Today we will depart from the Sample Road / State Road 834 going south on University Drive / ST 817 in the city of Coral Springs. Our journey will take place mostly on urban land and main avenues. Apart from a few parks, gardens, vegetation and trees that decorate the streets, we won't see a single unbuilt spot. For now we will be moving among large commercial buildings and later some plazas with shops and restaurants.
The roads through which we’ll circulate are wide and most of them have lanes to move in relative safety on the bike since the traffic in this region is extremely dense any day of the week, regardless of the time.
Three miles later we’ll cross a canal and arrive in Tamarac, the next stop on our tour. The landscape around us remains unchanged. After briefly going through Sunrise and Plantation, we turn left at the Oakland Park Blvd / SR 816. Later we’ll enter Lauderdale Lakes.
In the US 441 / State Road 7 road we head south and then east on Sunrise Blvd / SR 838. This street is not as wide as the avenues we’ve been through, and yet it has two lanes in each direction. On each side and since we left behind the regional county park, there’ll be plenty of shops. Lauderhill is up next and it was established in 1959 by Herbert Sadkin. At first the houses were prefabricated and they all were obviously very similar.
The roads through which we’ll circulate are wide and most of them have lanes to move in relative safety on the bike since the traffic in this region is extremely dense any day of the week, regardless of the time.
Three miles later we’ll cross a canal and arrive in Tamarac, the next stop on our tour. The landscape around us remains unchanged. After briefly going through Sunrise and Plantation, we turn left at the Oakland Park Blvd / SR 816. Later we’ll enter Lauderdale Lakes.
In the US 441 / State Road 7 road we head south and then east on Sunrise Blvd / SR 838. This street is not as wide as the avenues we’ve been through, and yet it has two lanes in each direction. On each side and since we left behind the regional county park, there’ll be plenty of shops. Lauderhill is up next and it was established in 1959 by Herbert Sadkin. At first the houses were prefabricated and they all were obviously very similar.
Image courtesy of Mike Cohen at Flickr.com
After the Interstate 95 we’ll make a brief foray into Fort Lauderdale, although quickly we’ll go north on NE 4th Avenue / SR 811 which later becomes Wilton Drive. At this time we will pass by near Lazy Lake. This small village has only 13 houses, with the peculiarity that is the only one in Broward in which the native language is English. Wilton Manors is another village with a population of around 11,000 people. It was incorporated in 1947 and is nicknamed Island City. In its streets we will see countless entertainment venues, cafes, restaurants, some boutiques, official buildings and government headquarters. Jaco Pastorius, one of the best electric bassists in jazz history, was killed very near this very spot in 1987. On the pavement, the Wilton Drive reaches an intersection where we’ll turn diagonally left to merge with Dixie Hwy and continue north.
Crossing the bridge over the Middle River we’ll arrive at Oakland Park and the avenues will again be very broad. Behind the immense cultural center whose walls are painted as a mural with the image of Jaco Pastorius, there is also a park in his honor. On the right we’ll see the railways of the Florida East Coast Railroad, important for the development of the Sunshine State for more than a century. We’ll contemplate the City Hall and some colorful buildings although the sights are similar to everything we have observed so far during our voyage.
In the Commercial Blvd / SR 870 we’ll head four and a half miles to the west reaching North Lauderdale, a city that was conceived as “The City of Tomorrow”, a characteristic slogan of the 1960s. It has 41,000 inhabitants and a wide mix of cultures, including Vietnamese, French, Portuguese and Latin Americans. Once we get to the US 441 we’ll turn north. In this road there are more green areas with lakes and countless churches. Our Lady Queen of Heaven is the name of an imposing cemetery that will be on our right, which is where the remains of Jaco Pastorius rest forever.
Crossing the bridge over the Middle River we’ll arrive at Oakland Park and the avenues will again be very broad. Behind the immense cultural center whose walls are painted as a mural with the image of Jaco Pastorius, there is also a park in his honor. On the right we’ll see the railways of the Florida East Coast Railroad, important for the development of the Sunshine State for more than a century. We’ll contemplate the City Hall and some colorful buildings although the sights are similar to everything we have observed so far during our voyage.
In the Commercial Blvd / SR 870 we’ll head four and a half miles to the west reaching North Lauderdale, a city that was conceived as “The City of Tomorrow”, a characteristic slogan of the 1960s. It has 41,000 inhabitants and a wide mix of cultures, including Vietnamese, French, Portuguese and Latin Americans. Once we get to the US 441 we’ll turn north. In this road there are more green areas with lakes and countless churches. Our Lady Queen of Heaven is the name of an imposing cemetery that will be on our right, which is where the remains of Jaco Pastorius rest forever.
Image courtesy of Shawn Lyte at Flickr.com
Then we’ll get to the town of Margate, which was erected in 1955 and then became a city in 1961. Originally among plantations and cattle farms, legend has it that in the early to mid twentieth century this region had more cows than people.
Before getting back to the Sample Road / SR 834 and turn left to complete the last three miles of the cycling route, we will go through Coconut Creek. With 53,000 inhabitants and founded in 1967, it’s a settlement inclined to environmental conservation despite the fact in its territorial limits is a huge landfill a and sewage treatment facility. However, this has been is no impediment for it to become the first Floridian city and the eleventh in the nation to earn the title of Community Wildlife Habitat, which are basically communities that provide everything needed for species of wild animals to develop within their area. In its limits is the Fern Forest, considered an Urban Wilderness Area, a wooded and wild area surrounded by the city. Other inhabited points of the area by whose surroundings we will pass, almost inadvertently, are Boulevard Gardens, Broadview Park, Franklin Park, Washington Park or Roosevelt Gardens.
Before getting back to the Sample Road / SR 834 and turn left to complete the last three miles of the cycling route, we will go through Coconut Creek. With 53,000 inhabitants and founded in 1967, it’s a settlement inclined to environmental conservation despite the fact in its territorial limits is a huge landfill a and sewage treatment facility. However, this has been is no impediment for it to become the first Floridian city and the eleventh in the nation to earn the title of Community Wildlife Habitat, which are basically communities that provide everything needed for species of wild animals to develop within their area. In its limits is the Fern Forest, considered an Urban Wilderness Area, a wooded and wild area surrounded by the city. Other inhabited points of the area by whose surroundings we will pass, almost inadvertently, are Boulevard Gardens, Broadview Park, Franklin Park, Washington Park or Roosevelt Gardens.