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Pompano Beach – Florida’s Warmest Welcome
Pompano Beach – Florida’s Warmest Welcome
By Steven Skelley and Thomas Routzong
We recently enjoyed a three-day getaway to Cottages By The Ocean in Pompano Beach, Florida. We had a private historic cottage in a group of 1940’s era cottages just two blocks from Pompano’s renovated beachfront that is an example of everything a family beach should be.
Elaine Fitzgerald is the proprietor of Beach Vacation Rentals which includes Cottages By The Ocean. Lucky for us, she is also the Tourism Chair for the Greater Pompano Beach / Margate / Lighthouse Point Chamber of Commerce and serves on the City’s Economic Development Council.
We asked her to tell us more about Pompano Beach.
How would you describe Pompano Beach in one sentence?
Pompano Beach’s motto is “Florida’s Warmest Welcome.”
What is special about Pompano Beach?
Pompano Beach, on the north side of Fort Lauderdale, has undergone a Renaissance over the last eight years, making it one of the most attractive up-and-coming oceanfront destinations in South Florida.
Still under-the-radar, it has begun to attract quite a bit of national attention this year. In January, Expedia chose Pompano Beach as its Florida choice for a story “Best Place to Escape to in Every State.”
In April, Time/Money Magazine ranked Pompano Beach the #1 beach in the U.S. for quality and value in a story “14 Greatest Beaches in the World, and What it Costs to Visit Them.”
After a $50 million remake of the public beach area three years ago, Pompano Beach has one of the prettiest and most pristine beaches in South Florida. Three miles of wide, sandy, uncrowded beaches are anchored to the North by historic Hillsboro Lighthouse and the city’s fishing fleet. A state-of-the-art fishing pier opens this March to replace the original pier.
Across from the pier is the city’s first-ever parking garage, an iconic building that looks more like a beautiful sculptured artwork, with a light show at night.
Pompano Beach did a makeover of Atlantic Boulevard, it’s main East-West gateway to the beach, created a vast cultural arts scene with four popular and diverse venues, and restoration of its historic downtown is well underway with craft breweries, outdoor public art, galleries and restaurants.
The city had famous designer Greg Norman rebuild one of its two public golf courses. Now Pompano can boast of having the only course in the country where you can play a Greg Norman designer course for public golf course fees. A five-mile jogging and biking greenway winds around the golf course, community park and the air park for private planes and helicopter tours.
Pompano extended the main runway of its historic Air Park (home to one of only three Goodyear Blimps) to allow a higher class of private jets to land there. It built a state-of-the-art dog park, aquatics and tennis centers in adjacent Community Park.
The City took part in a public/private venture to create Shipwreck Park, one mile offshore of the fishing pier. It’s perhaps the most easily accessible major dive site in the nation.
Now a not-for-profit organization, Shipwreck Park’s vast artificial reef system of 17 sunken wrecks and artwork is popular with divers, provides new habitat for marine life and most importantly helps protect the natural reefs nearby.
What kinds of lodgings are available in Pompano Beach?
Pompano Beach offers a variety of lodgings to meet everyone’s needs and budget. Among them on the higher end, Marriott offers a newly built traditional hotel and conference center toward the north end of the beach, and next to it is a Residence Inn by Marriott with suites, also right on the ocean.
To the south end of the beach on the ocean is the long-time, family-owned and operated Beachcomber Hotel and Villas. In the heart of the beach area, just 1-2 blocks to the beach and a short walk to dozens of restaurants, are five boutique properties owned and operated by Beach Vacation Rentals. This collection of pristine historic and vintage cottages and apartments offer lots of amenities and comforts of home for about the price of a single hotel room.
For those on more of a budget who don’t mind a five-minute drive to the beach, a brand-new Hampton Inn was built on Federal Highway in the city’s business district.
What kinds of dining is available in Pompano Beach?
Pompano Beach offers hundreds of restaurants of all types, and some really great ones.
I’ll highlight some of the favorites:
The only five-star restaurant in greater Fort Lauderdale is the quaint, bistro-style Café Max on Atlantic Boulevard.
For guests who want oceanfront dining, try the brand new Beach House Pompano next to the fishing pier. This casual, chic and trendy hotspot opened this year to rave reviews and has stellar rooftop views of the ocean.
