Nolan and I usually start our days with a work out at a local park and then get other chores done like laundry, grocery shopping, and cleaning the camper. But then we’re ready for an adventure!
Here are a few of our favorite places we’ve been and they are all FREE or very inexpensive.
Secret Woods Nature Center
This was such a fun place: so many nature trails where we saw ground crabs, big blue crabs, unique birds, walked through a butterfly garden, and even saw their snakes and turtles they have in the nature center. Inside the nature center is also a great area for the kids to color, play with nature-oriented toys and puzzles.
We spent a couple hours here and really loved all the trails and critters we saw.
Cost: FREE
Deerfield Beach Arboretum
Deerfield Beach is about a 20-30 minute drive from Fort Lauderdale, but seeing this Arboretum was totally worth the little trip.
The garden is not huge, so can easily see the whole area in less than an hour or you can take your time. There are so many beautiful plants and tropical flowers along the way.
In the middle of the garden is a beautiful water fall and stream. We also saw turtles, iguanas and birds a long the way.
Cost: FREE!
Deerfield Island Park
The best part of this activity was the FREE shuttle boat ride to the island. You can kayak or just ride the free shuttle that runs on the hour on the weekends. The boat leaves from Sullivan Park (See the website for more information on the times).
Once you’re on the island there are natural trails, picnic tables and wildlife, though we only saw lizards and iguanas. But we also saw this really cool honeycomb on the side of the tree.
After getting back on the boat and back to Sullivan Park, there is a playground and splash pad that are also great activities.
Cost: FREE
Boca Express Train Museum
I’m not actually sure if this Museum is still functioning–it didn’t look like much was going on when we were there. BUT this old train is still there and it was really fun walking around, climbing up the steps and taking pictures.
Cost: FREE!
Wynwood Walls
This is really a great activity for anyone! Wynwood Walls is a walkthrough wall art museum basically, and it’s located in Miami. It took us close to an hour to drive down there from Fort Lauderdale, but totally worth a day trip especially if you’re going to spend time at South Beach!
Wynwood Walls only takes a few minutes to walk through, but if you linger, take photos, etc. it’s definitely a destination to explore. Just a tip: be sure to check the website for the hours, it wasn’t open the first time we went to see it.
Cost: FREE
Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale
This was a fun short activity as well but could easily be stretched in to a day trip. We walked along the river, looked at boats, played tag in the grassy area, and spotted lizards, iguanas, and beautiful plants.
Cost: FREE!
Except the only parking I could find was $6.00 for the first hour.
The Fergusons 