Over Labor Day weekend, me, my hubby, brother and his girlfriend will be coming to Ft. Lauderdale, actually Weston, to celebrate my parents 40th wedding anniversary. My parents just moved to Weston last Fall and we are having a hard time figuring out what we should do for their anniversary.

We have looked into chartering a boat for dinner one night and it was close to $2000.00. We'd love some dinner suggestions, somewhere special. OR should we go to Key Largo or Key Biscayne for the weekend? Are there any great hotels in the FLL/Miami area that are worth spending the money for just a day or two?

Please HELP, none of us know the area, but really want to do something special for my parents, 40 years is a long time!

Thank you!

Have not done this, but you should think about the SeaEscape day trip. Or do South Beach, it so much fun. Youc oould go to Boca Raton to La Veille Maison...have not been, but I heard it was fabulous...will go there for my B-day.

http://www.discoverycruise.com/home/...PC2%20%20.html

looks like fun!

Sam, that does look like fun ! Good show!

Thanks, looked at though is wasn't as much of a "party" ship as SeaEscape. Congrats on your parent's anniversary! Mine celebrated their 50th last year and we sent them on NCL Norwegian Dawn to Fl & Bahamas for theirs, wished we all could've gone, but it wasn't in the budget, they enjoyed tremendously! Have a joyous celebration whatever you decide!

Sorry Judy - just realized you weren't the original poster - your ideas are great too!

Thanks Judy and Sam. Although both ideas look great. We are not really looking for a "party" boat. Since we all live in different parts of the country and are not together that often, we would really like an upscale dinner, hotel, beach, or just something extraordinary to spend some time together. We may just take the FLL water taxi and go to a great, special restaurant...any suggestions in the FLL, West Palm Beach, Miami area? Thanks.

I live half way between Ft Lauderdale Beach and Weston, so maybe I can help you out some.

First of all, do you want to stay out in the Weston area? Or are you looking for a nice hotel closer to the beach area?

If you want to stay closer to the beach, I'd suggest trying to book two rooms via Priceline.com and you can get a really nice hotel at a good discount. Since it will be around a holiday, the rooms might be a little more scarce, but it's worth a try.

If you check out BiddingForTravel.com and look at Florida-Ft. Lauderdale, you'll be able to read posts and see what the winning bids and hotels have been. However, beware that if you bid, you might get a hotel that has not been listed. But you will probably be happy with it. Ft. Lauderdale has been fairly consistent with the winning hotels. Also, remember that rates get higher in December and then into the next year so those winning bids will be much higher than what you can get it for in September due to the hot weather.

I prefer the following zones:
BEACH RESORT (Harbor Beach Marriott directly on the ocean)
BEACH 4* (Hyatt Pier 66, not on the ocean, but directly on the water taxi route)
DOWNTOWN 4* (Renaissance on SE 17 St.)
DOWNTOWN 3* (either the Marina Marriott on the Water Taxi route -or- Embassy Suites just down the street on SE 17th St. that gives a free breakfast buffet)

If you want to stay closer to Weston, you can bid the FT LAUDERDALE WEST 4* zone and receive the Renaissance for close to $50/night.

If Priceline is not the way you want to go and you want to stay in Weston, there are several business-type moderate hotels such as Courtyard Marriott to look into booking.

As far as your dinner plans, there are loads of nice restaurants in the Weston area, mainly because it is an upscale location. The Ark Restaurant in Davie on Stirling Road about a block east of Davie Road has a wonderful buffet and is where we had a nice family 50th Anniversary party for my parents (we were having a large party the next day and wanted a place for about 20 of us to get together.) The buffet is very good, but it is not a super-fancy place, but still very nice for a dinner. You can also order off the menu if you don't want the buffet. Their prime rib is fabulous.

If there are only going to be six of you, you can always ride the water taxi to Las Olas Blvd and have a nice dinner. Shirttail Charlies has good food, as does many of the other restaurants on the New River route.

Sorry this is so long. If you want to email me for any other info, feel free to contact me at [email protected]