Fort Lauderdale: Shopping and Dining in the Sun

Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is a quaint, adorable seaside town bordering Fort Lauderdale in Broward County. We arrived in style on a chartered private yacht to enjoy dockside dining at the brilliant Blue Moon Fish Company, known for “Fort Lauderdale’s freshest seafood by the waterway.” The Maine lobster cocktail, local fish ceviche and blackened local mahi-mahi were absolutely incredible. If steak, pasta or salad is more your style, they do these as well with just as much flair. Afterward, enjoy strolling around and stopping in some of the unique shops in the area.

Heading to downtown Fort Lauderdale, you will find the shopping and dining destination of Las Olas Boulevard, where the 17 blocks filled with more than 65 architecturally unique and eclectic shops, art galleries, world-class museums and fantastic restaurants invite you to spend some time. I love Bettie Page and thus couldn’t resist a quick stop to peruse the newest line at Tatyana Boutique. I happily left with an adorable dress at a great price. 

This is one destination you definitely have to visit whilst in the area! Sawgrass Mills and The Colonnade Outlets is the USA’s largest outlet mall, featuring more than 350 designer outlet shops, including Michael Kors, Kate Spade, Tommy Hilfiger, Reebok and even Prada, Versace and Gucci, to name a few. A frequent site to see is visitors purchasing suitcases, then rolling them around the mall as they fill them up with all of their goodies. The mall also provides carts you can hire (like those you find at an airport) for the same purpose, making your shopping experience hassle-free.

If all of that shopping works up an appetite, you have a lot of options, including elegant dining in a foliaged open-air promenade, popular restaurants like the Cheesecake Factory and a large indoor food court, which includes the popular and cool Sushigami, where tasty sushi on conveyor belts pass by waiting patrons, giving a unique dining experience.

There is a great bicycle program in place in Greater Fort Lauderdale that is similar to Boris Bikes in London, where you can hop on and off bicycles at multiple locations. I took a ride along the beachfront and enjoyed the glorious sun shining upon my face. An on-the-water mode of transportation is the Water Taxi, which glides you along the waterways to your next destination.