Say Hello to Hollywood Beach
By Charles Greenfield
cdgpm@bellsouth.net
Hard to believe but there are still secret beaches in South Florida that remind one of sequestered childhood sandy stretches where time seems to stop on late summer afternoons. In my younger years Miami Beach had that effect when my family would remain in our hotel cabana in early evening after the crowd disappeared and the sun started its orange descent. Often we would pack a dinner my lawyer-gourmet chef father Arnold prepared at home and spread out the feast of quiche, salad, salmon “Wellington” and key lime pie on a wooden card table. Against the backdrop of azure water and undulating waves it was a struggle to leave as the breeze picked up and the sky darkened with an occasional bobbing light from a fishing boat heading to the fast-running Gulfstream.
Today, nestled between the Intracoastal and the Atlantic lies Hollywood Beach with its 2.5-mile pedestrian promenade of walkers, bikers, rollerbladers, joggers, reasonable restaurants, and the former 1926 Hollywood Beach Hotel (now a Marriott) that once contained the world’s largest solarium and a direct wire connection to the NYSE for its wealthy guests. Further north converge the region’s largest mangrove preserves in Holland Park and Anne Kolb Nature Center as well as delightful semi-private beach tracts off North Beach Park leading to John Lloyd State Park just below Port Everglades. In fact, this stretch remains one of South Florida’s best-kept secrets ideal for a weekend getaway. After the glitzy clamor of South Beach there is almost a relieving nostalgia to the older mom-and-pop motels that cluster the row of streets alongside the broadwalk beach.
As a comfortable base for exploring I chose the newly renovated Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach along South Ocean Drive (A1A) facing the Intracoastal just off the eastern end of Hallandale Beach Boulevard. With 308 rooms and three suites, the ten-story hotel offers an attractive infinity edge swimming pool with lap lanes, chaise lounges, and a thatched tiki bar in a tropical palm tree ambiance. Besides convenient banquet and meeting rooms (10,000 sq. ft.), a business center, and 24-hour fitness room, they provide three-meal dining in their Element’s Bistro & Bar and Starbuck coffee and snacks in the Cool Beans niche next to the reception in the lobby.
My tasteful beige fifth floor room with modern dark furniture perched above passing motor cruisers on the waterway. Besides an ergonomic day chair and desk with data ports, a Zenith flat screen, and outside washbasin, there was a practical kitchenette with a Sharp microwave and coffeemaker. As part of the growing hotel trend for sleeping aids, the hotel’s “Sleep Advantage” provides holistic perks like seven-pillow + duvet beds, quiet zones, a sleep CD, an eye mask, earplugs, a nightlight and lavender spray.
In almost diagonal proximity to the five-star Westin Diplomat, the Crowne Plaza sports clean-line functionality and a contemporary sheen marked by a reasonable price point that more than compensates for the lack of big-lobby glamour and direct beachfront real estate. With summer programs starting at $150 a room (breakfast for two, $15 in-room movie credit, 2 drink coupons, 2- & 3-day Visa credits) savings are dramatic and make for an ideal Romantic weekend getaway. A similar package called the Girlfriend Getaway Package ($199) presents guests with champagne upon arrival and a cooler with goodies for a day on the beach across the street.
Named one of America’s top ten nostalgic beach promenades by USA Today in 2005, the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk combines recent renovation with a salute to the past. For families Charnow Park (opens late June) fronting the new Garfield Street parking garage will feature a giant interactive fountain, picnic pavilions, playground equipment and fresh landscaping. You can rent wide beach umbrellas or sun beds for the day on their seven miles of “blue wave” (Clean Beaches Council) beaches or bike on the Broadwalk track (I loved the cool breezes in late afternoon and evening). Musical activities abound. At the outdoor Hollywood Beach Theater on Johnson Street don’t miss their “pipes and drums” festivities on the fourth of July or the full-moon Afro-Cuban jazz fusion of Oriente July 18th. Every week (Mon.-Wed.) you can listen to oldies or indulge in line dancing during “Music & Dancing Under the Stars”. On second and fourth Friday evenings (June-Sept.) the theater will display world music, from Samba and Reggae to Celtic Blues.
Restaurants on the Broadwalk have surprising variety and non-South Beach prices. Besides the usual fried food, burgers, pizza, soft-serve ice cream, and decent steamed shrimp (O’Malley’s), you can get a taste of New England at the recently opened Clams on the Beach (1000 N. Broadwalk) with traditional clam chowder, a Nantucket fish taco, stuffed quahog (clam), haddock and chips, and a Maine lobster roll. Or off you go to Turkey and the Bosporus to Istanbul (707 N. Broadwalk), a tiny hole-in-the-wall with beautifully prepared tubule, hummus, Baba Ghanous (eggplant and tahini), yummy lamb kebabs, and the national beer, Efes. Considered the gourmet gem of the promenade, Sugar Reef Tropical Grill (600 N. Surf Rd.) is run by husband-wife team Patrick Famault and Robin Seger with an emphasis on fresh fish with salsa, pork loin Jamaican style, American-style breakfast, and fresh grilled chicken sandwiches. Appetizers might include escargot or steamed mussels in coconut milk; entrées like bouillabaisse, gumbo or Sugar Reef pho, Vietnamese noodles with chicken, shrimp, ginger and spices; and brunch with omelets and exotic egg dishes like chakchouka (sautéed tomatoes, onions, bell pepper and eggs).
