[š #H!L] Dine Out starts This Weekend, Jazz on the River, and Something Under The Water is 332 Years Old
Plus: who just bought the Jungle Queen, and the Broward coral that's been alive since 1694.
Thursday, July 30th, 2026 - The one Sunday in August you can catch jazz on the New River. And 140 restaurants that arenāt free but are cheaper this month.ššš
Also - a quick request: Any of you really good shoppers at the local thrift shops? Not really my thing, but I think it would be cool to get some insider tips if you are willing to share. Hit reply, and I will give you credit in an upcoming newsletter.
Stuff You Wonāt Want To Miss This Week:
ā TOP PICK THIS WEEK: Sunday - 11amā2pm | Sunday Jazz Brunch. Free live jazz along the New River, and the only Sunday in August you can catch it. The city runs this on the first Sunday of the month and it is the single easiest way to feel like you actually live here. Bring a chair, buy a coffee downtown, stay longer than you planned.
TODAY - 5:30pm | Once Upon a Time in a Cinema. Savor Cinema is the FLIFF-run indie house on SE 6th Street and it programs the stuff the multiplex never will.
TONIGHT - 7pm | Hadestown: Teen Edition. A summer theater camp production of the Tony winner, staged in the Amaturo. Four nights total, so if tonight doesn't work you have Friday, then Aug 6 and Aug 7.
TONIGHT | Old School Vinyl at Revolution Live. Records played front to back on a real system, not a playlist and not a club night. Two nights, tonight and tomorrow.
Friday Night - 7ā10pm | Starlight Musicals: Shaw Davis & The Black Ties. Free high-energy blues on the football field at Holiday Park, 47 years running. Insider Tip: Bring a lawn chair, a picnic and a cooler, all allowed. No pets, and the main field is a tent-free zone so everyone can see.
Friday Night - 8pm | BIG3 Basketball. Ice Cube's 3-on-3 league, with All-Stars and Hall of Famers playing a format that's genuinely faster and weirder than the NBA. Insider Tip: Doors open 60 to 90 minutes before tip.
Friday Night - 8pm | Alan CavƩ. One of the biggest names in Haitian konpa, playing a room this size. If you've never been to a konpa show, this is the one.
Friday Night - 6:30ā7:30pm | Zumba by Domingo. Free outdoor Zumba in Huizenga Park before you go anywhere else. Did we say itās free. The Huizenga events (yoga, pilates, zumba, run club, trivia night) have been fabulous! Shoutout to the Huizenga team for all they are providing each week.
Ongoing - MonāSat 10ā5, Sun 12ā5 | The Science of Guinness World Records. A hands-on arena with live leaderboards where you test your own strength, reflexes and endurance against record-setters. Runs through Sep 7, so no rush, but it's the best rainy-afternoon answer in town right now. Insider Tip: It's included with regular museum admission, no separate exhibit ticket.
Friday through Sunday - $12/day | Antiques Festival. Three days of dealers in West Palm. Worth the drive if you're furnishing a place and refuse to buy everything new.
Friday Night - 5ā10pm, $10 | Art After Dark: Improv Night. The museum stays open late and hands the room to improv. Ten dollars for a night out that isn't a bar.
Saturday Morning - 9ā10am | FTL Free Workout Saturdays. Free group workout in Huizenga Park before the heat wins. Iāve been going the last couple of weekend. Folks are super welcoming and all range of abilities. Just give it your best shot and someone will encourage you to push that little extra.
Saturday - 1ā4pm | Emancipation Day: Freedom Across the Anglo-Caribbean. August 1, 1834 is the day slavery ended across the English-speaking Caribbean, and this is Broward marking it with music, storytelling, food and consuls general from a dozen island nations. Free, and the kind of afternoon that explains the county you moved to. Insider Tip: Free, but register first at islandspacefl.org/EmancipationDay26.
Saturday Afternoon - 3ā7pm | FTL Beach Market. Flamingo Flea's beachside market with a food hall, a DJ, and the double-decker boat bar at The Shorely for the view.
Saturday Night - 5ā10pm | South Florida Italian Festival. Live music, food trucks, artisan vendors and a Best Italian Dish contest at the Margate Sports Complex. Insider Tip: Free parking, and dogs are welcome.
Saturday Night - 7pm | Zendatta, a Tribute to The Police, with Touch & Go. Two tribute bands, one bill, at Revolution Live. Lower stakes and lower cost than the arena shows this week.
Saturday and Sunday | Horsegirls. Two-day run at the indie house downtown.
Saturday and Sunday | Museums on Us at NSU Art Museum. Free admission all weekend if you carry a Bank of America card. If you don't, Aug 6 is free for everyone anyway.
