Nightlife for a Florida Vacation

Florida has long been known for a party destination mostly due to the fact that Spring Breakers have come to the Keys, Panama City, Fort Lauderdale, and Daytona for years. However, Florida has a great nightlife any place any time of the year, no matter what the reason. Learn about hot spots and locals secrets to get the most out of your Florida vacation.

Jacksonville

Kick off the night in Jacksonville, home to the University of North Florida and a great twenty to thirty-something crowd. The party scene is found over the Intracoastal Waterway at the Jacksonville Beaches. Start the night right at Ragtime Taproom and Brewery, a locals favorite known for great microbrews and live music. Voted Best Brew Pub year after year, the large bar starts filling up with the after-work crowd and does not empty until closing time. Head to the boardwalk to find The Atlantic, known for tasty appetizers and a great happy hour. Nightly music will range from jazz to hard rock and techno and begins around 9:30. If the typical beach bar is what you are in the mood for, look no further than Bukkets. Play pool, grab a drink, or watch people on the boardwalk in this high-energy drinking hole. Freebird Live was built in commemoration of Jacksonville native Ronnie VanZant of Lynyrd Skynyrd. This is where to go if you are looking to hear great live music. Past performers include Charlie Daniels, Willie Nelson, and Blues Traveler. Jacksonville has it all: a great nightlife, gorgeous beaches, and locals that love to have a good time.

Panama City Beach

Heading west will take you to Panama City Beach, home to one of the largest Spring Break gatherings in the state. Front Beach Road is home to two PCB staples, Harpoon Harrys and Sharkys Beach Club. Harpoon Harrys has tasty late night snacks, great drinks, and local live music. This is the ideal place for anyone wanting to avoid the crowds at larger clubs. Sharkys is a Panama City Beach institution, having been home to the Tiki Hut for almost 20 years. Hear live bands, drink mixed drinks, and enjoy fresh seafood where the energy is always high. The Boatyard attracts tourists and locals alike with a laid back atmosphere, delicious late-night treats, and live music. The dance floor is always full and the party goes on all night. Club La Vela is the nations largest nightclub with ten theme rooms, each with its own style of music and atmosphere. Get to the club early and stay late at one of the trendiest nightclubs in the world. Panama City Beach continues its reputation for having one of the best late night scenes in Florida.

Orlando

Central Florida brings Orlando as its top nightlife scene. With quite a few colleges and universities in the area, theme parks with adult hours, and locals who like to have fun, there are plenty of options when it comes to local nightlife. Pleasure Island, part of walt disney world, turns into fun for the adults after dark. Purchasing a pass gets you into the clubs and attractions like BET SoundStage Club, 8TRAX, Mannequins Dance Club, Motions, and the Rock 'n' Roll Beach Club. Universal Studios answers back with its own adult nightlife scene found at CityWalk. Although there is no entrance fee, it is suggested to purchase the Party Pass that gets you free cover and priority entrance to BB Kings Blues Club, Howl at the Moon, Jillians Hi-Life Lanes, Rumba Room and the Saddle Ranch Chop House, as well as, plenty of other freebies. The nightlife in Orlando does not end at the theme parks. Head to downtown Orlando to experience what the locals do after dark. Tabu Night Club is a more sophisticated alternative to Orlando nightlife with a dress code. The Art Deco design, friendly staff, fabulous drinks and appetizers, and celeb DJs make this the place to go when looking for a more matrue atmosphere. Roxy is the heart of the Orlando nightlife scene and is the place to go if you want to see and be seen. This huge bi-level club has multiple rooms to cater to whatever mood and price level you are interested in. Orlando, known for childrens theme parks and dreamlands, becomes an adults playground at sunset.

Fort Lauderdale

Heading south brings you to Fort Lauderdale, home of the original Spring Break party scene. Start your vacation at the Elbo Room, an iconic beachside bar surviving from the Where The Boys Are era. Live music and ambiance make this a must- visit. The Art Bar is an up and coming Fort Lauderdale hot spot with great drinks and music. The Martini Bar, located downtown, is the new rage with fun takes on the classic martini. Crowds love the fun staff and atmosphere. The best dueling piano bar around, Howl at the Moon, is full of great eats, entertainment, and is one of the most fun nights out around. If hip-hop is your forte, visit G.O.A.T. Open seven days a week, this lounge and bar is the only place to go every night of the week. There are plenty of other beach bars, dance clubs, and cool lounges around town. visit them all to find your favorite late-night spot in Fort Lauderdale.

