the third such center of its kind in the nation, it’s
regarded by Broward County library director Samuel F. Morrison
as a cultural bridge to celebrate art, dance, theater and
literature. The community regards it as an invaluable asset.
BEST BOOK READINGS
Florida Center for the Book
Broward County Main Library, 100 S. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale
954/357-7404
www.broward.org/library/fcb
Lots of authors read and sign copies of their work at bookstores.
Surely, this is a good thing. But it’s not very creative.
Florida Center for the Book takes readings to a whole new
level. The group is constantly looking for a new twist on
the reading, workshop and seminar formats. In April, for instance,
the Florida Center boarded readers onto a Water Taxi and cruised
the New River while Christine Kling read from her book Surface
Tension, much of which is set on the New River.
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BEST THEATER COMPANY
Sol Theatre Project
1140 N.E. Flagler Drive, Fort Lauderdale
954/525-6555
www.soltheatre.com
Several local companies have more polish than The Sol. In
terms of sheer chutzpah, though, only the Mad Cat Theatre
(formerly known as Imajin) comes close, and that troupe’s
productions have been sporadic at best. But in the past two
years, the Sol has injected some badly needed testosterone
into the local scene with the kind of theater that previously
entailed a trip to Miami-Dade County. The Fort Lauderdale-based
company’s productions, including Marisol, Cat’s
Paw and a radical interpolation of Shakespeare’s
As You Like It, have added an element of risk and excitement
to South Florida theater. Its selections might not always
make for sound economical choices, but these works have effectively
defibrillated a moribund scene.
BEST MUSEUM ADDITION
Norton Museum of Art
1451 S. Olive Ave., West Palm Beach
561/832-5196
www.norton.org
The Norton’s new southwest wing opened in March, increasing
the structure’s size by 75 percent and making the Norton
the largest museum in Florida. Credit the wealthy populace
of Palm Beach, who raised more than $30 million for the construction.
Visitors have five new galleries of Chinese art to explore,
as well as more space filled with European art created before
1870. At a time when cutbacks in state and federal arts-funding
are badly pinching local museums, the ever-stately Norton,
open since 1941, remains gloriously immune.
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BEST MUSEUM
Boca Raton Museum of Art
501 Plaza Real (Mizner Park), Boca Raton
561/392-2500
www.bocamuseum.org
The most vital, outward-reaching and scholarly art museum
in the region takes its cues from charismatic executive director
George S. Bolge. Beyond the array of cutting-edge shows such
as the recent Modern and Contemporary Works: From the Private
Israeli Collections and extensive permanent collections
displayed on second-floor galleries, the museum honors artists
every year in the prestigious Annual All-Florida Juried
Competition and Exhibition, the 52nd edition of which
returns June 18. With curators’ highlight tours, story-time
hours for children, a film-and-video series and a calendar
of social events for donors, this is a cultural entity with
widespread community support. Too bad Bolge can’t be
cloned to head the flailing Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale,
where he used to reign.
BEST ARTS CENTER
Art and Culture Center of Hollywood
1650 Harrison St., Hollywood
954/921-3274
www.artandculturecenter.org
With the young and hip Samantha Salzinger as curator of exhibitions,
the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood has taken on a higher
profile. From the unbridled fun of Pamela Joseph’s multimedia
installation The Sideshow of the Absurd to the nature-based
intellectual grappling in the group show Modus Operandi,
Salzinger’s exhibitions pack a punch. But the center
is more than a showcase for visual art. The recently ended
series Cross Fertilizations presented performances
by the interdisciplinary movement artists known as Capacitor
and Zephyr Dance and the wind quintet Imani Winds. Look for
the space to hold theater classes this summer.
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BEST GALLERY — BROWARD
Florida Collectors Gallery
241 Commercial Blvd., Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
954/772-7650
www.floridacollectors.com
With the demise of Gallery Yes! in Wilton Manors and LaLush
Gallery in Fort Lauderdale last year, local artists have fewer
venues to show their work. Filling that gap is Glenn Lochrie,
a third-generation Fort Lauderdale resident and owner of Florida
Collectors Gallery. His eclectic taste is reflected in the
contemporary Florida artists he carries, from the collectible
landscapes and seascapes of the African-American men and women
known as the Highwaymen to the paintings on wood scraps by
Miami folk-art visionary Purvis Young to the perspective-jostling
views of paradise by Plantation’s Mick Brandenberger.
The gallery recently moved from Las Olas to Commercial Boulevard,
doubling its exhibition space. Look for another expansion
in November and an adjoining sculpture garden in the future.
BEST GALLERY — PALM BEACH
De Graaf Fine Art
195 CityPlace, 477 S. Rosemary Ave., West Palm Beach
561/655-0301
www.degraaffineart.com
Located in the hopping retail-and-restaurant mecca of CityPlace,
De Graaf Fine Art showcases a wide variety of local and international
art. Among the South Floridians with works on display here
are the inventive wood sculptor Philippe Guillerm; mixed-media
artist Chris Yoculan; and figurative and abstract artist Geri
Stunz Konstantin. The gallery also features the Chinese mixed-media
artists the Zhou brothers; Cuban oil painter Alfredo Sosabravo;
and India’s C. Jagdish, who makes whimsical papier-mâché
masks.
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BEST GALLERY-HOPPING EVENT
Third Avenue Art District Gallery Walk
Fort Lauderdale
954/763-8982 or 954/763-4400
On the first Saturday night in February, hop on the free trolley
that visits eight veteran artists’ studios in the shadow
of downtown Fort Lauderdale. Participants include Tin Ly,
Francie Bishop Good, Mary Lou Siefker, Rosanna Saccocio, Madeline
Denaro, Tobey Archer, Wilma Bulkin Siegel and Margi Glavovic
Nothard representing painting, portraiture, photography, printmaking,
metal, and neon sculpture. The artists are on hand, offering
light refreshments and a chance to find out about their creative
processes.
