Ten miles west of the ocean, out where Atlantic Avenue meets Lyons Road at the edge of the Everglades' farm country, Delray Marketplace is the west side's town square: an open-air plaza of restaurants, boutiques, a cinema-and-bowling venue and a stage that programs free concerts through the winter season. For the gated communities that fill this side of town, it is the default answer to "where should we meet" - and for our purposes, it is the landmark that anchors a whole family of drop-offs.
From MIA the smart route is the Turnpike rather than I-95 - about 52 miles and 55 to 70 minutes to this side of Delray, on a fixed long-distance fare from $129. Most passengers on this run are not actually going shopping, of course; they live in or are visiting the communities within a few minutes of the plaza, and every one of them is a door-to-door drop. The fare does not care that your address is another mile past the gate, and the driver has the gate code conversation handled before you land.
Where the Marketplace itself enters the picture is the rest of the visit. Grandparents hosting school-break week book us for cinema nights so nobody drives the golf cart home in the dark; couples do dinner-and-a-show on the plaza stage schedule; and the run east to the beach or Atlantic Avenue's gallery mile - the one thing the west side cannot replicate - is a fixed local fare from $75 each way. One number to text, one price agreed upfront, in both directions.
What to expect
- Turnpike routing from MIA - about 52 miles, 55-70 minutes
- Door-to-door drops in the gated communities around Lyons Road
- Fixed long-distance fare from $129, gate codes arranged in advance
- Evening cinema and concert runs booked to the showtime
- East-west hops to the beach and Atlantic Avenue from $75