Weekend in Boca!

The occasion for our South Florida weekend was the 90th birthday of my great aunt Elsbeth. Accordingly, we did not do as much touring and exploring as we would normally like, because we spent a lot of time with her and the other family that came down for the big occasion.

We did have one big night out in Delray Beach, replete with live music, dancing, and too much liquor with our friend Max and his local crew. Nightlife is spicy and eclectic. From Las Olas in downtown Ft. Lauderdale to Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach, expect everyone from college kids to hip older couples to bikers.

In between family visits, we made it out to the windy Atlantic. Simply walking the beach is always a highlight. This particular weekend, the beaches had strong currents, so we only dipped in our lil toes and didn't fully swim.

Mmmmmmmmm… food! The cuisine in South Florida is always quite impressive. I love the fresh ingredients and flavorful Cuban and Latin influences. Sophisticated and low-key local restaurants neighbor hundreds of chain places, so you can find new as well as familiar tastes and names.

Quick Tips:

Avoid driving on I95 whenever possible. Not only is it about the ugliest stretch of road I've ever maneuvered, but I wasn't overly impressed with Florida drivers (old and young alike). Plus, with the construction all over the place, I highly suggest taking a parallel local road that hugs the coast and provides a much more pleasant drive. We took A1A mostly, and though it has stoplights and your trip may take slightly longer, we found it worth every extra minute!

Best Way To Get Around:

A car is necessary for navigating the megalopolis that is South Florida. Unless you plan to stay within an extremely small area, get thee an automobile. Convertible if possible!

Once in any of the town centers or downtown areas, walking is best!

The Boca Marriott is perfectly situated for easy driving to any one of many destinations around the area. And it's got anything the short-term or business traveler might want, including good room service and an efficient and responsive staff. A lobby restaurant and bar with giant TVs (we HAD to catch NCAA's "March Madness") are comfortable places to hang out and strike up conversation, or just to sit and enjoy a glass of wine and some solitude.

The rooms are generously proportioned. We had a 10th-floor room facing east, so we had to remember to shut the curtains tight or we'd have been blinded each morning by the rising Florida sun. Our room featured a desk and chair with a two-line phone and modem connector, loveseat and coffee table, king-size bed with end tables, and large armoire with a smallish TV. A large bathroom and small outer sink area was ample space for the two of us to maneuver as well as store our things (including luggage).

A huge selection of movies made up for a small number of TV stations. We caught up on our movie viewing each night before bed.

An outdoor pool and hot tub area has many chaise lounges and chairs for sunning. You can get drinks out there certain times of the day. The small but sufficient indoor gym is a nice touch, and we appreciated its presence, even though we chose food and cocktails over a workout each day of our stay!

And finally, a huge location bonus is an upscale shopping center behind the hotel. Great restaurants, some bars, and nice shops are all very easy walking distance.

Buried in the hectic Las Olas Riverfront near a Sunglass Hut and across from a band shell featuring a Ricky Martin cover band is Max's Grille. Parking is a nightmare and quite expensive, and navigating the shopping/entertainment complex can be harrowing and blinding with all the people and neon.

We entered the cavernous space of Max's already disoriented, and its darkened space with unprecedented din did nothing to re-adjust or relax us. I will say, however, that after staring at the giant lighted fish tank behind the bar for a few minutes, I did mellow a little. But I only stared at the fishies because I could hardly hear my dinner companions! And with one in her eighties and one about to turn ninety, I don't believe they could hear too well, either!

That said, the food was actually quite good. I enjoyed my appetizer, the "short stack" of crab cakes, which was served with a sweet corn salsa of sorts that complemented the crab beautifully. For an entree I had a grilled salmon that I ordered more for its asparagus accompaniment than for the fish. Both were great.

The rest of the table's orders consisted of an chile-rubbed pork chop with spinach, an oriental spicy beef dish in a deep bowl (very good), and a chicken dish here or there.

For the right group, this is a fun place with solid food and an attentive wait staff. Just be wary of the impossible noise and bad acoustical design that allows such a din. My suggestion would be to sit outdoors, although there you're competing with the Ricky Martin wannabes, but at least he takes breaks!

One of the solid restaurant/bars behind the Marriott is Big City. Tall bar tables are set up outside on the patio for a happening happy hour scene in the post-work hours on Thursdays and Fridays. Within the fashionable restaurant space are bustling tables with hip older couples, a handful of families, and mostly a good-looking young Florida crowd.

Margaritas are pretty top-notch, and featured cocktails are all fads that seem to have migrated from NY in past seasons with the retirees: cosmopolitans, apple martinis, and mojitos.

