What festival would be complete without plenty of head-sucking? We're talking about crawfish, of course, and the annual Cajun/ Zydeco Crawfish Festival comes with 35,000 pounds of the gnarly little crustaceans alive and kicking. Then throw in red beans and rice, crawfish bisque, étouffée, alligator, and muffulettas, all of it spicy. And there's enough gumbo at the festival to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool, too. When you're not busy spiking your tongue with the hot eats, you can get up and dance to the accordion-squeezing, foot-stomping zydeco music playing on stages complete with wooden dance floors. Bands like BeauSoleil, the Savoy Cajun Band, the VooDudes, the Déjà Vu Cajun Dance Band, and the Gumbo Junkyard kept the stadium rockin' in 1999, and if that wasn't enough to loosen you up, the fest offers red hurricanes and other assorted spirits being poured at a harrowing clip. For all you family stiffs, the place is tailor-made for kids, too, with children's activities, storytelling, and Cajun history lessons. Of course, it doesn't come cheap: Tickets cost $12 (will be $14 this year) at the gate (children age 12 and under free), and you have to pay for the food and beverages. Then again, the good things in life are rarely free.

At first glance Morey's Lounge looks like your average hillbilly hangout. No flashing neon lights announce "Topless Showgirls." No billboard promotes special appearances by porn starlets like Barbi Leigh. No valet awaits in some feeble attempt to make it seem like you're doing something more refined than gawking at naked babes. Morey's offers simply a pair of signs on the windowless door warning against "weapons" and "biker attire" and a small roadside billboard advertising "topless go-go-girls." Topless (and bottomless) go-go girl is more like it. Most nights the lone dancer on the makeshift runway is on a first-name basis with the handful of men in the joint and consults them before picking her tunes from a jukebox stocked with Bob Seger songs and country standards. Don't expect to see silicone-enhanced, liposuction-sculpted beauties like you find at most South Florida titty bars. The dancers at Morey's more closely resemble the big-haired girl from the wrong side of the tracks whom you secretly lusted after in high school. We're never sure whether to cover our eyes in embarrassment or order another $4 Bud and slip another dollar in her garter belt. After all, she probably has six little ones waiting back home at the trailer park.

At first glance Morey's Lounge looks like your average hillbilly hangout. No flashing neon lights announce "Topless Showgirls." No billboard promotes special appearances by porn starlets like Barbi Leigh. No valet awaits in some feeble attempt to make it seem like you're doing something more refined than gawking at naked babes. Morey's offers simply a pair of signs on the windowless door warning against "weapons" and "biker attire" and a small roadside billboard advertising "topless go-go-girls." Topless (and bottomless) go-go girl is more like it. Most nights the lone dancer on the makeshift runway is on a first-name basis with the handful of men in the joint and consults them before picking her tunes from a jukebox stocked with Bob Seger songs and country standards. Don't expect to see silicone-enhanced, liposuction-sculpted beauties like you find at most South Florida titty bars. The dancers at Morey's more closely resemble the big-haired girl from the wrong side of the tracks whom you secretly lusted after in high school. We're never sure whether to cover our eyes in embarrassment or order another $4 Bud and slip another dollar in her garter belt. After all, she probably has six little ones waiting back home at the trailer park.

One of this bar's best traits is its location, location, location. It's far enough north on Hollywood's Broadwalk to escape the teeming sunburned masses, but it's still only footsteps away from the tide. Mexican tile, honey-toned woods, and a cascade of white Christmas lights adorning the walls give the place a cozy and unpretentious feel. Two large plate glass windows face east and south for a nightly view that includes coconut palms, moonlit waters, and cruise ships twinkling on the horizon. But this lounge also opens up at 8 a.m. and serves buttermilk pancakes, omelets, and freshly squeezed orange juice, which, for those in need of a little hair of the dog, can be spiked with your choice of vodka. The kitchen also offers a prime rib special on Thursday nights ($11.95) and typical bar fare such as fried mozzarella sticks and slaw dogs. Weekends get hectic with regulars roaring up on Harleys and Ninjas, but weeknights belong to the mellow, the contemplative, and the clandestine.

One of this bar's best traits is its location, location, location. It's far enough north on Hollywood's Broadwalk to escape the teeming sunburned masses, but it's still only footsteps away from the tide. Mexican tile, honey-toned woods, and a cascade of white Christmas lights adorning the walls give the place a cozy and unpretentious feel. Two large plate glass windows face east and south for a nightly view that includes coconut palms, moonlit waters, and cruise ships twinkling on the horizon. But this lounge also opens up at 8 a.m. and serves buttermilk pancakes, omelets, and freshly squeezed orange juice, which, for those in need of a little hair of the dog, can be spiked with your choice of vodka. The kitchen also offers a prime rib special on Thursday nights ($11.95) and typical bar fare such as fried mozzarella sticks and slaw dogs. Weekends get hectic with regulars roaring up on Harleys and Ninjas, but weeknights belong to the mellow, the contemplative, and the clandestine.

With drag queens a dime a dozen these days, it's increasingly difficult for cross-dressers to stay fabulous and original at the same time. How many more impersonations of Madonna and Cher can we take? Well, kids, if you're looking for originality, check out Daisy DeadPetals, née Ken Calabria. Daisy is the proud holder of state and national titles in gender-bending pageants, and she's also a fixture on the South Florida drag circuit. Many female impersonators strive to create the illusion of real womanhood, and some can do it with jaw-dropping realism. But it's also important to win over your audience, and this is where Daisy shines. On any given Sunday, you can find her in the "Life's a Drag" show at the Voodoo Lounge in downtown Fort Lauderdale (formerly Independence Brewery). Not only does she strut her petite frame across the stage in impossibly short skirts and hot pants, she's quite the entertainer, too. She performs energetic and comedic "mixes," which are sound bites painstakingly spliced together from movies and/or songs to create a mini-musical. Not surprisingly, these mixes are on the bawdy side, but they're definitely funny. And while Daisy does her share of lip-synching, it's not to the typical drag-show standards, which in recent years have come to be anything by Celine Dion.

