From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Best Beachside Park for a Picnic

September 21 2005

Hugh Taylor Birch State Park
3109 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, 954/564-4521, www.floridastateparks.org/hughtaylorbirch

This park offers a perfect view of what people should be doing on weekends -- fishing, walking dogs and playing Frisbee. It's a great place for a picnic, and afterward, you can walk, bike or blade the newly paved 1.7-mile circle shared by raccoons and the occasional iguana or snake. When you tire of that, take the underground tunnel to the beach and go for a leisurely afternoon swim. Then again, you could just sit in the park eating your peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich while watching the million-dollar yachts glide past and telling yourself that boats are nothing but work anyway.