Saturday and Sunday - 10amā4pm | Oceanside Markets at Las Olas Oceanside Park. Weekend markets across the road from the beach, so you can make a morning of it and end up in the water.
Starts Saturday, runs through September | Dine Out Lauderdale. Three-course prix fixe at 140-plus restaurants for two months. Lunch is $35, dinner runs $45, $60 or $75. Insider Tip: No ticket, no signup, no pass. You just walk in during August or September and ask for the menu.
Sunday | Unspoken Bond. A Sunday screening at Savor Cinema.
Also Sunday - 9:30ā10:30am | Music and Movement with Miss Tracy Sings. Free morning music in Huizenga Park.
Sunday - 9amā3pm | Coco Market. A wellness market in Delray if you want to make a drive out of Sunday.
Monday Night - 7ā11pm | Monster Jam. Trucks the size of a studio apartment, on a Monday, because why not.
Tuesday - 7am and 6pm | Yoga in Huizenga Park with Las Olas Yoga Studio. Two sessions, both outdoors, pick your hour.
Tuesday - 6:30ā8pm | Granite Rapids Moon. A Tuesday-night screening at Savor Cinema.
SAVE THE DATES for Next Week
Next Thursday - 6ā9pm | Clematis by Night. Free weekly music on the Great Lawn. Worth the drive once, to see how another downtown does it.
Next Thursday | Oldies Music Singo & Dance Show. Bingo, but you win by recognizing the song. Pompano Beach.
Next Thursday | Introduction to Colored Pencil Drawing and Painting. Bailey is Pompano's downtown art space and it runs classes most people never hear about.
Friday, Aug 7 | Ode to Tomato at MAD Arts. A six-course dinner staged inside an animated projection about the years Dania Beach called itself the Tomato Capital of the World. Two nights only this season, Aug 7 and Aug 21, so book it now or miss it.
Friday, Aug 7 Ā· 7pm | Completely Unchained, a Van Halen tribute. Tribute night at Revolution Live.
Friday, Aug 7 through Sunday, Aug 9 | Professional Bull Riders: Freedom Days. Three days of PBR in Sunrise. Tickets move for this one, so decide early.
Saturday, Aug 8 Ā· 8:30am | Plantation Acres Estate Sale. John Deere equipment, tools, and whatever else a Plantation Acres property has been holding onto. Get there at open.
Sunday, Aug 9 Ā· 7pm | Deep Purple. A legacy act at Hard Rock Live on a Sunday night.
Sunday, Aug 9 | The XXXI Annual International Ballet Festival of Miami. Thirty-one years running, and this is the Broward night of it.
Hey - quick question. Did we miss anything? Each week we do our research but you might know of an event, an organization, or a local business that deserves some love here in our weekly basket of goodies. Just hit reply to this email and let us know!
Featured Fort Lauderdale
Did you know this iconic Fort Lauderdale attraction changed hands this spring?
Youāve driven past it a thousand times at Bahia Mar. Maybe you took it on a 5th-grade field trip, or dragged your visiting relatives on it once, then forgot it existed.
The Jungle Queen just sold this spring.
After almost 70 years with the same family, Fort Lauderdaleās longest-running tourist attraction has a new owner. The buyer is local hospitality operator Bill Fuller, the guy currently restoring the Mai-Kai and running Ball & Chain in Little Havana.
The boat isnāt going anywhere, and the famous island barbecue dinner cruise stays.
When a landmark thatās been cruising the New River since 1935 gets fresh backing from someone who specializes in historic South Florida spots, itās worth a second look. Next time youāre planning a weekend on the water, skip the usual spots and go rediscover the classic right in your backyard.
So... You Think You Know South Florida
You probably already know... thereās reef off our beach. Youāve seen the dive flags bobbing past Anglinās Pier and the charter boats heading out before the sunās all the way up.
What you might not know is... the oldest and largest coral colony anyone has found in Broward County started growing in 1694. Fifteen feet long, nine feet tall, and still out there.
Sit with that year for a second. In 1694 Florida was Spanish. The United States was 82 years from existing.
Hereās the part that got me. Stony coral grows somewhere between a fifth of an inch and eight tenths of an inch a year. Do the math on fifteen feet and you land at about half an inch a year for three hundred and thirty years. That thing built itself out of seawater at the pace of a fingernail, through every hurricane that has crossed this coast since the 1600s.
And we know the year because coral keeps its own records. Drill out a core, x-ray it, and you get bands. One light layer plus one dark layer is a year, same idea as tree rings. Somebody counted back to 1694.
The reef is also closer than most people assume. Broward has three tracts running the length of our 24 miles of coast, and the inner one sits in only 20 to 30 feet of water. Off Datura Avenue in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea you can walk in from the sand and swim to it. The first reef is about a hundred feet out.
