Don’t let the name fool you — Brightline’s third annual #305Weekend is a sweet deal for the 954 and 561, too.
Celebrating three years of intercity service in South Florida, the rail line is offering $3 and $5 one-way fares between Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach on Friday through Sunday, which ought to encourage us to get out in a new way in new places.
Here are some low-hassle ideas for a weekend date night or afternoon out at destinations within an easy stroll of Brightline’s three South Florida stations. If you are looking to venture farther, Brightline’s free shared-shuttle service (within 5 miles of the station) is available with these discounted fares, if you book at least two hours in advance.
#305Weekend tickets — they cost $3 for one stop, $5 between West Palm Beach and Miami — are available at GoBrightline.com.
Perez Art Museum Miami is a short walk from Brightline’s Miami Central station and is showing the exhibit “Marisol and Warhol Take New York.” Drop by the museum shop to find a wide variety of items related to the show, including an unnerving Andy Warhol puppet. The museum’s Verde restaurant includes a beautiful view of Biscayne Bay. Visit PAMM.org.
Also nearby, the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts is in the final weekend of Zoetic Stage’s “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord,” a well-reviewed dark “comedy” about four teenage girls by South Florida writer Alexis Scheer. Visit ArshtCenter.org.
And Brightline offers free shuttles to and from Marlins Park, where the Miami Marlins battle the rival Atlanta Braves this weekend. Visit Marlins.com.
In Fort Lauderdale, visitors also will find free shuttles between the downtown Brightline station and DRV PNK Stadium, where David Beckham’s Inter Miami CF will take on New York Red Bulls at 6 p.m. Sunday. Visit InterMiamiCF.com.
The Florida Panthers and Funky Buddha Brewery on Sunday will host a big-screen watch party for the hockey heroes’ playoff game, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Esplanade Park, a short walk from the station (a portion along the New River). The free, family friendly event includes live music, merchandise, street hockey and more. The game is at 1:30 p.m. Visit Facebook.com/FunkyBuddhaBrew.
Also in downtown Fort Lauderdale this weekend, Miami City Ballet will end its season with “Prodigal Son” at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, with tickets starting at $30. Recommended date-night dining nearby includes Rivertail (on the New River) and The Chimney House (cozy, hospitable). Visit BrowardCenter.org.
In West Palm Beach, the Brightline station feels even more in the middle of everything. Two blocks north of the station, legendary Clematis Street music venue Respectable Street will be the site of Hip Hop Helps: Ukraine Benefit Concert at 8 p.m. Friday, hosted by Dan Lee, with performances by GVIN, Amani Omar, John Brown, Chevy LaPole and DJ Undrwd. Tickets: $5 to $10. Visit Facebook.com/respectablestreet.
About three blocks south of the station, at Palm Beach Improv in The Square, actor, comedian and keyboardist Craig Robinson (“The Office,” “You can’t out-pizza the Hut”) has five shows planned from Friday to Sunday. Visit PalmBeachImprov.com.
On the other side of The Square, “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical” makes its pandemic-delayed debut at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, with a run through May 26. There are plenty of date-night dining options nearby. I’ve always been partial to The Blind Monk for intimate wine and tapas. Visit Kravis.org.
Elsewhere in South Florida this weekend, we’re dressing up for the new “Downton Abbey” movie, celebrating Miami Heat great Chris Bosh’s new beer, and drinking with basset hounds. Here’s a look …
FRIDAY
Weekend movie: The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival will host a red-carpet costume party and cocktail hour for a screening of “Downton Abbey: A New Era” on Friday night at the Classic Gateway Theater. The gin cocktail reception begins at 6 p.m., with music and macarons from Croissan’Time French Bakery. The film screens at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $12 for general admission and $10 for seniors. Cocktails cost $10. Visit FLIFF.com.
Brightsiders: Pop music’s indefatigable merchants of joy, The Lumineers perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday at iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach. Prices start at $26.50 with purchase of a four-pack at LiveNation.com.
Everglades stories: South Florida native Sarah McCulloch will share music from her evocative new album, “Sawmiller’s Daughter,” at 8 p.m. Friday at the intimate North Miami listening room Luna Star Cafe. Informed by a childhood spent in the Big Cypress Swamp, McCulloch’s album is collection of vivid storytelling in the mode of traditional country music, all elevated by her timeless vocals. Local swamp-country provocateur Raiford Starke is also on the bill. Visit LunaStarCafe.com. For more on McCulloch’s music, visit SarahMacMusic.com.
Ticket window: Lady Gaga this week added a Sept. 17 performance at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens to her global stadium tour, The Chromatica Ball. Tickets are scheduled to go on sale 10 a.m. Friday. Visit Ticketmaster.com.
Carrie Underwood’s Denim & Rhinestones Tour, with special guest Jimmie Allen, will be at FTX Arena in Miami on Feb. 2. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster.com. (The presale password is GARDEN.)
