Fort Lauderdale in July

Best Things Nearby:
Sawgrass Mills Mall, golf course, Flamingo Park.

Best Things About the Resort:
Immaculate, roomy units, very large swimming pool with waterfall and very large hot tub.

Resort Experience:
Vacation Village at Weston, FL was everything I had expected and more. We had a two-bedroom unit, which consisted of two units with one outer entrance and separate entrances in the entryway. The larger of the two units had a king bed, whirlpool tub, large bathroom with walk-in shower, full kitchen, large screen TV, dining area and living room. The smaller unit had a partial kitchen (no stove), bathroom, bedroom, dining area and living room. Everything was on a smaller scale in this unit. Although both sides had queen sleep sofas, the teenagers who slept on them complained that they were not comfortable. The floors were ceramic tile and very clean, as was everything else in the units. Everything needed was supplied and there was a free midweek cleaning. Each unit had a balcony with lawn chairs. The floor plan is a little too open for my taste. I would prefer a wall between the kitchen and bathroom rather than a door. There was only a partial wall between the master bedroom and the whirlpool tub with an open cut out in it. It had no privacy from the bedroom. The landscaping was beautiful.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Very Good
• Service: Excellent

Shirttail Charlie’s—The waterbus captain had a cute tale to tell us about how Shirttail Charlie’s got its name. The drawbridge was down when we were on the waterbus, so they could not take us to Shirttail Charlie’s and we had to get our car to drive over. The entrance is secluded and you could easily miss it. As you go in, you walk by a swimming pool and a bar. There was a large, friendly (but not intrusive) dog lying in the area in front of the bar. My grandchildren enjoyed petting it on the way out. We sat outside on the deck with a view of the waterway. The grandchildren fed the fish after we finished eating. The food was ok. Nothing really special, but we enjoyed the experience.

John Pennekamp State Park in Key Largo—The trip to Key Largo is by way of a two-lane road that is sometimes called the Overseas Highway. The Highway goes all the way to Key West but we only went to Key Largo, John Pennekamp State Park. We took a glass-bottom boat out to a magnificent coral reef teeming with tropical fish of all colors. The seagrass swayed dreamily beneath the boat and seemed to be magnified by the V-shaped glass bottom. Various shapes and kinds of coral made a fascinating scene.

We went on the 12:15 PM tour and had not eaten lunch beforehand. I have a few suggestions if you plan to go. Call ahead for reservations and be there to pick your tickets up an hour before tour time. If you go on the 12:15 P M tour take your lunch and drinks to eat on the way out to the reef as it takes about 45 minutes. Do not worry about trying to get a good seat when you first get on the boat, because you will not stay in the same seat when you get to the reef. Riding on the front of the boat for the trip out or back is exhilarating with the wind blowing in your face and an occasional salt spray. We could see the different colors in the water—turquoise, dark blue and other variations. Egrets sat on poles and watched us go by.

Billie Swamp Safari—You can spend all day at Billie Swamp Safari if you take advantage of all they have to offer. As you enter the gift shop you can purchase tickets at the back counter. You can look at the few caged animals, birds and snakes without a ticket. If you want to see the snake show, take the airboat ride or the swamp buggy tour you must purchase tickets. The airboat ride takes you across the water into a swamp where you will see alligators, snakes and birds. The motor was so loud that, even though I had earplugs in, my ears were still ringing when I went to bed that night. An airplane motor powers it, so you can imagine the sound. They give you earplugs when you buy your ticket and they furnish ear protectors for the small children.

On the swamp buggy tour you ride through water at several places and see ostriches, wild hogs, deer, raccoons, birds and other wildlife. Our driver pointed out all the different kinds of plants and animals and enlightened us about them. We hiked on trails in the campground and were fascinated by the camping huts that were nothing more than an enclosure with a roof and bunk beds inside. The roofs were made of the palm branches and did not leak.

Butterfly World—Butterfly World is a science research center for studying butterflies. There are viewing windows to watch the people at work as you enter, but do not spend too much time there, as there is much more to see. In the enclosure that houses the butterflies, you will see waterfalls, flowers and plants of the tropical variety and butterflies, butterflies, butterflies of all colors. They fly all around and will occasionally light on you. Another enclosure houses the lorikeets, which are very aggressive. You can buy nectar to feed them but the will light on you whether or not you have food for them. They lit on my son’s neck and licked it and pecked at his moles. Another enclosure is home to the hummingbirds. I did not know there were so many kinds and such beautiful colors. I used more film at this stop than the rest of the trip combined.

Swap Meet and Circus — If you go there with the intention of seeing the circus, be sure to get a schedule and check the times before you go. We went on Tuesday, which was the only day the circus did not perform. Many of the vendors are outside and it was extremely hot the day we went. There is an air-conditioned building that houses more vendors in a much more pleasant environment. The swap meet is BIG and some of the prices are really good. It was a fun day even though we missed the circus.

Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall is billed as the largest Outlet Mall in the world. We spent about six hours there and did not cover half the Mall. The mall is being remodeled now, so there were roped off sections and places where the floors were being redone. Many, if not all the major retailers have stores in this mall. Some of the prices were no better than in their retail stores. We did, however find a few bargains. What can I say — it is a BIG mall.

Water Bus—The water bus fare is only $5 per person and provides a wonderful tour of the waterways. The captain was very informative, telling us about the mansions and yachts that we were seeing--Who had built them, some of the past owners and sometimes who owns them now. We rode the complete A route and only disembarked twice--once at the terminal and once at Las Olas Riverfront. We got off at Las Olas because the drawbridge was down and we wanted to eat at Shirttail Charlie’s. The porter on the water bus told us we could walk across the railroad tracks and Shirttail Charlie’s would send a shuttle boat for us if we would signal them. However, we found out that there is no pickup point for the shuttle boat on the other side of the track and the shuttle does not start until 7 PM. We had a nice walk to the riverfront and then walked back to our car, which was quite a walk as we were parked at stop 12.

If you plan to take the water bus, it would be a good idea to get a brochure and find the parking areas and stops. One of the buses we rode on was air-conditioned, one was not but the windows were open and it was quite nice. At one point we moved to the open back of the boat, but that was not a good idea because we were over the motor and could not hear the narration. I would highly recommend the water bus (or water taxi) as an alternative to the higher priced water tours.