After a meal continue a vigorous walk past the shops and eateries to North Beach where sea oats, dunes, a sea turtle hatchery and near-perfect uncluttered beaches appear like mini-miracles. I decided to spend a night in this hidden paradise between the ocean and the Anne Kolb Nature Center eco-system of mangroves and Intracoastal. The Desoto Oceanview Inn and Ocean Spray Inn, hidden away on the eponymous street off A1A just below John Lloyd State Park, transport the visitor to another era when vacations signified a beach chair and book on the early morning beach or a late afternoon cocktail under their Polynesian-inspired gazebo. Strewn with purple bougainvillea and native plants the 15 units consist of two studios, seven efficiencies and six one-bedrooms equipped with superb kitchens. As a “green lodging” it practices water-saving, energy and solid waste reduction, and even plants hardy grass that minimizes water consumption. Cleaning supplies are also “green” and prevent allergy. Bicycles, beach towels, umbrellas and chairs, wi-fi, and a cyber room are complimentary.
Only three blocks south on A1A the deep sea drift fishing party boat Sea Legs III motors north to Port Everglades and heads out in the open Atlantic for bottom and top fishing excursions. Morning trips leave at 8am and return at 12:30pm; afternoon voyages start at 1:30pm and come back to dock at 6pm; and anchor trips shove off at 7pm and return to port at midnight. The price at just under $40 includes bait, tackle, fishing license, parking and ice for your catch. In the summer months trips often produce kingfish, bonito, dolphin, yellowtail and mutton snapper. Owner Ken Hawkins’ son Ralph captains his own 36-foot center console sports fishing boat Outta Control II for half and full day charters with a maximum of four passengers. Ralph will go swordfishing at night or dash off sailfishing top water with his powerful twin Mercury outboards.
Back on A1A a short drive south cross the Sheridan Street bridge and enter the Anne Kolb Nature Center at West Lake Park. The massive mangrove eco-system covers 1,500 acres, the largest stretch short of the Everglades itself. Visitors can paddle on rented kayaks ($7/hr.) in the three half-mile trails of brackish water and delve into the tidal channels that act as a nursery for a host of saltwater plants and juvenile fish. Short of time, there are two boardwalks, 1,200 and 1,500-feet long, with a gazebo for contemplating the serene environment. A nature center houses pamphlets, photo exhibits, aquariums, and a screening room. For great views of the mangrove expanse climb the 68-foot, five-story tower.
Finally, before driving home, I stopped in Hallandale Beach at the 250-acre Gulfstream Park on South Federal Highway. Construction is presently under way for The Village at Gulfstream Park with high-end boutiques, restaurants, cinema and a future hotel and luxury residences. Owner Magna Entertainment Corporation is North America’s largest operator of horse racetracks and owns or operates eight thoroughbred courses like LA’s Santa Anita Park and Baltimore’s Pimlico where the Preakness Stakes is held. Visitors can watch simulcasts of horse races worldwide and bet win-place-show wagers. Their Florida Derby winners Barbaro (2006) and Big Brown (2008) went on to win the Kentucky Derby. With the recent change in Broward County betting laws guests can now play high-limit slots (including penny slots!) as well as poker favorites Texas Hold’Em, Omaha High-Low and 7 Card Stud on 20 live-action tables. Besides the acclaimed steaks and Mandarin dishes at in-house Christine Lee’s, their 1,000-seat Ten Palms dining room highlighted by Chef Kas Willis’ popular buffet is enhanced with great views of the paddock and immense, elliptical track.
Charles Greenfield is a Miami-based travel writer who has contributed to Travel & Leisure and regional magazines. As Travel Editor of the Coral Gables Gazette, he specializes in luxury travel on Europe, Asia/Africa, the Caribbean and the U.S. He won the prestigious Cacique Award 2000 for International Consumer Travel Writing from the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism. He also is Cultural Arts Contributor to WLRN 91.3 FM, South Florida’s NPR affiliate.
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If you go
ACCOMMODATIONS: Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach, 4000 South Ocean Drive, Hollywood, 954-454-4334 (www.cphollywoodbeach.com), standard rooms, $139, upper floor partial ocean views, $159; The Desoto Oceanview Inn and Ocean Spray Inn, 315 and 336 Desoto Street, Hollywood, 800-686-4809 or 954-923-7210 (www.thedesoto.com), daily rates, $150, weekly, $599 (studio);
RESTAURANTS: Clams on the Beach, 954-391-8646, moderate; Istanbul, 954-921-1263, moderate; Sugar Reef Tropical Grill, 954-922-1119 (www.sugarreefgrill.com), moderate-expensive;
FISHING: Sea Legs III, 5398 N. Ocean Drive (Sea Legs Marina), 954-923-2109, morning and afternoon trips, $38, night, $39 ($3 discount with your own tackle); Outta Control II, Captain Ralph Hawkins, half day (4.5 hrs.), $400, full day (8 hrs.), $750, late night and summertime special trips, bait and tackle included, live bait extra;
PARKS: Anne Kolb Nature Center at West Lake Park, 751 Sheridan Street, Hollywood, 954-926-2480;
TOURISM: Hollywood Office of Tourism, 101 N. Ocean Drive, Suite 204, Hollywood, FL 33019, 877-672-2468 (www.visithollywoodfl.org
), visit web site for free vacation planner and hot summer deals on accommodations. |
