MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Presidents Day weekend, arguably the biggest event-driven weekend of the year in South Florida, is filled with pomp and circumstance, but also with lots of traffic trouble and parking problems.
The Miami international Boat Show runs through 6 p.m. Monday at Miami Marine Stadium, but don't drive onto Key Biscayne unless you have a parking pass in advance. Strictly Sail is at the Miamarina at Bayside Marketplace.
More than 100,000 people are expected to see what's new at sea. With 1,300 boats on land and in water, getting around can be a challenge. Free shuttles and water taxis run from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, from Bayside, American Airlines Arena, Marlins Park, the Hyatt, the JW Marriot and the James L. Knight Center, but you will have to pay to park.
If you are looking for the big-boy yachts, Miami Beach has 1.2 million square feet of in-water yachts along Collins Avenue.
You can see yachts and super yachts until 5 p.m. Monday from 41st Street to 54th Street, but take the free shuttles from the Miami Beach convention center or the 67th Street garage, and try to avoid the construction on Alton Road.
The Coconut Grove Arts Festival is nearly a mile of art, food and fun. It runs until 5 p.m. Monday on South Bayshore Drive. The road is closed to traffic from Pan American Drive south to McFarlane Road and Peacock Park.
Art Wynwood is the premier contemporary art fair in South Florida, and 37,000 people are expected to invade the trendy midtown section of Wynwood to see over $500 million in artwork from around the world. It runs through 6 p.m. Monday at the Art Wynwood pavilion at 3001 NE First Ave.
The Florida Renaissance Festival will take people back in time in Deerfield Beach. Knights and fair maidens will be on hand until sunset Monday at Quiet Waters Park at 401 Powerline Road.
The Fort Lauderdale A1A Marathon and half-marathon welcomes over 4,000 runners to one of the most picturesque marathons in the world.
It starts at 6 a.m. Sunday in the 400 block of Southwest Second Street and runs south along A1A the whole way to the finish at 1100 Seabreeze Blvd.