BEST OUTDOOR ART FESTIVAL
West Palm Beach Antique and Collectibles
9067 Southern Blvd. (South Florida Fairgrounds), West Palm
Beach
561/790-5239
www.westpalmbeachantiqueshow.com
Whether you fancy vintage buttons, Mexican masks, tall iron
crosses from France, silver candlesticks, Bakelite jewelry,
Steiff stuffed animals, arts-and-crafts furniture, African
carvings, centuries-old samplers, garden furniture, candelabra
or thousands of other collectible items, head to West Palm
Beach Antiques and Collectibles the first weekend of every
month. Bargain hunters pay $10 to get in on Friday for first
pick (or $12 for a three-day pass). Dealers have more time
to answer questions that day; they also seem more willing
to negotiate. Admission is only $6 on Saturdays and Sundays,
but expect to deal with huge crowds, especially in February,
when the number of on-site dealers increases.
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BEST PLACE FOR CUTTING-EDGE ART
Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary
Art
601 Lake Ave., Lake Worth
561/582-0006
www.palmbeachica.org
Often-inexplicable artwork by the world’s best-known
contemporary artists is presented on the site that once housed
the equally progressive Lannan Foundation art center. One
recent interactive exhibition allowed visitors to touch the
fur of a dead dog. Until this Sunday, the institute is showing
a group photography show, Imperfect Innocence, and
large-scale video installations by Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle
that highlight the architecture of modernist Ludwig Mies van
der Rohe.
BEST RESPONSE TO RELIGIOUS CENSORSHIP
Ronald Rodney
Deerfield Park Elementary School, 650 S.W. Third Ave., Deerfield
Beach
Because a single unidentified Fort Lauderdale Parks and Recreation
employee found art teacher Ronald Rodney’s charcoal drawing
“Pseudo Charity” offensive, it was removed from
an exhibit in April at the city’s Mizell Cultural Center.
The drawing depicts a man who resembles Pope John Paul II,
a bony child and a vulture as a commentary on the inefficacy
of religion to stem world hunger. Following the complaint,
Rodney wisely took down his other 33 works, thus ending the
exhibition. Now, Parks and Recreation officials are consulting
the city’s legal department about an “official policy”
in regard to art. Bureaucrats and lawyers determining acceptable
definitions of art? We can’t wait!
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BEST PRUDES
City of Coral Springs
Coral Springs Center for the Arts
Tri-County Exhibition
When the Broward Art Guild presented its annual Tri-County
Exhibition last September in the lobby gallery of the
Coral Springs Center for the Arts (adjacent to the Coral Springs
Museum of Art), a brouhaha erupted over the nudity portrayed
in some artworks. Artists who had dropped off their pieces
for consideration, including Mark Gierok of West Palm Beach,
were told some wouldn’t even be seen by the judge because
nudity isn’t permitted in the space — a directive
from prudish Coral Springs city officials. Worst of all was
guild director Sue Buzzi’s failure to inform artists
of the policy, though she knew of it beforehand. This year’s
Tri-County Exhibition will be held at ArtServe in Fort
Lauderdale, and artists can submit all the nudes they want.
Buzzi insists the change in venue is due to the re-carpeting
of the gallery in Coral Springs.
BEST COMMUNITY ART PROJECT
“The Everglades”
Coral Springs Museum of Art, 2855 Coral Springs Drive
954/340-5000
www.ci.coral-springs.fl.us/events2/museum
Artists in residence Jan Kolenda and John Foster, who is head
of the ceramics program at Broward Community College in Davie,
conceived of an image depicting the Everglades. Now, they’re
in the process of directing 30 volunteers, from children to
senior citizens, in making the clay for a relief ceramic-tile
mural to adorn an exterior wall of the Coral Springs Museum
of Art. Funded in part by $10,000 from Office Depot and $20,000
from the city of Coral Springs, “The Everglades”
will measure 17 feet high and 54 feet long. To coincide with
the mural, BCC professor David McLean is redesigning the museum’s
pond to resemble an Everglades wetland.
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BEST ART EVENT NO ONE SAW
Paradise City Arts Festival
Broward County Convention Center, 1950 Eisenhower Blvd., Fort
Lauderdale
800/511-9725
www.paradise-city.com
Despite well-attended Paradise City arts festivals in Pennsylvania
and Massachusetts, the Florida version has yet to catch on.
Last December, when the show returned for its second year
at the Broward County Convention Center, the organizers coordinated
tie-in events with the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale to
lure customers, but to little avail. The crowds that were
expected didn’t materialize, perhaps because of the pre-Christmas
scheduling of the weekend event or its being held at the same
time as the Winterfest Boat Parade. Too bad for those who
missed the selection of museum-quality fine art and designer
crafts. They’ll have another chance when the festival
— with 170 choice exhibitors — returns to the convention
center Jan. 23-25, 2004.
BEST SHRINE TO PHOTOGRAPHY AS AN ART
FORM
Palm Beach Photographic Centre
55 N.E. Second Ave., Delray Beach
561/276-9797
www.workshop.org
At this mecca of the picture-taking medium, visitors can travel
the world through the spectacular imagery of superb photographers.
Recent exhibitions include Judy Hoffman’s edgy digital
photos from a center-sponsored trip to Peru and Kerry Stuart
Coppin’s toned black-and-white prints of shots taken
in Senegal, Cuba, Barbados and the United States. Look for
the juried photo exhibition INFOCUS, which opens Thursday
and runs through Aug. 9, and photos from the children’s
FOTOcamps, to be displayed Aug. 16-Sept. 27. The five-day
FOTOfusion festival, Jan. 27-31, 2004, is an educational opportunity
for amateurs, who meet with master photographers for portfolio
reviews. Lectures, workshops, seminars and field trips are
also part of this hotly anticipated annual event.
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BEST SHRINE TO AN ARTIST
Gallery 721
721 Progresso Drive, Fort Lauderdale
954/765-0721
To say that Larry Clemons, the owner of Gallery 721, is obsessed
with urban visionary painter Purvis Young is no overstatement.
In January, he opened a six-week retrospective exhibition
and sale of the lionized Miami artist’s work in Purvis
Young: Art and Real Life, with a portion of sales going
to a local charity. Clemons, an avid collector of Southern
folk art, has perhaps the largest and best private collection
of Young’s works. “I’ve helped Purvis the last
10 years, and he has given me art,” Clemons says. “If
Purvis needs anything, he calls me, whether it’s money,
food, travel or support.” Several times a month, Clemons
drives Young from Miami to the gallery, where the artist has
his own room filled with books and a large-screen TV to watch
sports and documentaries.