With drag queens a dime a dozen these days, it's increasingly difficult for cross-dressers to stay fabulous and original at the same time. How many more impersonations of Madonna and Cher can we take? Well, kids, if you're looking for originality, check out Daisy DeadPetals, née Ken Calabria. Daisy is the proud holder of state and national titles in gender-bending pageants, and she's also a fixture on the South Florida drag circuit. Many female impersonators strive to create the illusion of real womanhood, and some can do it with jaw-dropping realism. But it's also important to win over your audience, and this is where Daisy shines. On any given Sunday, you can find her in the "Life's a Drag" show at the Voodoo Lounge in downtown Fort Lauderdale (formerly Independence Brewery). Not only does she strut her petite frame across the stage in impossibly short skirts and hot pants, she's quite the entertainer, too. She performs energetic and comedic "mixes," which are sound bites painstakingly spliced together from movies and/or songs to create a mini-musical. Not surprisingly, these mixes are on the bawdy side, but they're definitely funny. And while Daisy does her share of lip-synching, it's not to the typical drag-show standards, which in recent years have come to be anything by Celine Dion.

"Do I make you horny, baby? Do I?" Austin Powers may claim to be the man who put the "grrr" in swinger, but he has nothing on the guys who own the Trapeze Club, which sends whatever image you may have of a swingers' club out the window. Behind its bland storefront are plush surroundings that make the Trapeze the Ritz-Carlton of "alternative-lifestyle" clubs: a stylishly lit triangular dance floor backed by a mirrored wall; an L-shape mahogany bar and lounge area; a lavish buffet of cheeses, fruits, and other hors d'oeuvres in a corner where couples engage in conversation and occasionally glance at the video screens above. On the way to the fun spots down the hallway, you'll pass a room with a pool table, couches, and adult video games, and male and female locker rooms are located across from the main social room, where there's a comfy sectional that can accommodate up to 10 or 15 people, always conducive to a "friendly" atmosphere. For people looking to get wet, there are three hot tubs side by side in another room, and the biggest room has four adjacent king-size beds. There's even a modified swing (read: sling) where a reclining body can sway freely back and forth. But it's the elegance and the cleanliness that make this hot spot an easy place to let yourself go -- little details like the tasseled throw pillows, the soft-colored walls, the intimate lighting. Of course an adult playground wouldn't be complete without fun themes like Disco Thursdays, Schoolgirl Nights, and Pumps-Only Nights, and monthly contests and events such as an erotic food-eating contest make for great interaction. Open to all willing and free-spirited adults, including singles (except for Saturdays and Sundays, which are reserved for couples), Trapeze is one club where you won't need a safety net for a high-flying act.

"Do I make you horny, baby? Do I?" Austin Powers may claim to be the man who put the "grrr" in swinger, but he has nothing on the guys who own the Trapeze Club, which sends whatever image you may have of a swingers' club out the window. Behind its bland storefront are plush surroundings that make the Trapeze the Ritz-Carlton of "alternative-lifestyle" clubs: a stylishly lit triangular dance floor backed by a mirrored wall; an L-shape mahogany bar and lounge area; a lavish buffet of cheeses, fruits, and other hors d'oeuvres in a corner where couples engage in conversation and occasionally glance at the video screens above. On the way to the fun spots down the hallway, you'll pass a room with a pool table, couches, and adult video games, and male and female locker rooms are located across from the main social room, where there's a comfy sectional that can accommodate up to 10 or 15 people, always conducive to a "friendly" atmosphere. For people looking to get wet, there are three hot tubs side by side in another room, and the biggest room has four adjacent king-size beds. There's even a modified swing (read: sling) where a reclining body can sway freely back and forth. But it's the elegance and the cleanliness that make this hot spot an easy place to let yourself go -- little details like the tasseled throw pillows, the soft-colored walls, the intimate lighting. Of course an adult playground wouldn't be complete without fun themes like Disco Thursdays, Schoolgirl Nights, and Pumps-Only Nights, and monthly contests and events such as an erotic food-eating contest make for great interaction. Open to all willing and free-spirited adults, including singles (except for Saturdays and Sundays, which are reserved for couples), Trapeze is one club where you won't need a safety net for a high-flying act.

Respectable Street feels like three clubs in one: One moment it's a cozy theater for live music -- local, national, and beyond. Walk in on a different night, and it's a sweaty dance club throbbing with hotties and boisterous beats. During the day it'll change stripes again, becoming a comfy lounge with overstuffed couches, chaises, and a small but sweet patio out back. The staffers understand they're in a pocket of the country where alternative-college music doesn't have a large following, but that hasn't hindered the gang's efforts to bring some challenging acts to the venue. If some cool and obscure act is planning a South Florida trip, you can almost count on it ending up at Respectable's. Among the recent high points from the club's 12-year quest for something different: the raunch-rock of Nashville Pussy, the ska-punk of Johnny Socko, arty Irish cabaret crooner Gavin Friday, the Young Gods and their industrial mayhem, Mojo Nixon's political comedy-commentary, the quirky good fun of They Might Be Giants, the Japanese cutesy-kitsch of Pizzicato Five, the Dutch electronic weirdness of Legendary Pink Dots, and altcountry superstars Son Volt. The room also hosts some great dance action, such as its '80s goth/new-wave nights, Wednesday's after-dark electronica evening, and Sonic Saturday's drum 'n' bass extravaganza.