Miami

Last, although certainly no least, we come to Miami, home to South Beach and one of the hottest nightlife scenes in the world. The rich and famous, as well as, your everyday Miami vacationer can be found in the clubs, bars, and lounges in this wildly fun city. Miamis top DJs perform at Club Space, located downtown. A huge dance floor, open-air patio, and a dazzling light show are sure to keep you entertained from sundown to sun-up. Heading to South Beach will bring you to some of the most well known clubs in the country. The Marlin Bar is a place to expect to see celebrities and enjoy at laid-back atmosphere at the same time. There are plenty of couches and chairs, ample of space, and live jazz and world beat music to enjoy. Jazid is a popular bar, known for a great atmosphere, live jazz, and a sultry feel. If looking for something other than live music, head up to the loft for music spun by popular DJs. For those looking to impress, get dressed to kill and head to Tantra, home to one of the more exotic atmospheres in South Beach. This Mediterranean-inspired restaurant and bar has a real grass floor, waterfalls, hookah pipes, and plush couches. Great martinis and one of the best menus on the Beach are accompanied by a cigar bar and fabulous company.

Its easy to enjoy a Florida vacation with such great activities, fabulous vacation rentals , and beautiful beaches that stretch for miles. Florida is known for being home to the hottest trends in music, couture, and nightlife. Whether looking for the newest club, a laid-back tiki bar on the beach, or the hottest nightclub, this state has all of it and more.

Caroline Brame writes travel articles for RentalsExpress.com. For more information on Florida travel, as well as, other vacation destinations, please visit http://www.RentalsExpress.com.

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Minnesota Golf Courses - Territory Golf Club in St Cloud

What you will notice when you arrive at Territory Golf Club and make your way to the clubhouse is a rolling prairie landscape. What you will also notice is wetlands and streams running through the property. What you won't notice is an abundance of trees. this is what you see about the property from the parking lot. Because looks can be deceiving, what you will later discover is the tale of two golf courses. All of the hole on the front nine, as well as, holes 10 and 18 are situated on rolling prairie with a compliment of native grasses in the rough and other places that you are not supposed to hit your golf ball. holes 11 through 17 are cut out of an oak forest that also features wetlands and streams along with some significant elevation changes.

Territory Golf Club plays to a par of 72 and measures 6,921 yards from the back tee markers. The course rating, from the back tees, is 72.9 and has a slope index of 125. There are four sets of tee markers, which means there is an appropriate yardage for golfers of all skills.

The management team consisting of Brock Swanson, head golf professional, Dan Stang, golf course superintendent and Dan Dols, general manager make sure that the players experience is outstanding. The course condition and the pace of play make Territory Golf Club a golf course that you will want to place on your list of places to play in central minnesota. My playing partner and I played our round on a weekend morning and completed our play in just less than four hours. There were groups in front of and behind us and the pace of play flowed nicely.

The greens at Territory Golf Club are quite large, averaging nearly 7,000 square feet each and have significant undulation. These two factors make club selection as you approach the green critical. Just being on the green in regulation does not guarantee that you will have two putts for a par. My playing partner for the round described the greens a looking like "big potato chips" referring the random shapes as well as the wavy appearance as you walk onto the putting surface.

Another challenge at Territory Golf Club is the sand traps. The traps can generally be described as large, deep and having steep faces on them. Getting out of the traps successfully should be your first concern, getting close to the pin should be of secondary importance.

The back nine plays longer than the front nine with number 10 and number 18 being the two longest holes on the golf course. The par-3 holes are longer-range holes with the shortest playing at 170 yards and the longest playing at 245 yards.

If you are looking for a challenging golf course to play in central minnesota I would certainly check out Territory Golf Club in St. Cloud. You can call for a tee a time at 320-258-4653 or visit their website at http://www.territorygc.com for more details.

dana Buttenhoff is an avid golfer and a native Minnesotan. After 20 years of golf and traveling around the usa, dana would like to share the golf gems rural minnesota has to offer: http://www.minnesotaruralgolf.com

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Five Fantasy Football Defenses That Will Shock You

With fantasy drafts looming just over the horizon, for most of us this is a time of last-minute web-site perusing and web-site scouring in hopes of cooking up that special lineup that will get us a coveted fantasy football championship. In the search for that magical recipe, we all need one key ingredient: a good, strong defense. Take a minute and peruse this portion of our fantasy cookbook that will let you in on the top five fantasy defenses that should slide under the radar in most drafts this summer.