BEST CHILDREN’S MUSEUM
Young at Art Children’s Museum
11584 W. State Road 84, Davie
954/424-0085
www.youngatartmuseum.org
Interactive fun is the hallmark of this unique outpost for
small fry. Kids can experience the psychedelic art space known
as Kenny’s Closet, by artist in residence Kenny Scharf,
and entertain themselves in permanent exhibitions such as
Global Village, a re-creation of cultures from around
the world, and Earthworks, a look at the importance
of recycling and protecting the environment. Recent traveling
shows include Good Grief, a tribute to Peanuts
creator Charles M. Schulz, and Not Sold in Stores,
devoted to handmade toys and dolls by children in other countries.
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BEST PLACE TO LOSE YOUR MIND
I-95
The obvious choice: Where else is the worst of South Florida
on display so openly and at all times of day and night than
on I-95? It’s just you, the overcrowded road, the asshole
in front of you who just cut you off and a conglomerate of
other tense people moving at high speeds — except, of
course, when traffic has ground to a halt because an 18-wheeler
jackknifed across three lanes up ahead. It’s no wonder
I-95 engenders so much hostility: the raised fist, the expletives,
the desire to be elsewhere. We can’t help but lose it,
because the conditions don’t lend themselves to anything
else.
BEST PLACE TO PICK UP CITY LINK
Multiple locations and www.citylinkmagazine.com
We love our black boxes, we really do. But when it’s
raining, you’re running late or your favorite corner
location has already been emptied by way-cool people hungering
for the most comprehensive and accurate guide to life in South
Florida, don’t despair, dear reader. We are also available
online and at all Blockbuster, Bally Total Fitness, Albertsons
and 7-Eleven stores throughout Broward and Palm Beach counties.
And if your ever-inquiring mind leads you into a Barnes and
Noble Bookstore, we’re back in the newspaper section,
next to those staid old dailies.
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BODY
BEST PLACE FOR A FIRST KISS
Gold Coast Roller Skating Rink
2604 S. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale
954/523-6783
Since opening 56 years ago, Gold Coast has provided generations
of anxious South Florida teens the ideal place to hold hands
and work their way toward that delicious first kiss. Two silver
disco balls reflect colorful beams of light during the couples’
skate. Owner Harold Wieselthier still hosts the legendary
overnight skates so the kids have plenty of time to get past
their inhibitions — if they don’t fall asleep first.
Wieselthier bought the place in 1980 and proudly points out
that Gold Coast is the oldest skating rink in Florida and
the seventh oldest in the country. He keeps the joint hopping
with school parties, fundraisers, the weekly gospel night
on Mondays and the gay skating party that’s been held
every Tuesday for the past 41 years. The original maple floor
is still in place, and skaters can rent or buy old-school
skates or inlines at prices that’ll take them back a
few years.
BEST PLACE TO SHAKE THAT THANG
Murphy’s Law
300 S.W. First Ave. (Las Olas Riverfront), Fort Lauderdale
954/525-0044
www.themurphyslaw.com
Almost all dancing is a celebration, though for many of us
the gateway to the celebration is alcohol and lots of it.
That point isn’t lost at Murphy’s Law, where drinking
and dancing converge nightly, despite the fact that the Irish
pub doesn’t actually have a dance floor. If not the floor,
then where does one dance, you ask? The bar itself, of course.
With a free shot of booze from the barkeep as the bait, the
Murphy’s crowd is welcome to shake, gyrate and grind
with shameless abandon on a 3-foot-wide rail of wood that
can, under the wrong feet, become more like a high wire than
a dance floor. This drink-for-dance tradeoff is best performed
by women, because not only are women better dancers, but by
the time a guy has put away enough alcohol to free his inhibitions,
he’s way too sloshed to dance on a piece of wood that
small.
::top::
BEST PLACE TO BUY CREAMS, OILS AND PERFUMES
Scrubbing Bubbles
1914 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
954/763-7121
Behind a gold-and-orange-spotted façade with matching
park bench sits a boutique as cute and quirky as its name
suggests. Nestled in the equally offbeat Gateway shopping
center, Scrubbing Bubbles offers fun bath products, from frankincense-and-myrrh
soap cut to order and sold by the slice to duck-shaped bath
confetti that melts in warm water. Perfumes, candles, incense,
earrings, lingerie, cotton hankies, boxer shorts, handmade
note cards, baby clothes, pajamas, bathrobes, packets of laundry
soap and assorted knickknacks cover every wall, table and
shelf. Even the wooden display cabinets are for sale. Owners
Dana Davidoff and Wayne Abernathy obviously know girly girls
love items in attractive packaging like tiny tins and tubes,
decorated envelopes and pretty glass bottles tied with ribbon.
All products are clearly labeled with prices, which are comparable
to those of mall chains, and many goodies come in trial or
travel sizes, so if a girl can’t spend like a diva, she
can at least be queen for a day.
BEST DAY SPA — BROWARD
Contour Day Spa
455 S.W. 78th Ave., Plantation
954/472-7733
www.contourdayspa.com
Contour Day Spa offers the usual menu of massages, facials
and Pilates classes, along with the not-so-usual. How about
a chocolate-raspberry body treatment? A creative gift certificate
for that special someone is Contour’s focus. The Healing
and Nurturing package ($450) includes a seaweed body wrap,
a new haircut and much more. A recipient of the “Today’s
Man” package ($199) gets a pedicure, Swedish massage
and lunch. Or schedule an innovative event like a girl’s
birthday party ($600 for a group of six, ages 8 to 13) for
manicures, mini-pedicures, light makeup, juice drinks, pizza
and birthday cake.
::top::
BEST DAY SPA — PALM BEACH
Skin Apeel Day Spa
21301 Powerline Road, Grove Center No. 215, Boca Raton
561/852-8081
www.skinapeel.com
Skin Apeel takes great pride in pampering its customers, which,
considering the line of work they’re in, beats the hell
out of the alternative. But the fact is it does its job very
well, from the relaxing atmosphere to the purified water chilled
with lemon ice cubes and complimentary snacks. If anyone can
perform a serene chin wax, Skin Apeel’s employees can.
The secret, they say, is a holistic approach that creates
“a peaceful place where you can lose yourself for any
length of time to heal mind, body and soul.” In accordance,
the spa offers myriad treatments, many of them — such
as the Balinese Beauty Ritual ($150 for two hours), Traditional
Thai Massage ($150 for two hours) and Shirodhara Hair and
Scalp Treatment ($75 for 50 minutes) — incorporating
the spa’s Eastern theme. But nothing is more enticing
than the Bamboo Lemoncrush Pedicure ($55 for 50 minutes),
which Skin Apeel’s Web site seductively describes as
a “totally Zen foot-fetish treat.” Now if that ain’t
a happy ending.
