Fort Lauderdale Vacation: The Beach

We only spent time on the beach near our hotel (Best Western). The water was pretty clear. The waves got a little rough and the water was pretty cold (we were there in November though) so we really only got one good day in the water. The first day we were there, the temperature of the ocean was perfect. It was nice and warm. There were waves, but they weren't too intense so my son was able to swim out to us and back to shore with no problem. He collected shells, too.

One morning, we went down to take sunrise pictures and my son found a playground...like right on the beach! He thought that was very cool. We had a great time.

Then, one day when the ocean was too cold, but the sun was shining, my son and husband built a sandcastle. It was very nice and we had a great time.

One other cool thing that doesn't necessarily have to do with the beach is the sidewalk. It twists and turns and is a very cool architectural detail.

Fort Lauderdale Vacation: MODS

Museum of Discovery and Science
401 Southwest 2nd Street
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312
(954) 467-6637
www.mods.org

We went here on Halloween when they did their trick-or-treating at MODS. They had some very cool exhibits, but I don't know that it's worth the $40+$3 we paid for parking. We did everything we wanted in about an hour, maybe an hour and a half at the most. There was a nice small kids area. Most of the exhibits were interactive and my son really enjoyed it. For the most part, everyone we dealt with was very nice.
For Halloween, the kids had to find things and then when they got the right answer, they got candy/treats. It was a pretty nice idea. And for the most part, if you got the answer wrong twice, they helped you out and gave you the answer. However, there was this one guy, and he was kind of rude. My son is 4, so he clearly wasn't that great at it and got most of the answers wrong, but everyone was really nice and told him, "good try," and gave him candy. Then this one guy just kept telling him there were more skeletons and to keep looking. After about the 7th time he looked, they switched people and the nice girl who replaced him, gave him the treat. However, if you go here, you won't run into that issue (probably).

Fort Lauderdale Vacation: Dough Boys

Dough Boys Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant
829 Southeast 17th Street
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316
(954) 761-7652

We ordered delivery from this place. They came earlier than expected so that was good. The pizza itself was really good. Everything else like the chicken parm and meatballs were just okay. The garlic rolls were just too garlicky for us.

Overall, I would give it a rating of 3/5.

Fort Lauderdale Vacation: Best Western

Best Western Plus Oceanside Inn
1180 Seabreeze Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316
(954) 525-8115

We arrived at the hotel 1 1/2 hours before check-in on Friday, October 31st, 2014. Our room was already available. That was a nice surprise. It feels like a lot of hotels aren't ready until check-in (if not later in some cases). This Best Western, while not located directly on the beach, is so close, it might as well be considered on the beach. It would be nice to have a direct access, but you don't even have to cross the street to get there.

Everyone that we spoke to on the premises was very nice and professional.

Breakfast was really good. There was a great selection even though we were there during the renovation. They had waffles, bagels, eggs, bacon, sausage, muffins, cereal, fruit, milk, juice, etc. My husband and I even made bacon, egg, and cheese bagel sandwiches. Sometimes, you just have to get creative!

The pool was nice enough. It wasn't huge, but we were the only people using it so there was more than enough space for us. There were also plenty of deck chairs, on two different levels I might add. The only downside I could see here is that they advertise a heated pool and we had to ask them to turn it on. Then, it took about a day for the pool to warm up enough for us to use it. Then, after a couple days, it was almost too warm.

The room was nice enough, but I'm pretty sure we had one of the old rooms and they're renovating everything so a review of the room wouldn't be entirely helpful. I can say that it was quite clean though.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this hotel. Some people may complain that it's not directly on the beach, but the price is much better than the hotels that are so I say it's a win-win.