Ft. Lauderdale Travel Blog- What to Do If you Suspect Human Trafficking?
Possibly witnessing a case, I have included a note about human trafficking in this blog post. It's a serious problem in South Florida. Find out what you can do if you suspect someone is in trouble at the end of this post.
Fort Lauderdale - it’s not just for college kids on spring break. It turns out, the city is an awesome getaway for middle aged girlfriends who just want to have a fun vaca too. Three of us proved this in late March 2026.
Travelers Tip: Ft. Lauderdale is a known hot spot as a college kids’ spring break destination. If possible, plan your adult getaway after college spring breaks; which usually fall during the first three weeks of March.
Beth, Donna and I hit the mark perfectly. We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale on March 27th, 2026 with nary a college kid in sight. We booked our four night stay at the Gallery One - a Doubletree all suites hotel operated by Hilton. We loved our accommodation - two bedrooms, a full kitchen, balcony and living room area.
We didn’t need to rent a car. Fort Lauderdale is easy to navigate. The city provides free transportation called Circuit; giving you a lift to the downtown, Las Olas, and beach areas.
Travelers Tip: To use Circuit, download the app “Ride Circuit” on IOS and Android phones. The ride is free, but drivers certainly appreciate a tip. Please keep in mind that there are strict hours of operation and the service may stop operating when it rains ( rainwater and electric carts don’t mix well).
Another fun way to get around the city is by water taxi. Gallery One has a stop directly on their property making it a breeze to catch the boat. Deciding to ride the entire loop, we did jump off once to enjoy margaritas and scoobys at Coconuts. Our captain kept us engaged with multiple stories about celebrities who once lived in fabulous homes along the water. If you have the time, it’s very relaxing to explore by water taxi. Our round trip took roughly three hours.
Travelers Tip: Download the bar code at any water taxi stop to get a real time schedule and purchase your ticket.
On a day when the weather looked iffy, we decided to stay close to the hotel and walk to the John Birch State Park an easy walk from our condo. With no expectation, we paid our $2.00 entrance fee and headed deeper in the park.
What we found turned out to be a real highlight of our trip. John Birch State Park is beautiful; with well marked paths, a pavilion serving food and beverages, and a really cool lake where we rented a canoe for a bit of adventure. If you are a birder, you’ll love this place! Be sure to make use of the water toys. Our guide, Paul, told us the best route to paddle and for three ladies who hadn’t operated a canoe in a while, we found plenty of reasons to giggle while admiring the glorious natural habitat.
When rain threatened to spoil our last day, we decided to motor up to Palm Beach to check out the shops. Donna had driven her car from her home on the east coast making the excursion very easy (there is train service between Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in case you don’t have a car handy). Despite it being a Sunday, I found online that enough stores were open on the famous Worth Avenue to make the road trip “worth” it.
Ok, let me be clear. The difference between Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale is like night and day. While “the fort” is very casual through and through, there is nothing casual about Worth Avenue. I worried that the shop owners would not give us the time of day, but we were pleasantly surprised to discover that ALL the shopkeepers sincerely seemed pleased to see us and provided great customer service.
The only wrinkle during our $75/pp lunch at BiCe occurred when our waiter asked if we were “ready for tequila” after we finished our meals. Ordering coffees instead, I asked him “Why would you say that?”. His response was “Because you look so — young”. Seriously?
We felt he was insinuating something else not exactly complimentary. Regardless, our overall experience was delightful and I do recommend the restaurant. Their house Chardonnay is the best I’ve ever tasted. Reservations are definitely recommended.
Travelers Tip: Each night we made a point to enjoy Ft. Lauderdale restaurants Google and Tripadvisor reviews recommend. Dinners at Louie Bossi and Wild Sea were outstanding. Happy Hour at the Blue Martini is not to be missed! I’d skip the scoobys at Coconuts - price gouging at its finest in my opinion and the wait for a table can be long.
We ladies had a blast! I highly recommend visiting Ft. Lauderdale, especially in the spring. One other place to visit is the historical Bonnet House, easy to reach by foot when staying in the city limits.
There is one last tale I’d like to share; my only regret of the trip.
After we checked in, we walked to a Mexican restaurant close to the intersection of East Sunrise and Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd (State Road A1A). It’s a relatively quiet area of the main beach road. Despite it being 1 pm, the restaurant was virtually deserted. When seated, there were only three other patrons; a woman dining alone, and a couple sitting next to us.
It was the couple that drew my attention but not in an overt way. Still, I sensed something was off. He was an average looking man in his mid to late 50’s: clean shaven, graying hair, a middle aged paunch. The young woman sitting across from him was a waif of a thing. Blonde, blue eyed, very pretty, she couldn’t have been over 20.
The two never spoke a word to each other. She looked miserable. She sat as still as a statue sipping a huge pink beverage from a goblet shaped glass. She wore a long sleeved fishnet cover up over her bikini barely disguising her emaciated frame. That's what made me really notice her. My mother bought me a very similar cover up when I was in college 40 years ago. When the girl and I made brief eye contact, the look in her eyes still haunts me. These two certainly didn't act like father and daughter, friends, and “romantic couple” didn’t fit either.
We paid our bill and left. When walking back to our condo, I asked Beth and Donna if they had noticed the two people. Both acknowledged they had and agreed it seemed like an odd situation. My spidey senses were screaming that something wasn’t right. I thought of her over the next three days kicking myself for not doing something. But what?
Too soon it was time to head back to Philadelphia. In the rest room at the Fort Lauderdale airport I read the poster on the back of my stall door describing the huge human trafficking problem in southern Florida. I immediately thought of this young woman. I wish I had the following information at the start of my trip:
Travelers Tip: According to Safe House Project, these are some of the tips in case you ever come across a similar situation:
DO NOT ENGAGE
Alert an authority figure if possible ( I noticed plenty of Ft. Lauderdale police officers on bicycles ). In hindsight, I should have flagged an officer down, explained my uneasiness, and let them handle it.
Note clothing, physical features, and if possible, write down a license plate number.
Call the US Dept of Homeland Security Tip Line at 1-866-347-2423, contact the Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text “HELP” or INFO” to 233733 on your phone and explain the situation.
There are also hand signals that abducted people can use to silently scream “help”. I strongly suggest looking them up on your phone so you’ll be more prepared than I was. There is no harm in having a situation which makes you feel uneasy, get checked out by folks who are trained in how to handle such matters.
Hopefully we won’t encounter a similar situation during our next adventure slated for February, 2027. After our strange interaction with the waiter in Palm Beach, we laughingly call ourselves “The Tequila Trio”; a very appropriate nickname for our next magnet destination.
Comments