BEST COUPLES MASSAGE
Diamante Day Spa
1489 S.E. 17th St. Causeway, Fort Lauderdale
954/763-1212
www.diamantedayspa.com
Known as Cupid’s Hour, the couples massage at the aromatic
Diamante Day Spa nourishes the mutual attraction with a gratifying
Swedish rubdown, the only disappointment of which is that
it doesn’t last longer. This luxurious and rejuvenating
60-plus-minute session begins in the hot tub with an intimate
and relaxing Roman bath. Two masseuses then take the couple
to a candle-lit room with two tables about six feet apart,
where New-Age music and the sound of trickling water set a
soothing mood. From there, the couple escapes as if floating
on soft pillows while they’re kneaded from head to toe,
front and back, by highly skilled practitioners who whisper
when they speak. At the end, they apply a warm compress to
the upper back, and lastly, a warm towel on the whole back.
The cost is $140, and every revitalizing and restorative moment
is worth it.
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BEST YOGA ACADEMY
Yoga Warehouse
508 S.W. Flagler Ave., Fort Lauderdale
954/525-7726
www.yogawarehouse.org
Despite its location near a railroad line, this self-described
“house of om” provides a welcome refuge for the
pursuit of peace, well-being and higher states of consciousness.
The contortions are done in a traditional hatha style that
is adapted to invite beginners while still challenging more-advanced
yogis. Daily 90-minute classes feature a ritual of deep breathing,
stretching, meditation and relaxation. Every Saturday, a sunrise
class is held at 7 a.m. on the beach in Fort Lauderdale, and
that night, the Warehouse hosts a free meditation-and-chanting
workshop that includes a potluck vegetarian dinner.
BEST SWINGERS CLUB
Trapeze II
3660 W. Commercial Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
954/730-8121
www.trapezeclub.com
More than four years after being raided by the Broward County
Sheriff’s Office, the Trapeze II is still swinging. And
swinging back. In February, eight of the 50 or so people who
were arrested for having consensual group sex during the 1999
raid filed federal lawsuits alleging that the BSO caused them
undue stress and humiliation by making their private peccadilloes
public. While the aggrieved parties seek recompense for their
suffering, the Trapeze II continues to fight for its’
customers’ right to share a three-way without worrying
whether the cops are going to come before they do. That small
comfort aside, Trapeze keeps its members coming back with
a bar for taking the edge off, a hot tub for getting familiar
and plenty of soft surfaces for playing touchy-feely. Single
males are permitted but often shunned.
::top::
BEST PLACE TO WORK OUT YOUR AGGRESSIONS
U.S. 1 Fitness
714 S. Federal Highway, Dania Beach
954/921-1486
Now in its 13th year, U.S. 1 Fitness made its way into the
national lexicon in 2001 when one of the suspected Sept. 11
hijackers trained there before later crashing United Airlines
Flight 93 in an open field in Pennsylvania. That brush with
infamy got U.S. 1 into the newspapers and on television, but
it was publicity that owners Bert Rodriguez and Bonnie Canino,
the latter a four-time world boxing and kickboxing champion,
didn’t need. Long before Lebanese-born Ziad Samir Jarrah
trained there, both Rodriguez and Canino had brought U.S.
1 Fitness into the limelight by training professional fighters
and area amateurs, both male and female, in the combative
arts. While the unfortunate twist of fate has added some color
to the club’s history, it hasn’t changed its mission.
Rodriguez and Canino welcome any and all who want to get in
the ring, whether it’s to prepare for an upcoming bout
or to get in shape and blow off steam. Classes are held throughout
the week, and Saturday is sparring day.
BEST VACATION DIET PLAN
A cruise ship
Cruises are well-known for their ongoing lavish displays of
food. Just as one buffet ends, it seems, another begins. This
year, however, cruising vacationers unintentionally discovered
a way to melt pounds away while at sea. Some claimed to have
lost as many as 10 pounds in a week on what we’re calling
the Norwalk Virus Diet Plan. The plan, which involves eating
soup, crackers and Pepto-Bismol and not straying far from
the john, usually begins with an episode of gastrointestinal
illness. In December, 114 of the 1,859 passengers aboard P&O
Cruises’ Oceana, a British vessel operating out
of Port Everglades, were reportedly treated for stomach problems,
while 100 aboard Carnival’s Fascination, which
docked in Miami, as well as Holland America’s Amsterdam
and Disney’s Magic also suffered flu-type outbreaks.
::top::
BEST PARK — BROWARD
Markham Park
16001 W. State Road 84, Sunrise
954/389-20000
www.broward.org/parks
The 666-acre Markham Park opened 30 years ago at the edge
of the Everglades Conservation Area, back when gated communities
and condo complexes weren’t encroaching on the River
of Grass. While urban development now surrounds Markham, the
park still offers sanctuary with a variety of outdoor activities,
including a campground with 86 camping sites that have electricity
and running water and five large picnic shelters, two of which
can hold as many as 120 people. It also features such distinctive
amenities as an observatory for stargazers, a model-airplane
field, a biking trail and an equestrian course and is the
only Broward County park that has a target-shooting range,
which includes lighted skeet-trap fields and a mile-long automated
sporting clays course. The athletically inclined can stay
fit by swimming, biking, playing volleyball or whacking tennis
balls here. Several lakes not only beautify the park but offer
quality freshwater fishing. Two entrances for boaters provide
access to the Everglades.
BEST PARK — PALM BEACH
Okeeheelee Park
7715 Forest Hill Blvd., West Palm Beach
561/966-6600
www.co.palm-beach.fl.us/parks/locations/central/okeeheelee.htm
Spread out over 900 acres, this Palm Beach County-owned park
has a little bit of everything and more than its share of
E’s. Okeeheelee is perhaps best known for its 170 acres
of lakes, which are used for water-skiing (the park hosted
the Southern Regional Championships in 2002), kayaking, fishing,
boating and anything else a person might venture to do in
or on a lake. The grounds also contain a golf course (27 holes),
baseball fields (five), volleyball courts (six), children’s
play areas (five), tennis courts (eight), football/soccer/rugby
fields (five), picnic shelters (40), a BMX track, a nature
center with interpretive trail and, in general, more recreational
space than you are likely ever to require.
