#25 Say Hello to Hollywood, FL
We had such a great time visiting for a sunny week in February 2021, I signed up for a month in Hollywood, FL. We did this knowing that in the third week of February 2021, Dolly the poodle would be coming into our life. She is a high-energy and mischievous miniature poodle. I drove from Alexandria to Florida so that I could bring Dolly along and have my car for the whole month of my stay.
The drive went very well and I learned a lot about my beautiful dog. She doesn’t want to eliminate when I stop at rest areas and I stopped at a lot of rest areas. I was worried that she might have an accident and might be uncomfortable. In nearly twenty hours of driving and multiple stops to “walk,” Dolly did absolutely nothing.
We have family in Hollywood so that is where we have rented a place. Hollywood feels a lot different from a lot of the other towns in South Florida. They have a 2.5-mile walkway made of pavers called the Broadwalk (not the Boardwalk) that is flanked by palm trees and the beach on the East side. On the west side is an eclectic mix of hotels, homes, coffee shops, tacky souvenir shops, bars and restaurants. You will hear both Spanish and French spoken freely from vacationers from South America and Quebec. You might also hear some Portuguese and Hebrew as thousands of walkers and bikers take to the Broadwalk every day.
The beach is very much a place of free and public access (no pets.) Many of the other towns along the coast also have free and public beaches but they are hidden behind very tall and imposing hotels, condo building or hotels with little parking. Those beautiful beaches are not really for everybody. Hollywood feels like it is absolutely there for everybody.
On the first Sunday of the month, we took a free walking tour of downtown Hollywood that is sponsored by the Hollywood Historical Society. Tours (hollywoodhistoricalsociety.org) We learned that the town first dubbed “Hollywood by the Sea,” was envisioned and founded in 1920 by a wealthy real estate man named Joseph W. Young, Jr. From the historical site web page,
“Young spent millions to build several elegant resort hotels, a renowned Country Club, various office buildings, a bridge at the Boulevard spanning the Inland Waterway, a splendid railroad station, an Olympic salt-water pool, and a school. He gave these to the city, together with land for parks. His city, from the start, had underground power cables, water and sewers, a telephone system, sidewalks, and handsome street lighting.”
The city’s remodeled main circle is now named after Young. The tour is an enjoyable way to learn about the local history and lore.
On the north end of the Broadwalk, a residential area still allows public access to the wide and mostly deserted beach. The area borders with Dania, the town to the north. The Broadwalk has a lane for bikes and another filled with walkers and joggers. Sorry friends and family in Wisconsin and New York, the weather here is spectacular.
Every morning, I try to join the hoards walking on the Broadwalk or in one of the nearby state parks. I am taking the opportunity to read more books and write more blog posts. I am promoting the book that I wrote. My husband is here for the first half then kids coming and going for the second. I intend to soak up every bit of sunshine that I can (using SPF 50). And I learned something very important. Dolly doesn’t have to go outside nearly as often as I thought she did.