Further South is Sea Watch - a long-time tourist favorite. But you may be wasting the view at night for oceanfront dining after dark.
A better option might be two fantastic seafood restaurants on the Intracoastal Waterway, where the night is lit up by marinas and passing yachts. You can choose to eat indoors or outdoors at both Sunset Catch and the Rusty Hook Tavern. They are both in the central beach area and prices are in the higher medium range.
For a moderate-priced and “happening” restaurant (not waterfront), try The Foundry, with its own take on American and Asian cuisine, plus a plentiful raw bar.
And along the same strip West of the Intracoastal is a wine/cigar bar, 50s-style breakfast diner, Japanese/sushi restaurant, German restaurant, pizza and deli places.
Don’t forget the Briney Irish Pub where Atlantic Boulevard stops at the ocean. It’s a perfect “cheers” bar with cheap eats, large servings and delicious!
Why is South Florida a great destination?
South Florida offers unparalleled dining, shopping, attractions and business centers. The lifestyle is casual, comfortable, vibrant, diverse and active with no cold and ice to slow you down. Free festivals with culture, music and food take place year-round in communities large and small, as do car shows, flea markets and green markets.
Our best kept secret is summertime. Most people do not realize that Florida’s Southeast coastal beaches, on a daily basis, are cooler and less humid in the summer than most of the cities in the Northeastern United States. Average afternoon highs peak at around 86 degrees here, when it’s in the 90s or sometimes breaking 100 in Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago.
While it also can be hot as blazes in Central Florida and along the Gulf Coast in the summer, you can easily knock off ten degrees on our side. So the secret’s out!
Conclusion
We enjoy Pompano Beach and it seems to keep getting better every year!
For more information about Pompano Beach, visit http://www.pompanobeachchamber.com/tourist-visitor-center/
For more information about Beach Vacation Rentals, visit https://4rentbythebeach.com
Gay travelers should also visit https://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/florida-events/florida-lgbt-events.html
By Steven Skelley and Thomas Routzong
We recently enjoyed a three-day getaway to Cottages By The Ocean in Pompano Beach, Florida. We had a private historic cottage in a group of 1940’s era cottages just two blocks from Pompano’s renovated beachfront that is an example of everything a family beach should be.
Elaine Fitzgerald is the proprietor of Beach Vacation Rentals which includes Cottages By The Ocean. Lucky for us, she is also the Tourism Chair for the Greater Pompano Beach / Margate / Lighthouse Point Chamber of Commerce and serves on the City’s Economic Development Council.
We asked her to tell us more about Pompano Beach.
How would you describe Pompano Beach in one sentence?
Pompano Beach’s motto is “Florida’s Warmest Welcome.”
What is special about Pompano Beach?
Pompano Beach, on the north side of Fort Lauderdale, has undergone a Renaissance over the last eight years, making it one of the most attractive up-and-coming oceanfront destinations in South Florida.
Still under-the-radar, it has begun to attract quite a bit of national attention this year. In January, Expedia chose Pompano Beach as its Florida choice for a story “Best Place to Escape to in Every State.”
In April, Time/Money Magazine ranked Pompano Beach the #1 beach in the U.S. for quality and value in a story “14 Greatest Beaches in the World, and What it Costs to Visit Them.”
After a $50 million remake of the public beach area three years ago, Pompano Beach has one of the prettiest and most pristine beaches in South Florida. Three miles of wide, sandy, uncrowded beaches are anchored to the North by historic Hillsboro Lighthouse and the city’s fishing fleet. A state-of-the-art fishing pier opens this March to replace the original pier.
Across from the pier is the city’s first-ever parking garage, an iconic building that looks more like a beautiful sculptured artwork, with a light show at night.
Pompano Beach did a makeover of Atlantic Boulevard, it’s main East-West gateway to the beach, created a vast cultural arts scene with four popular and diverse venues, and restoration of its historic downtown is well underway with craft breweries, outdoor public art, galleries and restaurants.
The city had famous designer Greg Norman rebuild one of its two public golf courses. Now Pompano can boast of having the only course in the country where you can play a Greg Norman designer course for public golf course fees. A five-mile jogging and biking greenway winds around the golf course, community park and the air park for private planes and helicopter tours.
