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What's to do in Weston (Vacation Village at Bonaventure), Florida?

Judy

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We (a retired couple) are thinking about booking a week at Vacation Village at Bonaventure, Weston, Florida to stay in while visiting Everglades National Park. The northern entrance is about an hour from Weston, but the other two entrances are too far for a day trip. So I think we'll only be spending a couple of days in the park. What can we do for the rest of the week? Also, are there any restaurants in the area that have outdoor seating?
 

moonstone

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77,000 RCI points (Sunrise Ridge Resort, TN)
We enjoyed riding the water taxi (Water Taxi | Ft. Lauderdale, FL | Water Trolley | things to do in) on all it's routes (a day pass) as the captains gave a commentary and pointed out various well known folks' million dollar homes. We also always spend a day at the huge (built on a 3 screen drive in theater lot) swap shop (Flea Market | Drive in Movies| Florida Swap Shop ) a short drive away down 441. If you are into shopping the huge Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall is also a short drive away in Sunrise. We usually go there in the evening just to walk around as much of it is outdoors even though it is built as a mall. You dont even realize you walk outside in some of the isles/hallways until you look up.

Sorry I cant help with the restaurants, we eat most meals in the unit.


~Diane
 

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Flamingo Gardens is pretty cool. Miami is not that far away. Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale is great for dining / nightlife. Quite a few museums in the area.

I live just south of Weston. Resort style life most of the year with the tropical climate and my own pool. Usually have dinner / lunch at home and/or typical chains. Sometimes a nice steakhouse.

Pembroke Gardens (not far from Weston on I-75) is pretty cool: restaurants and shops outdoor.

SW / W Broward is very residential with mostly gated communities.

I usually go to Hollywood for the beach. Because of convenience.

A day trip across Alligator Alley to Naples / Marco Island is another option: very different from Miami metro.

I usually go to a Panera for lunch in SE Weston a few days a week. Next to a Bonefish Grill. They have a nice patio. I like the fully grown royal palms: has more of a California vibe to it than Florida IMO.

There is a safari park in Palm Beach that may be fun if you like that.
 
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rapmarks

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Bonnet house is a nice visit. Flamingo and shark valley are close enough for day trips to see Everglades national park. When we stayed there the resort offered a day trip tour if Miami area
 

Judy

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Flamingo and shark valley are close enough for day trips to see Everglades national park.
We plan to go to Everglades National Park at the Shark Valley entrance, but according to googlemaps, Flamingo is almost a two hour drive each way. Is it worth it if you've already visited Shark Valley?
 

silentg

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We frequently stay at VV in Weston, our son lives nearby. We do a lot at the resort itself. Not sure if they have brought activities back, but in the past, they had welcome breakfast, ice cream socials, lunch cookout, and bingo. Some water games in the pool. There are 3 resorts in the complex VV at Weston, Mizner and Buena Vista, we prefer VV at Weston, because of the pool and activities. There are lots of stores and restaurants in the town square nearby. Like others we mostly eat in the Timeshare.
 

rapmarks

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We plan to go to Everglades National Park at the Shark Valley entrance, but according to googlemaps, Flamingo is almost a two hour drive each way. Is it worth it if you've already visited Shark Valley?
Pretty different. One you ride a tram and go to an overlook. The other has a boardwalk and other areas and you see a lot of birds snd alligators. I don’t remember it being two hours. I bet the section bear the entrance has a different name than flamingo
 

Talent312

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I bet the section near the entrance has a different name than Flamingo.

It's thru Homestead/Florida City. Definitely worth the drive and time.
Near the entrance, the Anhinga Nature Trail is worthwhile.
At Flamingo, there' boat trips, canoe rentals and dining.
Remember to bring insect repellant from May-September.
.
 

rapmarks

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Anhinga was the place I meant to recommend. At dusk was teeming with birds
 

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The Keys is always an option as well (with a stayover obviously). Nothing beats walking around Key West and not remembering the next day. Kind of a tropical Mardi Gras all year long. ;)

There are also native American casinos in the Miami area.

