[🌞 #H!L] The Beach Turns Pink Saturday🦩And Where To Snorkel The Good Stuff

Plus: live mermaids in a 1950s hotel bar, snorkeling you can walk to, and an ice cream boat we can't stop thinking about.

Jul 09, 2026

Thursday, July 9th, 2026 - Hey Lauderdale - here’s your rundown for the week👇👇👇

And a quick question: Anyone out there interested in Futures Thinking? I’ve been reading Jane McGonigal’s book Imaginable (again) and am thinking about taking the certification course on Coursera. Thought it might be fun to create a local study group. If that sounds like you, just hit reply. I would love to connect.

Stuff You Won’t Want To Miss This Week:

TONIGHT | Space Jam — Cool Summer Nights. The 1996 Jordan-and-Bugs matchup on the art-house screen, part of the Cool Summer Nights series.
Starting TODAY at 11am | “Hot Hot Hot!” Estate Sale. A Sunrise estate sale built around Daum Nancy crystal and art glass vases. If you know what that is, you're already in the car.
1. If Estate Sales are your jam, Thu–Fri, Jul 9–10 · 8am–1pm | “Plot Twist” Estate Sale. A boutique estate company's two-day, mornings-only sale in Hollywood. Short hours mean the good finds move fast; go at open.
2. And this Weekend (Fri–Sun) from 9am | Elegant Global Estate Sale. A well-traveled collector’s place packed with mid-century furniture, sterling, fine art, and Asian and European finds. Sunday is half the day only, so go Friday if you want first pick.
Friday Night 7pm | Starlight Musicals: The Pitbull of Blues. Free live blues from The Pitbull of Blues Band on the football field, year 47 of this series. No ticket, no cover; lawn chairs and coolers are both welcome. 💡 They collect non-perishable donations for local food banks at the gate
Also Friday | Catch the opening of Moana on IMAX at MODS. Moana hits the five-story IMAX screen downtown. A good escape on a too-hot-to-be-outside afternoon.
Friday and Saturday | Florida Supercon. South Florida's biggest pop-culture convention, with Hayden Christensen and TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman headlining the guest list. Cosplay, comics, artists' alley: if that's your lane, it's worth the drive south.
Saturday 8–11am | Fort Lauderdale Beach Sweep. Much needed after the big crowds from the fourth. Show up where Las Olas hits the sand and help clear the beach. A typical morning pulls 100 pounds of trash and 7,000 cigarette butts. Wear a hat and bring water.
Saturday | Sensory-Inclusive Shrek the Musical JR. Summer-camp kids stage Shrek with the lights and sound dialed down for sensitive audiences. A rare welcoming-by-design theater night.
Saturday | FIFA World Cup 2026 Quarterfinal. Yes, the USA is out but a World Cup quarterfinal just 25 minutes from downtown. If you have a ticket, skip the parking nightmare. No ticket? This is the weekend every sports bar in town goes loud.
Saturday 11am–4pm | FlockFest Beach Party (11th Annual). Picture the ocean dotted with hundreds of pink flamingo floats and a DJ set rolling on the sand. Free to walk up to, and the proceeds go to charity. Bring your own winged float or grab a VIP ticket that comes with one inflated and ready. 💡 VIP includes open bar, a $10 food voucher, and a pre-inflated flamingo float (flockfestevents.org).
Saturday 7–10pm (VIP 6pm) | Boca Burger Battle (13th Annual). Eighteen chefs cook off-menu burgers and your ticket covers unlimited food plus craft beer, wine, and spirits. It sells out every year; presale GA is $69 before it jumps to $89.
Saturday Night 7pm | Alice In Chains + Faith No More tribute night. Two of the 90s' heaviest catalogs back to back, played live downtown. Tickets run about $23 to $27. A solid cheap night out if the heat keeps you off the beach.
This Weekend (Sat-Sun) 9am | June Krauser Summer Splash. Watch Masters swimmers race a 50-meter Olympic course at the historic Aquatic Center by the beach. Free to watch from the deck, and a few hundred yards from FlockFest if you want to stack your Saturday.
Weekend Markets worth exploring:
1. Saturday 9am–4pm | Saturday MKT at Las Olas Oceanside Park. The beach market’s first-ever Saturday edition, with pizza, tacos, and roughly 35 handmade vendors steps from the water. Get there early before the heat sets in.
2. Sunday noon–4pm | Huizenga Park Community Market. Local makers and vendors set up in the redone downtown park. A low-key way to spend a Sunday afternoon and see the space that anchors the new downtown vibe.
3. Saturday and Sunday 9am–2pm | Wilton Manors Green Market. Produce, baked goods, coffee, and local vendors every weekend morning in Hagen Park. Go early before the heat and the good stuff both run out.
4. Daily · 8am–5pm | Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop. Eighty-eight acres of vendors, plus a free classic car museum tucked inside that most people walk right past. Go on a weekend morning before the lot bakes in the sun.
Every Thursday 5:30–7:30pm | Yappy Hour at Huizenga Park. The downtown park's dog social, free, with drinks on hand. Easy after-work plan.
Thursday Thru Sunday 6:30pm | Shakespeare by the Sea. Free Shakespeare under the stars in a beachside park, from the area's longest-running summer festival. It's a haul north, but free theater on the ocean is a rare species.
Mon–Fri, Jul 13–17 | APSCON 2026 (airborne public safety expo). Public-safety helicopters and drones fill the convention center for the airborne rescue industry's national event. It's listed as public but built for the trade.
Tue, Jul 14 (Tuesdays thru Aug 25) | Mermaid Tails & Cocktails at the Wreck Bar. Live mermaids swim behind the porthole windows of a 1950s hotel bar while you sip something cold. The single most only-in-Fort-Lauderdale item on this list.
SAVE THE DATE, Jul 16 · 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.