5. Arizona Cardinals: Year after year we look to this team to be a fantasy defense standout, but like rice pudding without raisins, they seem to be missing that one necessary bit of pizzazz that moves them from average dessert to dining delicacy. This season, we think Denny Green's finally getting it right. He focused more on defense in the draft this season, spending first and third round picks on cornerbacks Antrel Rolle and Eric green, which should help round out a now solid secondary that actually has the depth to incorporate productive nickel and dime schemes. With third and fifth round picks used to bulk up a linebacking core that needed a little help, the Cards have properly rounded out a defense that has always had a strong defensive line. A look in at the numbers reveals that Arizona allowed just 20.1 points per game in 2004, good for 12th in the league, while only allowing 35 touchdowns (T-9th in NFL). At 9th in passing defense (189.8 yd/gm) they force teams to pound the ball, which always eats up clock and lowers point totals, which are necessities for any fantasy defense. Overall, the Cards were right in the middle of the pack in turnovers, 30, with 15 picks and 15 fumble recoveries. However, they had a turnover differential of just +1. This typifies the missing link for the Cardinals in the recent past -- they've lacked a strong offense to help keep the defense rested and off the field. But, it's hard to have an offense when you don't have a good quarterback or running back. Finally, Denny green has seen the light and has drafted a quality running back in J.J. Arrington to compliment a quarterback, Kurt Warner, who can actually get the ball to his top flight receivers. To boot, this team held on to Josh McCown, which gives them the option of now one of the best back-ups in the league. Expect a top 10-15 defense out of the Cardinals, who might now have the tools to get it done in the NFC-West.

4. Miami Dolphins: No matter how bad their record, never count this team out as having a bad defense. They are like the Atlanta Braves of the football world , as whoever they put out there on defense knows how to get the job done. Despite a troublesome 4-12 record last season, the Dolphins quietly allowed just 22.1 points per contest. Digging a bit deeper, one might realize this number would have been still lower had the Dolphins not thrown 8 interceptions that were returned for touchdowns (no other team had more than 4). This alone would bring down their points allowed down to 18.6 per game, good for 8th in the league! This problem should be remedied as Miami is going to get back to the type of football that kept them in the playoffs year after year in the recent past: running the football. With Ricky Williams cleared for camp and Ronnie Brown ready to roll, this team is going to spend down after down between the tackles and little time in the air. That means low-scoring, fast games - a great defensive recipe. And like a true master chef, Dave Wannstedt still had his faculties about him enough to draft 4 defensive players after Arrington, including Matt Roth (Iowa) and Channing Crowder (Florida). Add these ingredients to a defensive dish that already includes names like Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas, Junior Seau, Tebucky Jones, Kevin Carter, and Sam Madison, and you're staring at one tasty treat. Still not convinced? Keep in mind this Dolphin defense was still 2nd in the league against the pass last season (162.0 yd/gm) and will finally be happy and healthy up front on defense to stop the run. This is a great year to get back on a perennial favorite defense that many will have written off.

3. houston Texans: "Four". That is the number that typifies this defense. Not only does 4 represent the number of marshmallows I can fit in my mouth at one time, it also signifies the number of rushing touchdowns the Texans allowed all of last season. Four - wow, that's easily best in the league. However, that might lead you to believe that they have a suspect secondary that gives up a lot through the air. Not so. With Philip Buchanon, Dunta Robinson, Marcus Coleman and Glenn Earl back there, they have the names to get it done. This year should show a cohesiveness to this group, who still managed 22 interceptions last year (5th in NFL), that may have lacked a bit in the past, as these young players are all maturing and learning the NFL game and how to play with each other more and more. Regardless, this team still only allowed 21.2 points per game, and keep in mind they play Indy twice every year. They gave up 10 or less points in 4 games last season and helped sure up the middle of their d-line by drafting DT Travis Johnson (Fla St.) in the first round. Taking Vernand Morency (Okl St.) in the 2nd round of the draft helped solidify a ground game that should keep this young, active defense well-rested this season, making them more appealing than a rack of ribs and an ice-cold beer for this year's fantasy fanatics.

2. Washington Redskins: This defense was my personal choice for fantasy drafts last season, which worked out wonderfully. This new season has whetted my appetite for drafting them once again. Quietly, the Redskins were a defensive juggernaut last season. Playing in the low-scoring, grind-it-out NFC-East, they are in the perfect division for low-scoring games. With Steve Spurrier at the helm, they could never play this type of football -- they were too loose and gave up too many big plays. Now, in just one season under joe Gibbs, the Skins have turned this defense into what many have been hoping it would blossom into for years. In '04 they were 7th in the league in pass defense (186.1 yd/gm) and amassed a solid 40 sacks (T-9th). With numbers like that, it would be natural to assume their run defense was suspect. Not so! In fact, it was quite the opposite, ranking 2nd in the league at just 81.5 yards per game, allowing league bests of 3.1 yards/carry and 76 total first downs on the ground! It's hard to score on a team with numbers like these. Perhaps that's why the Skins were 5th in the league in points against (16.6 per game) and tied for 4th in the league in total touchdowns against (30). Now, Spurrier would have thought this cake was finished cooking and let it simply cool by the window. However, Gibbs is a wise old man and decided to tinker with the icing a bit, drafting CB Carlos Rogers (Auburn) with the 9th pick in the draft and adding a couple of solid linebacking prospects with his 5rd and 6th round picks. Rogers has brought a nice little position battle to camp, which should raise the levels of play of all involved. This defense will by dangerous again this year and, perhaps, is worth your pick on fantasy draft day.