https://www.seminolehardrockhollywood.com/hotel/the-guitar-hotel (upscale IMO)
https://www.seminoleclassiccasino.com (lower class IMO)
https://www.seminolecoconutcreekcasino.com (pretty nice IMO)
https://miccosukee.com (lower class IMO)

Non native American casinos:
https://www.magiccitycasino.com (unique experience if you are into Cuban-American culture or open to experiencing it)
http://www.hialeahparkcasino.com (unique experience if you are into Cuban-American culture or open to experiencing it)
https://www.islepompanopark.com (part of Caesars)
https://www.caldercasino.com (commuter casino)
https://gulfstreamparkcasino.com (pretty cool)
https://www.casinodaniabeach.com (pretty cool)

Nothing like Vegas or even Atlantic City but could be a nice night out.
 

Deb & Bill

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We plan to go to Everglades National Park at the Shark Valley entrance, but according to googlemaps, Flamingo is almost a two hour drive each way. Is it worth it if you've already visited Shark Valley?
There really isn't much to do at Shark Valley other than take the tram out to the tower and then back again. Maybe a couple of hours. Plus you'll need a reservation to take the tram out. A couple of days will be a lot of time for very little to see unless you make the drive south to the other entrance. Also, when the parking lot is full at Shark Valley, you wait in your car in line until enough cars leave the lot for you and the cars ahead of you to enter the parking lot. I see lots of cars parking along the road (Tamiami), but there are also a lot of signs saying No Parking. Bring bug spray or you'll be the lunch for a bunch of mosquitos and biting flies.
 

rapmarks

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Thanks for the heads-up on Shark Valley tram reservations.
I understand there are bicycle trails at Shark Valley also. Has anyone tried those?
I haven’t tried the bike trails but the place is teeming with alligators
 

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My wife and I did the 15 mile main loop by bike. It's the same route the tram takes but has the advantage of you being able to stop whenever you want. Lots of wildlife and alligators, including idiots who get too close to the alligators and bother them. We did it early in they before it got too hot. Very little shade on the trail.
 

Judy

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My wife and I did the 15 mile main loop by bike. It's the same route the tram takes but has the advantage of you being able to stop whenever you want. Lots of wildlife and alligators, including idiots who get too close to the alligators and bother them. We did it early in they before it got too hot. Very little shade on the trail.
What time of year did you do the bicycle loop? We're going the first week of May. I'm wondering whether it will be too hot, rainy, and buggy for a bicycle ride.
 

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What time of year did you do the bicycle loop? We're going the first week of May. I'm wondering whether it will be too hot, rainy, and buggy for a bicycle ride.
We did it the second week of April. We were 60 years old at the time. In May I would only do it first thing in the morning. It will be hot as there is very little shade as I mentioned. Thunderstorms in Florida tend to be in the afternoon at that time of year. I do not recall bugs being a problem. We did cover ourselves in sunscreen and OFF.
 

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Everglades Holiday Park is close to Weston (& 5 minutes from my house).


Took my son last month. Super long lines. No real enforcement of COVID rules either (not that I care personally: but some people do and that is OK of course).

You have a good shot at seeing alligators, turtles, fish, iguanas, vultures and other cool birds.

Brio at Pembroke Gardens has outdoor seating that is pretty nice.
 

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Everglades Holiday Park

Thanks for the warning. We're old enough to die of COVID, and even if we weren't, we wouldn't want to spread it to other people, so we'll be avoiding that place.

Cool. You may generally find that FL is extremely lax about COVID. Another example is Sawgrass: went there yesterday to look for a Samsonite suitcase. It was not jam packed like on Black Friday last November but no enforcement to be seen.

Already had it twice: very prevalent here. Everything is open so really easy to catch.
 

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It has been quite a few years since we were in the Weston area, but we loved the Everglades Holiday Park. We also enjoyed renting a canoe at Mark Markham Park (I think that was the name of it), We were there in mid-May, and it was hot and steamy.

Dori
 

AndySamuels

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Markham Park is great.


Take my sons biking there occasionally.

Vista View is another cool park: reclaimed landfill with relatively high hills (for SFL): great views of Broward County.


Plus there are burrowing owls: really cute.

All these parks are used for COVID testing / vaccination to an extent right now however.
 
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