::top::
BEST GOLF COURSE
Polo Trace
13481 Hagen Ranch Road, Delray Beach
866/465-3765
www.polotracegolf.com
This pick is a matter of practicality in that Polo Trace is
in Delray Beach, making it more accessible than Emerald Dunes
in West Palm Beach. The rub is both clubs are owned by the
Emerald Dunes Group (along with Cypress Creek in Boynton Beach),
a company familiar with the necessity of spoiling golfers.
The secret, like anything else, is to provide a quality product
while treating those willing to spend $130 a round how they
deserve to be treated, which is to say, like someone spending
$130 a round. (Hint: It’s cheaper out of season.) A traditional
links-style course with rolling hills and low wetlands, Polo
Trace offers a refreshing change of pace to South Florida’s
typical palm-tree-studded, big-water fare. Despite three consecutive
par fives and difficult par threes, the course remains playable
for the Happy Gilmores of the world, of which there are plenty.
Taking a page from golf’s Scottish roots, Polo Trace
is worth playing for the spectacle alone. Pity most golfers
would rather be the spectacle themselves.
BEST PLACE TO PLAY BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Fort Lauderdale South Beach
600 S. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
954/828-5956
www.ci.fort-lauderdale.fl.us/cityparks/south_beach
The sands adjacent to the Yankee Clipper on A1A boast nine
regulation-size beach volleyball courts that are populated
on weekends by amateur players and the occasional professional
tournament. The city courts are raked regularly, and the nets
are repaired quickly if they come undone or begin to sag,
which isn’t often: They’re professional-quality
and kept taut with steel airline cable that’s wrapped
in 4-inch-wide tape on the top and bottom. Picnic areas are
nearby, and court availability is first-come, first-served
except when reserved for touring events.
::top::
BEST PLACE TO CANOE BY THE LIGHT OF
THE SILVERY MOON
West Lake Park
751 Sheridan St., Hollywood
954/926-2410
www.broward.org/parks/pri02300.htm
The full moon shines a little brighter for canoeists at this
350-acre nature refuge, which provides an escape from the
urban sprawl with monthly canoe tours that are lit only by
the light of la luna. The two-hour outing snakes canoeists
along three trails, including one that goes around Horseshoe
Island, where flocks of native birds nest quietly in the trees.
The length of the trip requires rowers to be in good shape
and have an intermediary knowledge of how to navigate their
watercraft, especially in the dark. The tour costs $9 per
person and is typically limited to eight or nine canoes. Registration
is accepted across Sheridan Street at the Anne Kolb Nature
Center, which offers daytime canoeing and kayaking through
the mangroves that spread toward Port Everglades.
BEST PLACE TO WALK ON WATER
John D. MacArthur Beach State Park
10900 State Road 703 (A1A), North Palm Beach
561/624-6950
www.macarthurbeach.org
The tide is never too high for you to walk across the Intracoastal
at this beautiful Palm Beach County park. The wooden boardwalk
stretches a quarter-mile across the water, taking you from
the mainland to the so-called “island in time,”
a pristine section of coastal habitat like that once covering
Southeast Florida. On your way across, check out ghost crabs,
spoonbills, turtles and other forms of wildlife who live in
the shallow waters, or even a kayaker or two who has taken
advantage of the park’s rental services. Enjoy the shade
of the mangroves right before you saunter down the ramp to
hit the cool, blue waters of the Atlantic. If a quarter-mile
is too far for you to walk, an electric tram service runs
every 15 minutes. The park’s other attractions include
a nature center, picnic pavilions, a playground, a butterfly
garden, vending machines, clean-as-hell bathrooms and live
music after dark during every full moon.
::top::
BEST PLACE TO RIDE A BIKE
Palm Beach Bike Path
Coconut Row and Ocean Boulevard, Palm Beach
You might not be able to afford to live in Palm Beach, but
you can ride a bike there. And what a rich and rewarding ride
it is. The opulent 5-mile path runs past mansions on Coconut
Row that face the Intracoastal. Circle east to Ocean Boulevard
and you’ll find more mansions facing the Atlantic. This
is a bike path built for leisure, not speed, but with so many
gaudy palaces to gawk at, it’s not something you want
to hurry through anyway. Many of the hotels on the island
rent bikes, so you can save yourself the hassle of bringing
your own.
BEST PARK TO RUN, RIDE, ROLL, WALK AND
FLIP
Brian Piccolo Park
9501 Sheridan St., Cooper City
954/437-2600
www.broward.org/parks/pri01000.htm
With tracks and courses for runners, bikers,
skateboarders and Rollerbladers, Brian Piccolo is the picture
of constant movement, all of it vigorous, some of it requiring
protective headgear. Joggers and recreational cyclists stay
fit on three paths that range from 1 to 2 miles in length.
Serious cyclists riding strictly for speed work out at the
333.3-meter, high-banked track at the Velodrome, which also
has a 200-meter track for inline skaters. Noncompetitive bladers
can freewheel it at Piccolo’s skate park, where extreme
skateboarders (and BMX bikers, on Tuesdays) risk cracking
their headgear by swooping their rides off one of the ramps.
Brian Piccolo also has 12 clay tennis courts, two lighted
basketball courts, three soccer/football fields, two cricket
grounds, four softball fields, six racquetball courts and
a fishing pond for people who prefer to remain stationary.
::top::
BEST PLACE TO SKI WITHOUT A BOAT
Ski Rixen at Quiet Waters Park
401 S. Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach
954/429-0215
www.broward.org/parks/pri01800.htm
No boats, hassles or choppy water is the lure for wakeboarders
and skiers at the Ski Rixen. The only system of its kind in
South Florida (there are 79 worldwide, mostly in Germany),
the Rixen is a large-scale pulley system that allows a water-sports
daredevil to hook his board to a cable that pulls him along
a glassy lake. The looming mechanical structure adds to an
already unique list of water-related activities at the 430-acre
Quiet Waters Park, which also has a freshwater beach, fishing
holes and the children’s water playground Splash Adventure.
Board and ski rentals are available at the Ski Rixen, which
hosts annual Cable Wakeboard Tour national competitions.
