Flee to Fort Lauderdale

If the recent wave of chilly weather has you hankering for someplace a bit warmer, there’s good news. The first few weeks in the new year are a slow travel period so deals abound, including fares starting at $85 round-trip fare from New Orleans to Fort Lauderdale on JetBlue.  I’ve waxed poetic before about this budget airline that actually has comfortable seating, excellent free onboard entertainment, groovy snacks, and they let you bring a standard-sized carry on bag for free. I love south Florida, even though I’m not much of a beach person. Two of my favorite spots there are Mai Kai, one of the few remaining of the original Tiki Bars, founded in 1956. Back in the 'sixties it was a popular hangout for Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon. About a forty-five-minute drive south of the Fort Lauderdale airport is the amazing Wynwood neighborhood in Miami. Sadly you may have first heard about this neighborhood as the Zika Zone. But it’s now been declared Zika free, although visitors are still advised to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes as a precautionary measure.

Now the neighborhood, famed for its countless murals, can reclaim its previous reputation as a groovy, artsy, foodie epicenter. The neighborhood reminds me a bit of the Faubourg Marigny in New Orleans, in the way that in just a few years, it’s transformed itself into a hipster haven.