Fort Lauderdale - Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

Up until I went to Florida, I thought the Hard Rock was just a restaurant chain. Boy was I wrong. On my last night in Fort Lauderdale in February, some local friends of mine took me out for "ladies night" at a club within the massive complex that is the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The thing is like a miniature city unto itself. Tons of restaurants, bars, clubs, theaters, billiard halls, and more than one hotel and casino mind you. Plus a big lake with pretty lit up fountains (the above picture doesn't really do it justice). Of course, it wasn't as flashy as someplace like Vegas but it was so much more than I expected. I honestly don't even remember what club we went to (maybe Pangaea?) because I was just so in awe the whole night of the craziness that was surrounding me. I had also never been in a casino before, so that was cool to see but I didn't end up finding the time to gamble (I was too busy drinking for free and dancing my butt off!).

And even though the whole place is maybe a little cheesy/over-the-top, I'd still recommend it (especially if the clubs have a lady's night for you ladies out there because then you can drink for free!) and I had so much fun!

Ft. Lauderdale - The Embassy Suites

If you can afford it, I have to recommend The Embassy Suites if you find yourself staying in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I've always been a fan of Embassy Suites hotels in general but this one is particularly gorgeous, with a beautiful garden court in the center of the building (where you can eat your continental breakfast and have free drinks from 5-7pm), a lovely heated swimming pool and hot tub with palm trees to shade you from the sun and a sort of pueblo-style architecture with warm colors and stucco. The one downside is that the hotel doesn't have free wi-fi (and I find it utterly riciculous that they want you to pay $10/day on top of what you're already paying for your room just for wireless internet). I spent a great deal of time by that pool though because of the lack of wireless, so perhaps it wasn't the end of the world (though I had hoped to get more work done while on my trip). And the pool was nice and empty because it was February and there was a "cold front" (ie it was only 67 degrees F, but that was way warmer than the -2 it was here in NYC and the sun kept me nice and warm).

The Miami Seaquarium

I have to admit that when we first decided to go to the Miami Seaquarium, I thought it would be cheesy and I thought I would feel sad for the animals. It was a little cheesy and maybe I did even feel a little sad for the animals (not to mention it was EXPENSIVE) but overall I thought it was actually quite cool. The dolphins seemed pretty content (they're fed quite well, probably much better than dolphins eat in the wild). We saw the sea lion show and the Orca show. Plus we got to see the bottle nose dolphins being fed. The shows were definitely a little cheesy but still really fun. The seal show was by far the cheesiest, but it was cute. The orca show was actually pretty cool - I was always obsessed with whales and dolphins growing up and orca's were my favorite so it was pretty awesome for me to see one up close and personal like that. And he seemed to be treated well although his tank did seem kind of small for a creature of his magnificent size.

Overall, I would say it was worth the cost of admission, especially if you're obsessed with whales and dolphins like me. In the end, this was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.