BEST PLACE TO BURN RUBBER
Moroso Motorsports Park
17047 Beeline Highway, Palm Beach Gardens
561/622-1400
If you’re over 18 and feel the need for speed, then put
the petal to the metal and engage in any other racing clichés
you can think of. From 6 to 11 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays,
drivers can test their skills and their cars on Moroso’s
quarter-mile drag strip without having to worry about getting
a ticket. Enjoy an evening of friendly racing, a time run
or the settling of a grudge. It cost $15 to race and $10 to
watch.
::top::
BEST PLACE TO ICE-SKATE
Incredible Ice
3299 Sportsplex Drive, Coral Springs
954/341-9956
The mecca (if we may use that word freely in these terrifying
times) for all things skating is located, according to the
Incredible Ice Web site, “just 12 miles northwest of
Fort Lauderdale.” That’s not as close as it sounds,
considering the only freeway that runs through Coral Springs
is the Sawgrass Expressway. No mecca, however, can ever be
too far out of the way, and that holds true for this one.
Casual skaters, hockey players and figure skaters have no
trouble driving to the 75,000-square-foot facility, which
has two full-size rinks, a fitness club, a pro shop that sells
equipment and accessories, five party rooms and the Breakaway
Bar and Grill.
BEST PLACE TO GO SKINNY-DIPPING
Spanish River Park
3001 N. Ocean Blvd. (A1A), Boca Raton
561/393-7815
www.ci.boca-raton.fl.us/parks/Spanishriver.cfm
First a caveat: Skinny-dipping is illegal in
Palm Beach County. Even so, many a beachgoer continues to
strip down and wade into the moonlit waters off this slice
of pristine beachfront. What makes this beach more enticing
than others in the county is its laid-back and not-too-crowded
atmosphere. Best of all, this beach doesn’t sit in the
shadow of any skyscraping condominium.
BEST PLACE FOR A MOONLIT WALK
See above.
::top::
SPIRIT
BEST PLACE TO BUY A DOZEN ROSES
Field of Flowers
5101 S. University Drive, Davie
954/680-6888;
2562 N. University Drive, Coral Springs
954/680-2406
www.fieldofflowers.com
The ultimate, can’t-go-wrong gift for any woman is 12
perfect roses. At this floral emporium, they come in 20 different
shades — depending on season and availability —
including yellow, pink, peach, white, purple and two-tone
varieties such as yellow with orange tips. Red, the best-selling
color, is always in stock. Long-stemmed reds in a grower’s
bunch sell for $13.50 a dozen, while any other color costs
$12.75. In a basket with greenery and caspia, a dozen medium-stemmed
roses go for $44.50, and a vase of the long-stemmed flowers
with eucalyptus and a bow costs $55. Whatever dozen you choose,
the roses are guaranteed by Field of Flowers to last five
aromatic days.
BEST PLACE TO BUY TWO DOZEN ROSES
King’s Gourmet Market
1900 N. Military Trail, Boca Raton
561/395-3898
King’s has previously been recognized on these pages
as the best place for gluttons to purchase lunch. Recognizing
the gourmet grocery in a new category should by no means suggest
that one of its mattress-size sandwiches couldn’t still
feed the cast of Under the Rainbow. Instead, this should
be seen as another notch in the belt for a store that does
equal justice to quantity and quality. The roses are kept
in a prominent display near the store’s entrance, packaged
with full stems intact and sold for a mere $15.99. For that
price — and the certain gratitude it will buy —
you can’t afford not to purchase them.
::top::
BEST PLACE TO PROPOSE MARRIAGE, MILITARY
Mayport Naval Air Station in Jacksonville
Technically, Mayport is out of our circulation area. But since
it’s the last place for American soldiers to make what
could be a final embrace with a potential spouse before being
shipped to a war zone, we made an exception in this case.
For South Florida military people and their lovers, Mayport
is where couples declare the depth of their commitment. If
you want to be with your sailor till death do you part, this
is the place to say so.
BEST PLACE TO PROPOSE MARRIAGE, CIVILIAN
— BROWARD
Bonnet House
900 N. Birch Road, Fort Lauderdale
954/563-5393, ext. 137
www.bonnethouse.com
Swans mate for life. And you can watch them swimming, sleeping,
grooming and savoring each other’s company in the quiet
enclaves of the Bonnet House, a mansion near the sea in Fort
Lauderdale. With 35 acres of pine forest and lawn to explore,
this is a romantic place with many secret corners for kissing
and pledging eternal love. Walk to the compound’s far
end, around the lake and past the bridge, to be alone with
your sweetheart. Speak the magic words, then plan your wedding
on the exquisite grounds.
::top::
BEST PLACE TO PROPOSE MARRIAGE, CIVILIAN
— PALM BEACH
Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse
500 Captain Armour’s Way (Lighthouse Park), Jupiter
561/747-8380
As legend has it, in February 1898, Harry DuBois led his date
Susan Sanders up 105 steps to the top of the Jupiter Inlet
Lighthouse, where he proposed marriage from a perch that once
offered the best view of Palm Beach County. The adjoining
shoreline has been radically altered by development since
Harry pledged his eternal devotion to Susan, but the Lighthouse
is still standing for couples ready and willing to make that
great and scary leap of faith. The steep and circuitous climb
to matrimonial promise can be made any Wednesday through Saturday
when tours are offered, or on Valentine’s Day, when the
Loxahatchee River Historical Society opens the lighthouse
for its Toast at the Top event. Couples who become engaged
or who renew their vows on Valentine’s Day receive a
long-stemmed rose, a digital photo of the moment, a box of
chocolates and a glass of champagne. There are rules, however:
To ensure firm footing, sandals are prohibited. Because the
lighthouse is on U.S. Coast Guard property, a docent must
be present. And no one less than 4 feet tall is allowed. The
most important rule, of course, is don’t propose unless
you’re really, really sure the question will be answered
in the affirmative, because the walk down could be a lot longer
than the walk up.
BEST PLACE FOR A QUICKY MARRIAGE
Vows, A Wedding Establishment
9170 W. State Road 84, Davie
954/472-1186
All you need is a marriage license from the county to tie
the noose — sorry, the knot — of eternal commitment
at Vows. Located just a tossed wedding bouquet from Uncle
Funny’s Comedy Club and the Kabooms entertainment center,
Vows can carry out the ceremony in one of two locations: at
the drive-through window or the 75-seat on-site chapel. Not
only will your wedding be fast, it’ll be cheap. To get
married driving through the Tunnel of Love (which isn’t
actually a tunnel) costs $100 on weekends, $50 during the
week. An inside job at the chapel will set you and the betrothed
back up to $2,695. Bring your own rice.
