Excited to be in South Florida, the land of sun and palm trees, Yvonne and I planned to see the Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood areas this past Saturday.
Our drive took us first through the clean and colorful residential area of my old Hollywood neighborhood between US1 and the canals near the beach. This area has improved a lot during the last 10 years and most homes here are remodeled, cleanly painted, with manicured green lawns, not to mention way more expensive than 17 years ago.
The whole city is more modern and the main roads are improved with green medians and nice lights. Live concerts are in the green park area in Young Circle during the weekends. The part of Hollywood Blvd. between Young Circle and the train rails on Dixie Hwy. is full of nice stores, restaurants, bars, outside patios and live music as well.
The beach area of Hollywood is now even busier that I can remember and parking can be a real challenge, especially during weekends. If you go there with a car, you better get in early (I used to ride a bike the 2-3 miles from my home to here).
This Saturday the walking path was full of people and the path for bikes and small four wheel vehicles was hard to keep exclusive. As we could not find parking around noon, when we got there, we came back at night and enjoyed the live band playing, even danced a little. 
The guy dancing with Yvonne must have terrified the kid on his back. His face said volumes after some of the dance moves, as his precarious balance shifted.
We had fun and dancing was great.
High rise buildings are growing in numbers on this beach, as well as the Miami Beach area. Such a nice place to be in!
Yvonne and I also drove by Fort Lauderdale airport and port. The airport has also expanded a lot since I left and the port was full of mega cruise ships in this early April weekend. We stopped for some pictures by a bridge and you can see the cruise ships in the distance.
Our drive later took us to Fort Lauderdale Beach and we admired the patios and restaurants on one side of the street and the beaches across.
To get to Las Olas Boulevard we crossed the magnificent canals with the millionaire’s homes and yachts and my only regret is not having more time to walk or take a boat ride in that area. I will do that for sure next time! Yet, before my chance shows up again I have to recommend that to you. I took one of these rides 10-15 years ago and loved every minute of it. Even more than the same kind of boat rides that they have in Miami, on the ocean.
The boat rides in Fort Lauderdale cruise through the marvelous canals labeled as the “Venice of America”. You will see the homes and yachts of the rich and famous and listen to narrated stories of famous celebrities.
I recommend this site for finding your best options:
http://www.sunny.org/ways-to-play/sightseeing-tours/
We ran into the Cycle Party while driving on Las Olas Boulevard.
Yet, my favorite would be Carrie B cruises or Duck Tours for a 90 minute ride. If I would have a whole day to enjoy I would try the water taxi, which has 12 stops in Fort Lauderdale and 3 stops in Hollywood and for $22 I would be able to hop on and off the boat all day long, seeing all I could see and experiencing all I could experience in the neighborhoods of the rich and the famous.
Better yet, time permitting; I would do one day on the water taxi and another day on the Carrie B cruises.
Las Olas is a great Boulevard to stroll on. The shops, the art galleries and the tempting restaurants with the outside patios are an enjoyment, a treat and a temptation for all your senses.
On Sunday morning we discovered a small street market on Las Olas and could not resist parking the car and walking in, chit chatting with the international vendors and tasting some of the produce. Yvonne walked away with a delicious poppy seed pie that she bought for three of us (we were going to meet Paul, one of our friends later that day).
From downtown Fort Lauderdale our next stop was the Swap Shop. Located west on Sunrise Boulevard, the international and colorful Swap Shop was a place I used to visit often during my seven years in Hollywood, FL Back then there was a free circus going on every Sunday as well.
Besides the smaller parking areas nearby, the Swap Shop area has a huge free parking area across the street, connected through a yellow painted walkway bridge over the street. 
There are vendors selling all kinds of clothes, shoes, watches, jewelry, paintings and foods in the inside air conditioned structure, while outside you will find a lot more vendors. It is hard to think of something that you cannot find here for a bargain price. True, I do not think you will find construction materials or cars or any other huge items but the place has still a wide variety of produce.
One area has fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers next to places with cooked foods and live Hispanic music.
Another area has lots of rides for children and there are many second hand vendors on weekends as well.
Connected to all this is one of the few drive in movie theaters still left in the country.
Yvonne and I enjoyed the walks through the colorful loud place and she mentioned how much she misses these kind of places in St. Augustine, where she lives now, as she feels like she is visiting a foreign country being here.
Today was her Birthday and I am so glad that she had so much fun. As for sugar… we did not go crazy! Her Birthday cake was the perfect size:
We had a special and very enjoyable day and I wish I could return very soon for more. Such a lovely place! I used to live here and see it all day but not to appreciate it as much as now, visiting. The same as now, in Orlando, where lots of people come for vacation. I used to like and desire Orlando more before I moved there. Is it human nature to always desire what is not handy, while not taking advantage of it when we have it in our hand?
