How True Fort Lauderdaleans Celebrate 100 Years

A city’s opening centennial ceremony sounds like a drab, sober ribbon-cutting or an historian-orchestrated parade, full of crying babies and hot-dog eating. But for Fort Lauderdale’s Opening Centennial Ceremony, our city decided to sanction a pub crawl along Fort Lauderdale Beach, and it threw in a red-and-yellow Sun Trolley to transport us from bar to bar to boot. Many birthday soirees (there will be ribbon-cutting and parades) will continue throughout 2011: Fort Lauderdale was incorporated March 27, 1911. But Tuesday, the Fort Lauderdale Bus Loop will host the party as Fort Lauderdaleans cruise down the strip via trolleys for the “Light Up the Beach” kickoff celebration. We’ll gaze and honor Fort Lauderdale’s old age when the giant “100 Year” sign gets lit, as we’re getting lit (you can drink on the trolley). Perfect. Here’s how the bus loop works: After forking over $18 beforehand or $25 at the pickup stations (in true Fort Lauderdale fashion, the main check-in spot is at the Galleria Mall), you score a drinking card that allows you to obtain free drinks and some appetizers at hot spots along the beach such as Bahi Mar Resort, Hyatt Pier 66, Shula’s on the Beach, the Atlantic, the Parrot, Cafe Del Mar, LuLu’s Baitshack, and Blue Martini. The bus loop runs from 5 to 10 p.m., but trolleys hang around till midnight, making sure stragglers make it back to their appropriate spots (which, if you’re smashed, will not be your car: Call Red Cap at 954-903-0833, call a cab, or stumble home. All proceeds go to charity. Call 954-260-6194, or visit busloop.org.
Tue., Nov. 23, 5 p.m., 2010