::top::
BEST PLACE TO BREAK UP
Himmarshee Village
Southwest Second Street, Fort Lauderdale
www.downtownhimmarshee.com
Once you’ve either said or heard, “Sorry, this isn’t
working out,” there’s no point in wallowing over
the failings of your former mate. The Himmarshee district
gives the newly unattached the ideal setting for moving on
to someone new, with Friday night the best time to cut bait
and cast the next line. Scores of on-the-make singles teem
from bar to bar, all within a city block. And best of all,
the variety of them creates a diversity of fresh options:
the my-baby-done-left-me blues-rock of The Poor House; the
ear-splitting-do-you-come-here-often crush of Rush Street;
the now-there’s-someone-who’s-casually-elegant glow
of Himmarshee Sidebar; the dressed-down-take-it-or-leave-it-grunge
of Tavern 213; and the don’t-speak-let’s-dance escapism
of Venú, among others. Some of the bars are open until
4 a.m., leaving plenty of time to begin again with someone
who’s nothing like that last loser you dumped or were
dumped by.
::top::
BEST BEACHSIDE PARK FOR A PICNIC
Hugh Taylor Birch State Park
3109 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
954/564-4521
www.dep.state.fl.us/parks/district5/hughtaylorbirch
Wedged between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway,
Birch State Park sits on the sort of high-priced real estate
that developers would bribe city officials to get at. They’re
too late, thanks to Hugh Taylor, who donated the 180-acre
Birch State parcel to the state in the 1940s to protect it
from builders. The result is a stretch of beachfront property
that, aside from the paved pathways, playgrounds and picnic
pavilions, looks and feels very much as it did before the
park opened in 1949. Picnickers who want to throw a shindig
can rent one of three pavilions for $63.60 a day. But there
are plenty of less formal, well-shaded spaces — with
waterside views of the Intracoastal — for laying down
a blanket and breaking bread.
BEST PLACE TO BIRD-WATCH
Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge
10216 Lee Road, Boynton Beach
561/734-8303
http://loxahatchee.fws.gov
Loxahatchee was created in 1951 through the Migratory Bird
Conservation Act, so it stands to reason that this would be
the best place to observe the majesty of feathered flight.
Located on the northern edge of the Everglades six miles west
of Boynton Beach, Loxahatchee’s 147,000 acres provide
nesting ground for great blue heron, little blue heron, black-crowned
night heron, anhinga, wood storks, white ibis, great egrets,
cattle egrets and snowy egrets. The high season is the winter
months, when northerners, including migratory waterfowl and
singing passerines, flock toward Loxahatchee’s watery
beds.
::top::
BEST PLACE TO PEOPLE-WATCH
Broward Mall
8000 W. Broward Blvd., Plantation
954/473-8100
www.browardmall.com
Some ideas are so perfect you wonder why someone didn’t
think of them sooner. Take for instance, the inside sitting
areas at Broward Mall near Burdines, Dillard’s and the
food court. Each of the three rest stops is set in a circle
under a skylight and furnished with contemporary, two-toned
chairs that are comfortable and tasteful-enough to improve
most family living rooms. The only thing missing is the television.
But who needs TV when scores of people, many weighted with
bored spouses and oversize shopping bags, parade past through
the mall all day long? And with the sun pouring in through
the ceiling, people-watchers can even work on their tans.
BEST PLACE TO GET AWAY FROM PEOPLE
A Florida Marlins game
Pro Player Stadium, 2267 Dan Marino Blvd., Miami
305/623-6100
http://florida.marlins.mlb.com
Need a little fresh air and a place to stretch your legs?
A getaway from solving problems and having to talk to anyone?
Well, friend, a Florida Marlins baseball game at Pro Player
Stadium is your ticket to creating some space between you
and the next guy. With vast parcels of seating to choose from
at the oversize Pro (especially during midweek afternoon games),
there’s no better place to get some peace and quiet.
Feel free to hang your feet over the empty seat in the row
in front of you. Toss your raincoat over the seats to either
side. Stand up, because no one is behind you. Dance wildly
to the music played between innings. See how far you can toss
your hot dog wrapper without hitting anyone. Drink beer and
belch. Sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” in any
key you like. Take a nap. Read a book. Sit through three cracked
bats, four pitching changes and 14 foul balls in the bottom
of the eighth. Move to a seat behind the dugouts in the top
of the ninth because everyone else has gone home. Watch the
on-deck hitter spit. When the game ends, return to your regular
life.
::top::
BEST HEAD SHOP
Peace Pipe
4808 N. Dixie Highway, Fort Lauderdale
954/267-9005
The head trip at Peace Pipe is sorting through the massive
quantities of mind-bending pipes that take up about one-third
of the shelf space at this recently expanded shop. Owner Matt
Moore and his Deadhead-style dad, Jerry, specialize in psychedelic,
heat-resistant glass water pipes whose shapes and colors curl
and swirl like the smoke that blows through them. For the
more discreet smoker, the store sells pocket-size wooden pipes,
metal cigarette cases and nicely designed stash bags. Plenty
of accessories also are for sale, including lava lamps, about
100 kinds of incense and several racks of black T-shirts and
ladies’ tank tops stenciled with biker, rocker and doper
images.
BEST NEW-AGE STORE
The Goddess Store
2017 Harrison St., Hollywood
954/929-2369
www.goddessstore.com
A treat for the senses with soft music, incense and colorfully
lush scarves, The Goddess Store carries aromatherapy products,
CDs, cute specialty gifts and, of course, goddesses (and even
a few gods). The selection of goddess statues spans many cultures
and media such as metal and stone. Classes — including
sessions on belly dancing, flamenco and women’s self-defense,
plus regular drum and dance circles — are held in a generous
space at the back of the store. This is also the place to
go if you happen to be looking for a spangly-sparkly belly-dancing
outfit.