Daryl Hall and Daryl’s House Band, with opener Todd Rundgren, will perform on July 31 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, with tickets ($60+) on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through MyHRL.com. The tour supports Hall’s new two-disc retrospective, “BeforeAfter,” a reminder that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer once had an album produced by Robert Fripp (1980′s “Sacred Songs”).
Citing extraordinary demand, Live Nation has consolidated Spanish pop quartet Hombres G’s two sold-out performances at the Fillmore Miami Beach on June 25-26 into a single show on June 25 at FTX Arena in Miami. The move creates additional tickets, which go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster.com.
SATURDAY
Ukraine tribute: Featuring a lineup of classic-rock tribute bands, SongFest for Vets III is an Armed Forces Day celebration and fundraiser for Ukraine, set for 2 to 11 p.m. Saturday at Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton. Along with a variety of Ukrainian food, beer, art and kid-friendly crafts and games, the event will include area tribute acts KISS Alive, Erasmith (Aerosmith) and Shoot to Thrill (AC/DC), along with classic rockers Shovelhed. Admission is free, with donations accepted. The festival has been organized by retired Army Col. Bill Millard, a Boca Raton resident who served with the U.S. Army in Ukraine. Visit Facebook.com/SongFestforVets.
Dog days: The Wharf Fort Lauderdale will be overrun with basset hounds from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday during a Yappy Hour meetup of the group Soflo Basset Hounds. The Wharf’s $35 bottles of Côtes de Provence Rosé can only add to the hilarity. Visit WharfFTL.com. … S3 Restaurant on Fort Lauderdale beach will host Bark Brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, with house-made treats for dogs. Purchase a dog toy or $5 Tito’s drink ticket to benefit the nonprofit rescue Chasing Freedom. Dogs are welcome on the patio. Visit Facebook.com/S3SunSurfSand.
Brews & blues: The fifth annual Ocean Brews & Blues festival returns to Deerfield Beach on Saturday, with more than 100 craft beers, from South Florida and otherwise, plus food, live music and items made by local creatives. It takes place 3 to 8 p.m. in the Main Beach Parking Lot (149 SE 21st Ave.) and admission is free. Tasting tickets cost $40 in advance ($45 at gate) for 4 p.m. admission and $60 for 3 p.m. VIP entry ($65 at the gate) with exclusive VIP swag and food samples. Visit Facebook.com/oceanbrewsandbluesfest.
Free concert: The free Afro Roots Fest comes to Broward County for the first time at 4 p.m. Saturday in downtown Hollywood’s ArtsPark. Along with popular locals The Resolvers and DJ Le Spam, and Brian Potts’ (Nu Deco Ensemble) samba percussion group Miamibloco, the lineup features Jesus Hidalgo (Venezuela), Philip Montalbán (Nicaragua) and Gilmar Gomes (Brazil). Visit AfroRootsFest.com.
Outside-inside: The pandemic-inspired outdoor comedy picnics known as Comedy On the Green are moving inside at Mizner Park Cultural Center in Boca Raton. The Comedy Off the Green series begins with a 7 p.m. Saturday performance by New York City-based comedian Jon Fisch (as seen on “Late Show with David Letterman” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”). Tickets cost $30 to $45. Visit ComedyOnTheGreen.org. For a preview, watch Fisch and comic-writer Dave Siegel (a COTG co-creator) chop it up at Instagram.com/comedyonthegreen.
Hometown blues: J.P. Soars & the Red Hots play at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton, their first local show since performing at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis, where they were up for the Band of the Year award. Soars, a Boca Raton resident, was nominated for the top award, B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, as well as the best guitar instrumentalist award. Tickets cost $15 to $25. Visit FunkyBiscuit.com.
SUNDAY
Chris Bosh beer: Dogfish Head Miami will celebrate its first anniversary in Wynwood in a big way at noon Sunday when Miami Heat icon Chris Bosh and Dogfish founder and brewer Sam Calagione host the can release for their limited-edition collaboration, Bosh Blonde. The citrus-y ale, brewed with Florida oranges and sugar cane juice, comes in cans featuring a sketch of Bosh in a contemplative pose on the label. The daylong anniversary festivities also include live music and a special menu of Bosh Bites, based on his favorite foods. Bosh Blonde will be available on draft and in four-packs of 16-ounce cans ($16). A portion of beer sales will go to nonprofit Refresh Miami. A limited number of meet-and-greet opportunities will be available to Dogfish Off-Centered Society members. To sign up, visit DogFish.com.
You want your ‘80s? Sting’s show at Hard Rock Live on Sunday night is sold out, of course. But another singer from the era (and a performer way ahead of her time), Pat Benatar will be at Pompano Beach Amphitheater at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, sharing hits including “Love is a Battlefield,” “Heartbreaker,” “Hell is for Children” and “We Belong,” with guitarist and songwriter Neil Giraldo; John Waite opens. Tickets start at $35 through PompanoBeachArts.org.
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at [email protected].
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