Field Report No. 19 · Family trip
Fort Lauderdale Florida, USA
Fort Lauderdale back when our oldest was a baby: Las Olas at golden hour, slow mornings on the sand, and early bedtimes.
Field Report
No. 19
Family trip
Fort Lauderdale Florida, USA
Worth knowing about.
- Coordinates
- 26.1224° N, 80.1373° W
- Traveled
- 2016
- Kid-readiness
- As easy as travel gets with a baby: sand, shade, and a stroller-flat boulevard
- Where we stayed
- Right on the beach, walking distance to the water
- The non-negotiable
- A slow morning on the sand before the sun gets mean, then the boulevard at golden hour
- What we'd skip
- Trying to make a baby run on a schedule. The day runs on her clock, not yours.
- Best season
- Spring, before the summer humidity and the afternoon storms roll in
- Points & hacking
- A short domestic hop, the kind you book on cash or a small chunk of points, not a splurge
26.1224° N, 80.1373° W
This is one of the old ones. We had one baby, a bag of sun hats we mostly forgot to use, and no real plan past “get her to the water.” Florida in the spring, back when a whole day could be built around a single nap.
We’ll be straight with you: this wasn’t an itinerary trip. It was a survive-and-savor trip, the kind you take when your oldest is small enough to fit in the crook of your arm and everything is new to her. The beach did most of the work. She sat in the wet sand and looked personally offended by the ocean, and that was the whole afternoon.
A slow beach morning, back to the room while she naps, then the boulevard at golden hour when the heat breaks and the palms go soft.
The rhythm that worked
Mornings on the sand before the sun turned mean. Midday back at the room for the nap that runs the whole operation. Then, late afternoon, we’d walk Las Olas Boulevard, the palm-lined stretch of shops and cafés a few blocks off the water. It’s flat, it’s shaded, and it’s the rare place where a stroller and a slow pace feel like the point instead of the problem.
What it actually was
Not a big trip. A small, sun-bleached one, the kind you don’t fully appreciate until you’re a few years and one more kid past it. If you’ve got a baby and you’re waiting for the “right” age to travel, this is the argument against waiting. She won’t remember it. You will.
