Miami. Key West. Palm Beach. Fort Lauderdale. These cities conjure images

of exotic vacation destinations for adults, retirement communities, and

cruise-ship ports. We ve discovered that the area stretching from Tequesta,

in Palm Beach County, down to Fort Jefferson, in the Dry Tortugas (68

miles west of the southernmost point in the United States), and west to the

Everglades, provides hundreds of places to go with children of all ages. This

book aims to help families get out and explore this wonderful part of the

world, and, in the process, enjoy spending time together.

As we searched for new settings for our family adventures, we discovered

that standard travel guides often neglect children s needs and interests, so it

was difficult to find destinations beyond our own neighborhoods. Through

informal meetings in playgroups, chats in waiting rooms and school park-

ing lots, and other gatherings where parents share their concerns, we, knew

that we weren t alone in our dilemma. So we started keeping track of our /

discoveries (a playground found by making a wrong turn, a restaurant

mentioned by a friend of a friend, a store described in an old guidebook),

shared them with our network of desperate parents, and realized we would

save a lot of time by putting the information we had collected into an

organized, easy-to-use, and fun-to-read book.

Our research and writing began--and so did our family crises--one

right after another. Trips to the emergency room and the vet, car trouble,

unexpected and extended business trips.., well, let s just say that the

month of chicken pox made the rest of it look easy. Our families had no

idea how many museums and nature centers they d get to explore, park

playsets they d get to test, meals they d get to eat out, or new cultural events

they d get to enjoy. Nor did our husbands realize how many meals they

were going to have to cook, or how much housework they would be faced

with. In spite of the obstacles, things came together in extraordinary ways,

with the help of many special people.