Ft. Lauderdale - 4 Days to Play
 

We will be visiting Ft. Lauderdale for the first time at the end of March. Mom, dad, two teens (g/b). Besides the obvious (beach and sun), are there a few &quot;don't miss&quot; attractions we should consider doing? How far are we from the Kennedy Space Center? Spring training fields? Thank you.<BR><BR>

Brenda:<BR><BR>Kennedy Space Center is a significant drive from Ft. Lauderdale (I'd say a 3-4 hr drive). When I lived in Baltimore I remember the sportscaster mentioning Ft. Lauderdale area as their Spring Training base. There is a Marineland in Miami - you might want to check that out. Miami and Ft. Lauderdale are only 30 miles apart. There is also some kind of Parrotland in Miami area too - you might want to check that out. Key Largo's John Pennekamp (80 miles south from Ft. Lauderdale) has a neat glass bottom boat excursion to visit the reefs.

Brenda,<BR>Agree with Stephanie...you need one day at the ball park. Spring training baseball is special. One day on a fishing boat, one day at the hotel pool, one day at the beach.<BR><BR>Have dinner at Mark's in Las Olas to see some beautiful people, Shula's steak house 'cuz it's good and Joe's Stone Crab in South Miami because you just gotta go to Joe's so you can say you've been there.<BR>Where are you staying?

We are staying at the Doubletree Suites - Galleria location. Husband and son want to plan a golf outing one day (or probably a good 1/2 day) so my daughter and I will shop that day.

We recently stayed at the Doubletree in Ft. Lauderdale. The water bus leaves from the hotel (hourly during the week and every 1/2 hour on weekend.) It's a very pleasant ride down the waterways to the Las Olas waterfront (and other stops along the way) and back -- about 1 hour each way. If it's raining, you might consider the science museum which has an IMAX theatre.