::top::
BEST BEACH PARKING
South Beach Public Parking Lot
600 S. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
954/828-5956
www.ci.fort-lauderdale.fl.us/cityparks/south_beach
The best deal in beach parking is reserved exclusively for
Fort Lauderdale residents. While it costs $6 for “other
people” to park in this lot before 6 p.m. or $3 after
6 p.m., residents must pay a mere dollar any time, for the
entire day. All you need is a Resident Reduced Rate Parking
Card (valid for two years), which costs only $3.18. It can
be purchased with proof of residence (in the form of a utility
or cable bill) at the Parking Services Division at 290 N.E.
Third Ave. The parking lot has plenty of spaces, and tree-covered
picnic tables, sports courts and bathrooms dot the beach.
The lot is within walking distance of many restaurants, bars
and swimwear stores.
BEST DAY TRIP
Big Cypress Gallery
52388 Tamiami Trail, Ochopee
888/999-9113
www.clydebutcher.com
The works of famed Everglades photographer Clyde Butcher can
occasionally be viewed at various galleries and museums locally,
but what better place to see photos of nature than in the
environment in which they were taken? Butcher’s gallery
sits between Naples and Miami on the Tamiami Trail, which,
for anyone who doesn’t know, means it’s in the middle
of a nature preserve. His small building is nestled in dense
woods, which suits Butcher fine, since he spends most of his
life entrenched in muck and swamp, waiting for the perfect
moment to snap a picture with his large-format box camera.
The results of his patience cover the walls of his gallery,
in some cases literally, since he is capable of printing photos
large enough to step into. At certain times of the year, the
photographer even hosts “Muck-Abouts” into the swamp,
taking visitors into the habitat he so dutifully captures
on film.
::top::
BEST SECRET GARDEN
The Society of the Four Arts
2 Four Arts Plaza, Palm Beach
561/655-7227
www.fourarts.org
Yeah, Palm Beach is one of the toniest places on Earth, but
one of the richest experiences you can have here is absolutely
free. The gardens adjacent to the very posh cultural center
was created in 1938 by the Garden Club of Palm Beach and displays
a diversity of tropical plants. Much of the space is shaded
and has a well-maintained, overgrown look. This is a great
place to hide from the world. The grounds boast several reflecting
ponds, a beautiful Oriental arch, a dry wishing well and a
coral walkway carpeted by moss. Food and drinks are not allowed,
so leave the picnic basket at home. But if you have an appetite
for serenity, nature and beauty, this is the place.
BEST ARTISTIC DONATION
Empty Bowls
Fire and Mud Ceramics, 134 N.E. First Ave., Hallandale Beach
954/455-3099
www.fireandmud.com
In April, Fire and Mud owners Erik Evans and Sara Gold made,
from scratch, 200 ceramic bowls to be filled with soup and
sold for $15 each in Interfaith Empty Bowls dinners at the
Unitarian Universalist Church in Oakland Park and the Sunshine
Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale, in order to benefit the hungry.
The studio owners were so modestly paid by the churches that
their costs weren’t even covered. Still, they donated
larger decorative bowls for a silent auction at the event
to raise more money for the Cooperative Feeding Program. “I’d
do it again,” Evans says, “because of the opportunity
to be part of something bigger than us.” That’s
not all: He and Gold have donated their handmade art plates
to the Great Plate Affair, a spring benefit at the Coral Springs
Museum of Art, for the past two years.
::top::
BEST HUNGER-RELIEF EVENT
Daily Bread Food Bank Thanksgiving Marathon
WZTA (94.9-FM) and Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World
www.dailybread.org
For the past seven years, radio hosts Paul Castronovo and
Young Ron Brewer, along with various sidekicks, celebrities
and fans, have held a marathon on-air fundraiser to support
the Daily Bread Food Bank and the hundreds of agencies that
rely on it to help feed the hungry in our area. This year,
the gang returned to Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, where for
52 straight hours the week of Thanksgiving (from 6 a.m. Monday
until 10 a.m. Wednesday), they broadcast live and threatened,
demanded, pleaded with and otherwise inspired their listeners
to contribute 869,000 pounds — no, that is not a typo
— of food. According to the station, this year’s
total of 432.5 tons of food is a record for the largest amount
of food donated in any single event in the United States.
The impact of the marathon extends far beyond the event itself.
Taking the issue of hunger to their listeners at a time when
all were focused on giving thanks for the goodness in our
own lives, Castronovo and Brewer offered a powerful incentive
and call to action. Start stocking up on canned goods for
the next drive now.
BEST PLACE TO DONATE YOUR TIME
Wildlife Care Center
3200 S.W. Fourth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
954/524-4302
www.wildcare.org
The Wildlife Care Center’s mission is to rescue, rehabilitate
and release native wildlife that has been harmed or displaced.
A typical day may see rescues and deliveries of everything
from opossums to armadillos to red-shouldered hawks to sandhill
cranes. It also cares for and puts up for adoption domestic
animals that have been abandoned or injured and brought there.
The biggest challenge comes during baby season, from March
through September, when the center often cares for as many
as 300 infant animals every day; most of these are birds,
and many require hand-feeding. The center also needs volunteers
for on-site animal care, pickups and rescues. With native
habitat steadily decreasing, its mission to save our endangered
wildlife becomes even more critical with each passing day.
::top::
BEST FAUX KEY WEST EXPERIENCE
Around the World Art Village and Café
703 Fern St., West Palm Beach
561/835-4278
Right up the street from the packaged, upscale chic of CityPlace
sits a charming throwback to the original, relaxed Florida.
In three 1920s-era Key West-style peach and aqua cottages
on a half-acre spread, Around the World houses five separate
art galleries and an eclectic, friendly café serving
everything from salmon and grilled chicken shish kebabs to
bacon cheeseburgers. But most of all, this is a place to relish
a funky, laid-back environment filled with good cheer and
artwork from around the world. It’s open only Thursdays
through Sundays, with live music on Friday and Saturday nights
performed by an R&B-flavored pop musician named M.R.T.
Williams. And in true Key West fashion, the whole shebang
is presided over by a quasi-eccentric, motor mouth entrepreneur,
self-promoter and bug-killing inventor named John C. Jackson.
He has spent $500,000 of his get-rich-quick bonanza purchasing
and restoring the quaint buildings that make up his dream
arts village. You shouldn’t miss it.
 BEST
PUBLIC ART
Sculpture by Robert Stoetzer at Fort
Lauderdale City Hall, 100 N. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale
::top::
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