[🌞 #H!L] Tacos on the River, Curling on Ice, and a Jellyfish Museum 20 Min Away

Plus... and a boat in an estate sale. You don't see that every day.

Jul 16, 2026

Thursday, July 16th, 2026 - Hey Lauderdale - I know it’s hot out there. But… Miami has hit 100 degrees exactly once in 130 years. That fact and a full week of plans inside.👇👇👇

Stuff You Won’t Want To Miss This Week:

TOP PICK THIS WEEK: Saturday - 2–6pm | Riverwalk Tacos & Tequila Festival (4th Annual). Free to walk into and built for grazing: taco vendors from carne asada to seafood, five tequila brands pouring, lawn games on the grass by the river. The $30 VIP ticket (21+) adds tequila and margarita samples plus bites from Epazote and La Mexicana.
TONIGHT - 5:30–7:30pm | Yappy Hour at The Dog Spot. The downtown park's dog social runs the night this issue lands, with Barkyard N' Brews pouring. Free, and the dog watching costs nothing either.
ALSO TONIGHT - 7pm | Men At Work + Toad the Wet Sprocket + Shonen Knife. “Down Under,” “All I Want,” and Japanese punk legends Shonen Knife on one open-air bill. The kind of weeknight nostalgia show you plan the next week around.
Or… Opens TONIGHT | The Odyssey opens in 15/70mm IMAX. Christopher Nolan's Odyssey lands on the five-story downtown screen in true 15/70mm film, a format only a few theaters in the world can run.
Starting Tonight thru Wed, Jul 16–22 | National Theatre Live: All My Sons. Sally Field and Bill Pullman in the National Theatre's Arthur Miller revival, captured live and running on the Savor screen through Wednesday. Box office: (954) 525-FILM.
Friday Night - 6:15pm | Candlelight debuts at Savor Cinema: Bad Bunny + Vivaldi. The candlelit string-quartet series lands at the art-house with two programs in one night: a Bad Bunny tribute (from $41) and Vivaldi's Four Seasons at 6:15. Sixty minutes, hundreds of candles, ages 8 and up.
Friday Night 7–10pm | Starlight Musicals: ReaXtion Band. Free live music on the Holiday Park field, year 47 of the series, with ReaXtion Band covering the hits. No ticket, no cover; lawn chairs and coolers both welcome.
Friday in West Palm - 6:30pm | Lynyrd Skynyrd + Loverboy. Skynyrd and Loverboy share an amphitheater bill up in West Palm. If “Free Bird” still lights you up, here's your shot.
Friday 8pm | Dive-in Film: Space Jam at the Pompano pool. Space Jam on a screen at the Pompano pool, watched from the water. It's free; bring a float.
Friday - 6pm-9pm | Pompano’s Backyard Jam Convert. This month features Scorpio Rising (good for dancing).
This Weekend (Fri/Sat 8am–2pm, Sun 10am–2pm) | Pompano estate sale with a boat and a street-legal golf cart. One estate sale holding a 21-foot Robalo with a Yamaha four-stroke, a street-legal golf cart with a new lithium battery, a pool table, a pinball machine, comic books, and albums. The address posts at midnight tonight; the good stuff will not survive Friday morning.
Saturday - 2–9pm | Bahamas Goombay Broward (first ever). Broward's first Goombay festival: Junkanoo parades, a Battle of the Conch Fritters, a Bahamian village, and a lineup topped by founding Baha Men member Isiah “Bahamen” Taylor. General admission is listed free; $100 VIP puts you at the front of the parade with rum in hand.
Saturday - 3–7pm | Flamingo Flea at Marina Village. The curated market sets up by the marina, 3 to 7. Every vendor sells handmade, upcycled, vintage, or locally sourced; no mass-produced anything.
Saturday - 6–10pm (mural tour 6pm) | Downtown Hollywood ArtWalk. Downtown Hollywood's third-Saturday ArtWalk: an artisan market on 20th Avenue, a free guided mural tour at 6, and a free champagne gallery tour at 5 if you get there early.
This Weekend | Bluey's Big Play. The theatrical version of the show half the country has memorized, with full-size puppets, two days downtown. If there's a Bluey household in your life, this is the week's marquee ticket.
Auctions this weekend:
1. Saturday - online bidding | “Road to the Final” World Cup memorabilia auction. The Hollywood auction house runs a World Cup exclusives sale the day before the final.
2. Saturday - 1pm start (online) | Antiques, Artifacts & Taxidermy auction. An antiques, artifacts, and taxidermy catalog out of Tamarac, with online bidding. You will not open a stranger tab this week.
Jul 18–25 · Multiple Sessions | Learn to Curl at War Memorial. The War Memorial's rink runs Learn to Curl sessions all week. Curling, in Florida, in July. Sounds cool 😉. The brooms are provided.
Saturday and Sunday - 9am–2pm | Wilton Manors Green Market. Produce, international baked goods, cheeses, and coffee both weekend mornings at Hagen Park. Early beats hot.
Saturday - 7pm | Waifus & Wet Mode rooftop pool party. An anime-themed pool party on a downtown rooftop. Cosplay by the water, with a beautiful skyline in the background.
Sunday - 4pm | “Bigger than Me” premiere at Savor Cinema. A local filmmaker premieres “Bigger than Me” at the art-house. Be in the room before anyone's heard of it.
Sunday - 9am-4pm | Coral Springs Collectorfest. What to expect: Vintage & Modern Toys, Hot Wheels, Retro Gaming, Comics, Artwork & More Pop Culture Goodness. Kids under 12 are free.
Huizenga Park Happenings:
1. Tuesday Night with Lauderdale Run Club. The route will finish back at Huizenga Park and roll straight into social hour with Mr. Smash, where runners can refuel, connect, and celebrate a strong finish together.
2. Wednesday - 6:30–8pm | Think and Drink Trivia. Outdoor trivia in the downtown park, drink in hand, no cover. Round up a few people and find out what you've retained.