1. buffalo Bills: our top sleeper choice for fantasy defenses for the 2005 season has to be the buffalo Bills. This team has all the ingredients, has passed the taste-test, and is ready for Betty Crocker's cookbook. Look at the numbers here. The Bills were 8th in the league allowing just 17.8 points per game in 2004. They allowed just 6 rushing touchdowns all season, good for 2nd in the league. Their passing defense was 3rd in the league at just 164.0 yards per game, totaling 45 sacks, good for third in the league. This well-rounded D was also 7th in the league against the run at 100.2 yards per game. Ok, now, sit down and brace yourself. Without much press, this Bills team grabbed a league best 39 turnovers! Only Carolina had more interceptions and only 3 teams recovered more fumbles. Overall, buffalo allowed under 10 points 3 times last season and 20 or less points in 12 of their 16 contests. You could almost make the argument that this was the best defense in the league and almost certainly top five. Not much has changed in the offseason and this team continues to improve on offense, which should help the defense as well. Further, the Bills dodge the colts again this season and play a soft out-of-division schedule including Tampa Bay, New orleans and Oakland, which should help in turnover differential and low point totals. This is the steal of the fantasy draft this season, so if you have the chance, be sure to grab up the buffalo Bills defense on draft day.

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Nintendo Makes New Addition To Video Gaming

With all of the portable entertainment gadgets on the market today, portable video game systems have lost a lot of their thunder. It's not that the portable video gaming systems available today aren't attractive or impressive, it's just that there are a lot of other portable devices that do a lot of different things (including gaming in many cases). Because of that, portable video gaming systems need some way to stand out in the market in order to be noticed by potential customers. Nintendo dominated the market for portable video game systems with its GameBoy system that hit the market in the early nineteen nineties. The GameBoy was later supplanted by the GameBoy Advance which had a color screen and more flexible features.

Now Nintendo has another video game system on the market called the Nintendo DS Lite. The Nintendo DS Lite has a number of features that make it so that it stands out from the other devices out there. The most notable feature in terms of its appearance is the inclusion of a second screen that, with the use of an included stylus, functions as a touch screen. The second major feature that distinguishes the Nintendo DS Lite from the competition is the fact that it provides access to multiplayer video games. While that alone might not be that impressive, it should be noted that these multiplayer games can take place over the entire planet and players can participate from any wireless hot spot.

The fact that the Nintendo DS Lite is wifi capable makes it go a long way in terms of novelty for a video gaming system. While other video gaming systems like the play Station portable from sony are capable of similar feats, no other portable gaming platform puts the same emphasis on online gaming. One thing that's proof of this is the fact that no subscription is needed to access the online games. These online games are provided to its customers by Nintendo at no extra charge.

The Nintendo DS Lite also has a lot of features built into it that make it impressive in its own right. For example, it has built in speakers that provide stereo sound. The Nintendo DS Lite also has a built in microphone in addition to the conventional Nintendo controls and the touchscreen for input. The unit is capable of displaying two hundred and sixty thousand colors and both of the Nintendo DS Lite's screens are Transparent Film Transistor Active Matrix displays for the quickest action possible with lcd technology. The Nintendo DS Lite also has a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery that can power the video game platform of up to nineteen hours which is really impressive by any possible measure. The lcd screens are three inches wide and have approximately a 16:9 aspect ratio. The unit is extremely compact and folds up like a clamshell with one screen on each section. With the controls on either side of the lower screen, the Nintendo DS Lite is also very ergonomic.

With all of the features built into the Nintendo DS Lite, it will clearly shape the portable video game market for years to come.

A pioneer in technology reporting, Julia Hall has published articles about the latest digital devices and gadgets for over ten years. After graduating from MIT with a degree in electrical engineering, Julia turned down huge salaries from some of the most recognized fortune 500 companies in the world to pursue her dream of becoming a leading consumer advocate. Julia uses his expertise to cut through the too good to be true deals offered by high tech companies to reveal the real steals and the real duds that we're bombarded with daily. If you enjoy staying on the cutting edge of technology, whether for business or pleasure, but find yourself occassionaly confused by the overwhelming and convoluted information out there let Julia show you the way.

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