"Ice" Skating, Fort Lauderdale-Style

If you have ever sat on the beach as a kid in December and squinted your eyes at the white sand, trying to pretend it was snow, you might be a native Floridian. Taken to a public park and plopped on a giant pile of shaved ice and told to...

By Rebecca McBane

November 24, 2011

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If you have ever sat on the beach as a kid in December and squinted your eyes at the white sand, trying to pretend it was snow, you might be a native Floridian. Taken to a public park and plopped on a giant pile of shaved ice and told to make a "snowman" before it melts? You might be a native Floridian. Singing "White Christmas" 20 times in a row in the vain hope that Santa might help you out with a few Christmas flurries? You are definitely a native -- and probably need some therapy -- because you grew up in the land of perpetual summer, where it can be oh so hard to conjure up holiday cheer. Kidding -- even Floridians can enjoy some reindeer games. Friday, when you're done putting lights on the palm trees (too early?), gather up the family and head over to Skate Las Olas on the Riverside Hotel Lawn (620 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale). Until January 1, there will be a 1,800-square-foot outdoor skating rink. Yup, outside. Made from a special plastic -- and coated with something to help you glide -- the "ice" is like a white plastic cutting board sprayed with Pam. You don't have to worry that it will melt out from under you.

The rink is open to children and adults and can be rented for private parties. Rink hours are 4 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday until December 16. From December 17 through January , it will be open from noon to 9 p.m. Tickets cost $6 for 30 minutes on the "ice." Visit skatelasolas.com, call 954-377-0972, or email [email protected].
Nov. 25-Jan. 1, 2011

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Rebecca McBane is the arts and culture/food editor for New Times Broward-Palm Beach. She began her journalism career at the Sun Sentinel's community newspaper offshoot, Forum Publishing Group, where she worked as the editorial assistant and wrote monthly features as well as the weekly library and literature column, "Shelf Life." After a brief stint bumming around London's East End (for no conceivable reason, according to her poor mother), she returned to real life and South Florida to start at New Times as the editorial assistant in 2009. A native Floridian, Rebecca avoids the sun and beach at all costs and can most often be found in a well-air-conditioned space with the glow of a laptop on her face.

Contact: Rebecca McBane

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