Pompano extended the main runway of its historic Air Park (home to one of only three Goodyear Blimps) to allow a higher class of private jets to land there. It built a state-of-the-art dog park, aquatics and tennis centers in adjacent Community Park.
The City took part in a public/private venture to create Shipwreck Park, one mile offshore of the fishing pier. It’s perhaps the most easily accessible major dive site in the nation.
Now a not-for-profit organization, Shipwreck Park’s vast artificial reef system of 17 sunken wrecks and artwork is popular with divers, provides new habitat for marine life and most importantly helps protect the natural reefs nearby.
What kinds of lodgings are available in Pompano Beach?
Pompano Beach offers a variety of lodgings to meet everyone’s needs and budget. Among them on the higher end, Marriott offers a newly built traditional hotel and conference center toward the north end of the beach, and next to it is a Residence Inn by Marriott with suites, also right on the ocean.
To the south end of the beach on the ocean is the long-time, family-owned and operated Beachcomber Hotel and Villas. In the heart of the beach area, just 1-2 blocks to the beach and a short walk to dozens of restaurants, are five boutique properties owned and operated by Beach Vacation Rentals. This collection of pristine historic and vintage cottages and apartments offer lots of amenities and comforts of home for about the price of a single hotel room.
For those on more of a budget who don’t mind a five-minute drive to the beach, a brand-new Hampton Inn was built on Federal Highway in the city’s business district.
What kinds of dining is available in Pompano Beach?
Pompano Beach offers hundreds of restaurants of all types, and some really great ones.
I’ll highlight some of the favorites:
The only five-star restaurant in greater Fort Lauderdale is the quaint, bistro-style Café Max on Atlantic Boulevard.
For guests who want oceanfront dining, try the brand new Beach House Pompano next to the fishing pier. This casual, chic and trendy hotspot opened this year to rave reviews and has stellar rooftop views of the ocean.
Further South is Sea Watch - a long-time tourist favorite. But you may be wasting the view at night for oceanfront dining after dark.
A better option might be two fantastic seafood restaurants on the Intracoastal Waterway, where the night is lit up by marinas and passing yachts. You can choose to eat indoors or outdoors at both Sunset Catch and the Rusty Hook Tavern. They are both in the central beach area and prices are in the higher medium range.
For a moderate-priced and “happening” restaurant (not waterfront), try The Foundry, with its own take on American and Asian cuisine, plus a plentiful raw bar.
And along the same strip West of the Intracoastal is a wine/cigar bar, 50s-style breakfast diner, Japanese/sushi restaurant, German restaurant, pizza and deli places.
Don’t forget the Briney Irish Pub where Atlantic Boulevard stops at the ocean. It’s a perfect “cheers” bar with cheap eats, large servings and delicious!
Why is South Florida a great destination?
South Florida offers unparalleled dining, shopping, attractions and business centers. The lifestyle is casual, comfortable, vibrant, diverse and active with no cold and ice to slow you down. Free festivals with culture, music and food take place year-round in communities large and small, as do car shows, flea markets and green markets.
Our best kept secret is summertime. Most people do not realize that Florida’s Southeast coastal beaches, on a daily basis, are cooler and less humid in the summer than most of the cities in the Northeastern United States. Average afternoon highs peak at around 86 degrees here, when it’s in the 90s or sometimes breaking 100 in Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago.
While it also can be hot as blazes in Central Florida and along the Gulf Coast in the summer, you can easily knock off ten degrees on our side. So the secret’s out!
Conclusion
We enjoy Pompano Beach and it seems to keep getting better every year!
For more information about Pompano Beach, visit http://www.pompanobeachchamber.com/tourist-visitor-center/
For more information about Beach Vacation Rentals, visit https://4rentbythebeach.com
Gay travelers should also visit https://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/florida-events/florida-lgbt-events.html
Article by Steven Skelley and Thomas Routzong
Copyright 2018 Sunny Harbor Publishing Sunny Harbor Publishing, PO Box 560318, Rockledge, FL 32956 Phone: 321-252-9874 Email: [email protected] Website: www.SunnyHarborPublishing.org |
Gay Travelers Magazine
the best cruise & travel news, tips & reviews for the sensible gay traveler
the best cruise & travel news, tips & reviews for the sensible gay traveler