Budget or Blow It
Whether you're rock star rich or a tight-fisted traveler, Ft. Lauderdale has everything you need at a price that matches your style.
Hollywood Beach
© ALAN MALTZ
$240
On this episode of "Lifestyles of the Smart and Frugal," wake up in your sunny room at Ocean Drive Villas. You've got $240 burning a hole in your pocket, so don't waste time. Head out for a leisurely, five-minute stroll down to powder-white Hollywood Beach. Fill your belly with an egg sandwich and coffee at Broadwalk Restaurant & Grille, then rent a bike at Sun & Fun Cycles and join the legions of bikers, joggers and rollerbladers on the Broadwalk (tight clothing not required, but strongly encouraged).
Pedal to West Lake Park. It’s tiring, but hey, maintaining a budget means some grunt work. Legs shot? Give your arms a turn by renting a kayak to explore 1,500 acres of bird-filled mangroves. Afterward, study up on the brackish area and its inhabitants — and press your fish lips to the 3,500-gallon tank — at the exhibit hall.
Ride back to the beach, return your bike and wiggle your toes in the sand while enjoying a delicious grilled mahi sandwich and an ice-cold soda at the beachfront Sugar Reef Tropical Grill.
Then, climb aboard the Hollywood Trolley South Beach line for a shopping excursion on the other side of the Broad- walk. You can’t go home empty-handed; consider a kitschy impulse buy like a souvenir sweatshirt.
Head back north and treat yourself to the seafood combo dinner (cod, crabcake, scallops and shrimp) and a glass of chardonnay at Nick’s Restaurant, Lounge & Raw Bar. Finally, get comfy at the bar to take in live music, a brewed-in-Florida Land Shark Lager in hand before heading back to your room to dream about all the money you just saved.
$115 Ocean Drive Villas www.oceandrivevilla.com
$7 Broadwalk Restaurant & Grille 954-922-0322
$25 4-hour bike rental Sun & Fun Cycles 954-925-0735
$15 (kayak rental) + $1 (exhibit hall) Anne Kolb Nature Center at West Lake Park 954-357-5161
$20 Sugar Reef Tropical Grill www.sugarreefgrill.com
$2 ($1/ride) Hollywood Trolley
$23 Souvenir sweatshirt
$32 Nick’s Restaurant, Lounge & Raw Bar www.nicksbarhollywood.com
$24,000
Living like a rock star doesn’t always mean high-profile celebrity events and late-night, hotel room parties. Sometimes, like today, it involves waking up to the ocean sunrise on a bunny-soft bed at W Fort Lauderdale and taking your Kobe steak and Cristal mimosa breakfast on the terrace.
Ready to go? Hop into your limo to the Downtown Fort Lauderdale Heliport for your first adventure of the day.
Ogle the Ever- glades from above as you’re whisked into the untamed interior for a private swamp buggy and airboat tour of the Everglades’ Seminole Indian territory with Billie Swamp Safari. They’ll show you wild alligators, but it's the cuddly, captive black bears and panthers that you’ll eyeball for your private collection.
Fly back to your limo and head to the marina, where you'll board the 39-foot yacht Unforgettable. A leisurely, four-hour tour of Millionaire’s Row and the Intracoastal Waterway gives you the chance to pooh-pooh your peers’ fl ashy, hacienda-style villas and cruise ship yachts while munching a fi ve-course lunch (caviar included) served by your personal stewardess.
Back on solid ground, take your limo to Las Olas Boulevard, where fashion icon
Zola Keller has arranged a pri- vate showing. Pick out a couture gown for yourself or your special lady to wear to the grand fi nale: a private Uber Wine Pairing dinner with the sommelier (six-course feast and six bottles of wine) in The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale’s 5,000-bottle Wine Vault.
Then it’s back to the W, where you settle into your "opium bed" to dream about all the money you just spent.
$4,500 (room) + $710 (breakfast) W Fort Lauderdale www.starwoodhotels.com
$1,275
Florida Coast to Coast Helicopters www.floridacoasttocoasthelicopters.com
Billie Swamp Safari www.swampsafari.com
$1,465 (for 12 hours + tip) US Transportation Limo www.usatrans.com
$4,100 SunDream Yacht Charters www.sundreamyachts.com
$4,400 Zola Keller www.zolakeller.com
$7,550 Wine Room www.ritzcarlton.com
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