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

Last week we profiled the snorkeling up at Wahoo Bay. This week… the Jelly Fish Museum in Pompano Beach.

The Only Jellyfish Museum in America Is Across From the Pompano Pier

Not a tank in a gift shop. A whole museum, almost 10,000 square feet of it, right across from the pier at 199 N Ocean Blvd.

It opened at the end of March, and the city bills it as the only one of its kind in the country. Inside are about two dozen species from oceans all over the world, drifting through glowing tanks that range from tiny nano cubes to wall-sized panoramas. You’ll find a lion’s mane, one of the largest jellyfish on earth. A flame jellyfish the color of a traffic cone. And Cassiopea, the upside-down jelly that spends its life resting on its back in warm shallows. That last one is a Florida local. You’ve probably swum past one without knowing it.

There’s also a small lab where you can see how they raise the jellies and what they eat, plus a projection room where the walls turn into slow-moving ocean. The whole place is built for lingering. There’s no time limit on your visit, and honestly, standing still is the point.

If you’ve been hunting for a date idea that isn’t another dinner on Las Olas, they also do a private evening for two among the tanks.

Straight talk on logistics: open daily 10 to 7, last entry 6:30. Tickets run about twenty bucks and change depending on which page of their site you’re reading (one says $19.50, another $23; Florida residents get a couple dollars off, kids under 2 are free, and there’s a $65 annual pass). Tickets are non-refundable, so pick your day with some confidence.

So... You Think You Know South Florida

You probably already know... July down here feels like the surface of the sun.

What you might not know is... in nearly 130 years of record-keeping, Miami has hit 100 degrees exactly once. July 21, 1942. That’s it. That’s the whole list. Fort Lauderdale’s thermometer isn’t much braver: we first touched 100 in August of 1944 and haven’t done it since June 22, 2009.

It might feel like Death Valley, but the ocean and those afternoon storms cap the actual temperature almost every day, which is why our “record heat” would be a mild afternoon in Phoenix.

So the next time someone back home asks how you survive a Florida summer, tell them the truth. The heat was never the problem. It’s the humidity that’s out to drown you.

More Treats To Try

We don’t let just anyone sponsor this newsletter. Here’s who “made the cut” this week:

(Hit reply to this email if you want to reach over 1400+ local families for just $100)

👉 Buy YOUR OWN Classified Ad Here 👈

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.
🎶 Summer 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.
Mermaid Tails & Cocktails at the Wreck Bar (Tuesdays thru Aug 25). Live mermaids swim behind the porthole windows of a 1958 hotel bar while you sip something cold.
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

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
— Anaïs Nin

Anaïs Nin is famous for her candid, multi-volume personal diaries and her pioneering erotica. Spanning over 60 years, her journals explored female desire, psychoanalysis, and the bohemian avant-garde in Paris, establishing her as an iconic figure of 20th-century feminist literature.

Flotsam & Jetsam

Okay. The World Cup games have been fun, both locally and on TV.

But imagine for a moment, if countries had to compete in the same kind of play-off bracket, but the scoring was based on GDP… or happiness levels… or life expectancy.

That’s the idea behind the Data World Cup.

You pick the measure that matters most to you, and see who comes out on top.

Sounds like fun, but I bet the don’t get the vikings rowing or the Tartan Army takeovers for these competitions.

Word Play Of The Week

‘Dog Days of Summer’

The “dog days of summer” refer to the hottest, most humid, and uncomfortable weeks of the year, spanning July 3 to August 11. So we are fully in it right now. Just walk outside to see what I mean.

The phrase traces back to the ancient Greeks and Romans. It was coined in reference to Sirius (often called the "Dog Star"), the brightest star in the night sky. Sirius is part of the constellation Canis Major (the "Greater Dog"). ~ Source

‘Under-The-Radar’ Openings Job Board

Lot’s of folks offering cool positions here locally. Maybe there’s one for you or a friend?

Artis Senior Living Center is looking for a Memory Care Program Assistant. Chance to show your creativity, and with benefits.
The Town of Davie is looking for part-time Lifeguards and also an Animal Resource Officer.
President & CEO at Visit Lauderdale — $155,771–$248,612 to be the person who sells the world on Fort Lauderdale. Yes, the tourism-boss job is now open.
City Photographer / Videographer at City of FTL — $76,902–$119,214 to shoot the city for a living. But act fast. Application close tomorrow (July 17th).
Animal Care / Lorikeet Attendant at Butterfly World (Coconut Creek) — $15/hr+ to wrangle lorikeets at the world's largest butterfly park.
Do you have a listing you would like to place here for next week? Hit reply and let us know.

Lastly… One Big Idea For Your Week

How will you show courage this week?

Tell Us How We Are Doing

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Please share your feedback. What do you love? What could we do better FOR YOU? What FTL businesses and experiences should we be highlighting?