The dishes are pretty typical new American cuisine. They're not fancy, more solid and good. You'll taste a touch of Florida spa influence, with more grilled and citrus-infused dishes than one might find elsewhere, but everything's quite tasty.

On this visit we shared only an appetizer: grilled marinated chicken kebabs over white, gold, red, and blue corn tortilla chips with very fresh salsa and lime. Everything on this dish evidenced the restaurant's commitment to freshness and flavor.

The whole menu cries out to the gourmands and carnivores of the world, as well as the dieters or delicate eaters. So add to that its fun ambience, tasty cocktails, good service, and mid-range prices, and I'd recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Enter City Limits' gate through a small shopping alley off Atlantic Avenue and enter into a large foliate courtyard. You should hear the spirited music from the street, unless there’s something equally energetic going on out on the strip, which is always possible. The bouncers seem to card even those clearly in their thirties, so be prepared with ID if you're under, say, 35. But this means that the place isn't overrun with very young people, which, in my opinion, is one of its many selling points.

The courtyard is long, with ample stage and dance areas, plus plenty of seating for all under the Florida nighttime sky. It’s bordered on one side by the train, which comes through every half hour or so when you notice it. Walls with flowering plants and vines are on the bar’s periphery and make for a really pleasant environment and aroma. The bar is always crowded, but the bartenders are efficient and attentive, so even if it looks like a madhouse, you will place your order quickly and get your drinks before you know it.

This is a fun crowd consisting mostly of people in their mid- to late twenties and early thirties. The group was definitely filled out in the younger and older age categories, too. But this is precisely why I found it to be a fun and incredibly relaxed atmosphere. At any point on the dance floor or at the bar or on the constant short line at the ladies room there would be a club-goer age span of thirty years. Not only that, but there were people dressed to the nines in very sexy slit dresses as well as those of us in jeans, and no one looked the slightest bit out of place.

Drinks were fairly priced and the bartenders had a "good pour," so the mixed drinks had quite a kick. With only a few beers on tap, your brew choices are limited, but there are cans of other brands to fill out the selection. (And yes, I did write "cans," and other drinks come in plastic cups, but remember it is an outdoor patio, so it works.)

The huge live band played all kinds of covers, from energetic Motown classics to "Rapper's Delight"-type early rap and hip-hop, all fun, dance-y stuff—the kinds of songs you hear, squeal, "oh I love this song," and immediately drag someone to the dance floor to dance. It was fun, fun, fun, and best of all, it was without the pretension that makes so many clubs unpleasant places to spend a night.

And spend a night; we did! By the time we closed City Limits down at 2am, the place had thinned out tremendously and we were very grateful for our designated driver!

Jet Blue is a relatively new low-cost air carrier with its own terminal at JFK and direct flights to about a dozen cities, including Oakland, Ft. Lauderdale, and Long Beach, CA, or just smaller cities, such as New Orleans and Seattle. Their edgy and somewhat ridiculous ads had caught my husband's (and my) attention, so when we had occasion to go to Florida for a weekend, we decided to check them out!

Wow!! Just about from start to finish the experience of air travel was dramatically different.

If you've made it to this page, then you're relatively web savvy. The Jet Blue website is easily navigable as well as fresh-looking and stylish. Tickets are easily purchased and information is easy to find and read.

The Jet Blue terminal (I think it's 6) is bright and open. And as flights are thoughtfully scheduled, the wait to check in was speedy as can be without cut corners. The staff is smart, helpful, and efficient. (If the plane is late, it's because of crowding at JFK, not Jet Blue.)

Once through the ample and fast-moving safety checks, the terminal has a few different food options as well as a couple decent gift shops. There's at least one bar but no smoking anywhere.

Jet Blues' new Airbus planes are entirely coach seating, and they're covered in leather, which is both more attractive than usual coach seats and stays cooler. The onboard staff was efficient and smart, with a good collective sense of humor.

Beverage orders are taken with pen and paper and then delivered via a restaurant drink tray. A small snack is served, and as far as I know, they serve no real meals on flights, so bring a sandwich or other manageable picnic. The snack choices were animal crackers, blue potato chips, pretzels, garlic bagel chips (stinky!), or chocolate chip cookies.

HIGHLIGHT? Without question, the aspect of Jet Blue that will bring me back as a frequent customer (aside from great prices) is the individual DIRECT TV (with basic cable stations, though no broadcast) on each seatback. There's at least a channel of interest for anyone: My husband was able to check college basketball scores and also watch "Superfriends" cartoons, while I learned a fabulous leg of lamb recipe on FoodTV and later caught an interview with Joe Torre! Three hours went by in no time.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND JET BLUE!!!