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Best Sports And Recreation Value

Gulfstream Park

You can't even get into a concert these days for much less than $20 or $30. So when you consider that a show by an act like Cheap Trick or Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is included in the $3 admission fee every Saturday and Sunday at Gulfstream Park, the economics are evident. Also included for that measly two bucks is parking, a race program, and -- oh yeah -- a full day of high-caliber thoroughbred horseracing. All of the dough you're saving, of course, is fodder for betting on the ponies or for spending at the track's restaurants or well-stocked snack bars and cocktail counters. And in addition to the concerts, another track perk is Showtime at the Inside Track Room, a free live program during which patrons learn how to wager, held every Saturday and Sunday at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m.

Best Spot For Skinny-Dipping

Hallandale North Beach Park

Hallandale's North Beach is the beach that trespassing regulations forgot. It's bad enough that hotels, motels, and estates claim most of the Atlantic shoreline in Broward and Palm Beach, but after dusk most parks are gated, heavily policed, or too populated for you to strip down in safety. Amid this prohibition North Beach's laissez-faire attitude and its relatively clean beach (seaweed and debris are swept from the sand daily) are refreshing and available. Despite the water tower painted like a beach ball, North Beach keeps a low profile by moonlight. Lifeguards are off duty, police presence is minimal, and the few couples parked in the beach parking lot can't glimpse your bare bum through the natural barrier formed by a sand ridge topped with brush. The risk of discovery, of course, only increases the thrill (and the goose bumps). Linger on the water's edge if you dare or dart into the surf, tossing a "last one in's a rotten egg" over your shoulder. The salty chill of the sea, the constant rocking of the waves, and the watery reflection of the stars make even the fanciest private pool seem too staid for the true nature-loving skinny-dipper.

Best Tennis Courts

Jimmy Evert Tennis Center at Holiday Park

Tired of going to the two-court spot closest to home and finding hacks swatting the ball back and forth on both of them? Sick of playing on the same tired surface? Don't have a ready partner but want to swat some tennis balls anyway? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, try Holiday Park, where they serve up tennis the way it oughta be, with clay or without, hold the waiting. And it's centrally located off Federal Highway just south of Sunrise Boulevard. There are 21 beautifully maintained courts at the park (eighteen clay, three hard-surface), and the cost for singles play is $3.50 an hour to play on clay, $2.50 on a hard surface. Pocket change. It's a buck extra if you're from outside the Fort Lauderdale city limits, so we suggest that if you have one, show a driver's license that has "Fort Lauderdale" on it. If you're having problems finding a tennis partner, you can spend an intimate hour with a tennis machine for $10. (Use of the machine can be had all year for $75.) The park also offers memberships, leagues, and other events for those who just can't get enough of the old back-and-forth.

Best Yoga

Yoga Warehouse

What does a newspaper editor know about balancing upright on the crest of one's skull? What could a newspaper editor possibly know about an ancient Indian practice that steadies the mind and flattens the stomach? Plenty, it seems. Last year Stuart Purdy, a former editor turned yoga guru, opened a tiny yoga studio in a warehouse space near the railroad tracks in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Although competition is slim in this land of implants and tummy tucks, Purdy's classes remain small and his attention very personal. We like the balance he achieves between strenuous and soothing. Your heart rate quickens as he helps you contort your body in ways you never imagined possible. It slows as he instructs you to lie on your back, breathing deeply, just shy of sleep. And the reward for all that twisting, straining, and heavy breathing? A euphoria that lingers far longer than a bong hit or a shot of tequila -- and no hangover either.

Best Of Broward-Palm Beach®

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