😉 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

Want to go snorkeling but thought you needed a boat to see the good stuff?

Dive In From the Shore & Discover Wahoo Bay

You don’t need a boat, a plane ticket, or expensive dive gear to experience a thriving marine ecosystem. Broward County’s newest underwater wonder is just a steps-from-the-sand walk away.

Located at the Hillsboro Inlet Park in Pompano Beach, Wahoo Bay is officially serving up crystal-clear waters, vibrant tropical fish, and world-class snorkeling without the offshore hassle.

What Makes Wahoo Bay Unique?

Unlike natural reefs that require a boat ride to access, Wahoo Bay is a specially designed marine conservation and educational area located right along the shoreline. It’s a living laboratory engineered to restore marine life while giving the public a front-row seat to nature.

The SEABenches: The park features innovative, eco-friendly submerged benches designed to foster coral growth and provide a nursery habitat for local fish species.
Real-Time Tech: It’s not just for swimming! Wahoo Bay is equipped with underwater cameras and water-monitoring technology, letting scientists (and curious locals) track the ecosystem’s health in real time.
Family-Friendly Exploration: Because it’s sheltered and easily accessible from the park, it’s the perfect spot for mini-explorers, first-time snorkelers, and seasoned divers alike.

Pack your mask, snorkel, and fins—nature is waiting!

Where: Hillsboro Inlet Park, Pompano Beach
Cost: Free to park and access
What to Look For: Keep your eyes peeled for colorful parrotfish, sergeant majors, and maybe even a passing manatee or sea turtle!

Local Tip: Check the local tide charts before you go. Snorkeling around high tide usually offers the absolute clearest visibility for spotting your new underwater neighbors.

You can even catch the live underwater camera from Wahoo Bay. Keep an eye out for Stingrays, Turtles, Manatees and some species of sharks and over 100 Species of fish!

So... You Think You Know South Florida

You probably already know... we celebrated the fourth this past weekend.

What you might not know is... Who did it better?

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.
Here’s a plug for the 14‑year‑old owner of Tater Tots Plushies, a mobile plush‑making business. She offers to bring a full bear‑stuffing experience directly to senior centers, adult day programs, birthdays, parties, school events, and so much more! Interested? Book with us here: linktr.ee/tatertotsplushies no party too big or too small!
Well, now that Giannis is coming to town… did you know you can take off season tours of the Miami Heat All Access Arena and facilities? Minimum group of 4 required. Tell Victoria you heard about it from us.
Urban Air Adventure Park Plantation offers the ultimate way to keep kids active all summer long and beat the heat and rain. For Summer Group Packages full of nonstop indoor adventure call or email today! Lea@elevatedvg.com or 561-831-4311 for fast turnaround.

Just hit reply to this email to get started. Work with us to reach over 1300+ Greater Fort Lauderdale families.

Quote Of The Week

“To be on a quest is nothing more and nothing less than than to be an asker if questions.” ~ Sam Keen

Sam Keen (1931–2025) was a prominent American philosopher, author, and pop psychologist. He is best remembered as a major figure in the 1960s human potential movement and the men’s movement of the 1990s. He wrote more than a dozen books and served as a longtime editor for Psychology Today.

Flotsam & Jetsam

This week’s Flotsam & Jetsam is kind of (could be) related to Fort Lauderdale and it also could fit on the ‘Under-The-radar’ Job Board too.

The “official rules” for this section (the detritus found floating in the water) is: NOT local but the most interesting thing we found on the interwebs this week.

So I think this one qualifies, but maybe… maybe the right person will see this and it WILL become a Fort Lauderdale story because, who deserves to have an on-the-water ice cream truck more than the ‘Venice of America’ - what do you think?

Because of all the Independence Day stories this past week, I came across this one of a Long Island family selling homemade ice cream out of their boat.

Any aspiring entrepreneurs out there looking for a new line of business? If you love being on the water and making people smile, this might be your ticket!

Mann's ice cream, ice cream, Long Island

Word Play Of The Week

“Down To The Wire”

Seems appropriate as we go into the last rounds of the World Cup.

The idiom “down to the wire” comes from 19th-century horse racing. In the days before photo finishes, tracks literally stretched a wire across the finish line high above the track. When a race was extremely close, judges used the wire to see which horse crossed first. ~ 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?

TODAY 10am-Noon | Choices Job Seekers Workshop. No registration required (and no cost). E. Pat Larkins Community Center in Pompano Beach. For more information: 954-968-6777.
Oasis Laundry is looking for an Assist. Manager. No laundry experience? No problem, they'll provide all the training you need. Send me a message or email your resume to info@oasislaundry.com.
Full-Time Captain at Jungle Queen Riverboats. Great team. Fun environment. Not for anyone who doesn't enjoy hard work outside every day.
Parks Naturalist at Everglades Holiday Park (Broward County). $25–40/hr to lead nature programs in gator country.
Taproom Tour Guide at Funky Buddha Brewery. Give tours at SoFla’s largest brewery. Turn your passion for beer into the dream career.
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

What feelings will you feel this week? If you think about them as wise mentors who are on your side, what are they trying to tell you?

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?