This year, we thought about doing something different for our Boat Show Issue.

Our publisher suggested we do an entire section about (and this sounds crazy) boats and boat-related stuff and things that float and whatnot. But we in the editorial department pretty much replied, “Yo, man, let’s just run the list of South Florida businesses we have compiled over the years with the advertisers bolded like we have since 2002.”

And so, dear Boat Show people from near and far, we present to you our Boat Show Issue, the issue that has very little, if anything to do with boats (except for the tale about the really big fish worth a million bucks that got away). We present it to you as a service, for we understand that many of you probably don’t know South Florida very well, being from Chicago or Atlanta or wherever. And we know that sooner or later you will get tired of looking at the latest vessels and want to shop or have a meal or imbibe a few drinks. We know that man and woman cannot live on boats alone and so we want to give you just a few suggestions along with our regular mix of news and commentary.

Our hearts ache with the thought of you boat people wandering around town lost. And not because we are afraid of anything bad happening to you, as our latest crime stats seem to indicate we locals prefer to rob our own. We just know it sucks to be a stranger in a strange land without a clue as to where the nearest place is to get a massage, a bottle of perfume or an empanada. Plus, the less time you boat folks are on the road, driving from place to place, the better it will be for all of us.

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