You live on top of the third largest barrier reef system on the planet. Go put your face in the water and look at it. ~ Source
More Treats To Try
We donāt let just anyone sponsor this newsletter. Hereās who āmade the cutā this week:
(Hit reply to this email if you want to reach over 1400+ local families for just $100)
š Buy YOUR OWN Classified Ad Here š
Make your morning feel like a getaway with Fort Lauderdaleās Hollywood Early-Bird Cruise. Fort Lauderdale's Hollywood Early-Bird Cruise departs daily at 9 AM from Stop F4 ā Hilton Marina & Convention Center, and is $20 roundtrip. Lotās to do in Hollywood.
The Jury Experience: The Deadly Boat Ride. An immersive courtroom drama where you're the jury, staged at Savor Cinema. A boat crime, in this town ā on the nose and kind of perfect. From $48.50.
This Weekend check out Smorgasburg South Florida. Over 40 vendors slinging global street food in Flagler Village, free to walk in. Go hungry and graze your way down the row instead of committing to one thing.
š¶ Music lessons for your child. Start building confidence on day one. See our special promotion for an extra 15-minute personalized onboarding session. Voice. Piano. And combo lessons. Text Shontel at 516-945-9742.
SAVE THE DATE. Founding Families Fall Festival. Stranahan House. September 25th. Email director@stranahanhouse.org for sponsorship opportunities.
Just hit reply to this email to get started. Work with us to reach over 1300+ Greater Fort Lauderdale families.
Quote Of The Week
āPlenty of growth can be found in removing your vices, but the real leaps are unlocked when you stop clinging to your comforts.ā
~ James Clear
James Clear is an American writer best known for his 2018 self-help book Atomic Habits.
Flotsam & Jetsam
Art can be beautiful. And depending on who you were cheering for last week in the World Cup final, the beautiful game might also produce the most beautiful art.
This week I came across a fun data visualization tool that plots every World Cup game, including those just down the road in Miami. If you went to match watch party (or three) do these views capture the ups and downs when a late stage shot hit the crossbar?
Each data āportraitā is an impression, but one built entirely from the data. Nothing is staged or dressed up to make it look better. Each match is reconstructed from roughly 1,500 recorded events, including every touch, pass, shot and yellow (or red) card issued.
This is what the final game looked like, and it pretty much matches the feeling to me. Dominated by Spainās control of the ball, with too little, too late from Argentina.
The France/England game is also interesting to look at because it was a tale of two halves, dominated by the Englishmen to start, but the French showed up in the second half.
This concludes our World Cup coverage for another four years. It was fun to see the host cities show off their best. And the stories of fans traveling the states to see such wonders of the world as Buc-eeās Travel Centers was priceless.
Word Play Of The Week
āSalad Daysā
The idiom āsalad daysā means a bright, carefree time of youth, happiness, and innocence. It often describes a period when a person was young, full of life, and lacking deep responsibilities, though it can also point to a peak āheydayā of success.
First coined by William Shakespeare in his play Antony and Cleopatra (around 1606). ~ āSource
āUnder-The-Radarā Openings Job Board
Lotās of folks offering cool positions here locally. Maybe thereās one for you or a friend?
TOMORROW (Friday, the 31st) - come out to the YMCA Job Fair. Positions for life guards, swim instructors, after-school, and family services positions.
Hard Rock Stadium is hiring for their PT Food & Beverage Team. Come out to the hiring event on Wednesday, August 5th.
Apprentice Luthier (Violin Maker) at The Fiddlershop in Pompano. Maybe our most unique job posting of the week.
This looks like an interesting one. Barry University is looking for someone to run their Simulation Learning Center. Extra bonus, your dependents get free tuition.
Animal Care / Lorikeet Attendant at Butterfly World (Coconut Creek) ā $15/hr+ to wrangle lorikeets at the world's largest butterfly park. ALSOā¦ Retail Sales / Tour Guide at Butterfly World. Part time. Hour-long tours through the largest butterfly park in the world.
Sea Turtle Overnight Monitoring (temp) at NSU Halmos College, Dania. Overnight surveys and nest relocation. Yes, this is a job where you walk the beach at night counting turtle nests.
Integrated Communications Assistant Manager at MODS. Run the science museum's voice. ALSOā¦ Afterschool and Camp Manager at the Museum of Discovery and Science, downtown FTL. Run the programs that fill MODS with kids all summer.
Marine Canvas Sewer in Fort Lauderdale. Peak yachting-capital job, sewing canvas for boats is a real, paying craft here.
Do you have a listing you would like to place here for next week? Hit reply and let us know.
Lastlyā¦ One Big Idea For Your Week
Are you ready to hear what they are actually saying? Sometimes our expectations and reality donāt exactly match up. So what can you do to take in the beauty that is all around us?
Tell Us How We Are Doing
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