Watch Planes Come in for a Landing at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport

Watch the wonder of takeoff at Greenbelt

By Susan Rossser

The magic of flight often gets overshadowed these days by thoughts of long airport security lines, weather delays, cancellations, lost luggage and the general hassles of air travel. But maybe we should all pause and appreciate the scientific marvel that is flight. There’s no better place to rekindle that sense of wonder than at the Greenbelt.

The Greenbelt is a dedicated viewing area on the south side of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport. Open from sunrise to sunset, it offers a front-row seat to watch jets take off and land. When we visited on a sunny Saturday, the first thing that struck me was the impressive landscaping. I expected a basic parking lot with a patch of grass – instead, the Greenbelt is beautifully manicured, with a winding walking path that stretches along the landscaping. The area was lively, with several onlookers, including a young family kicking a soccer ball between takeoffs and landings.

While many of us take air travel for granted, there’s something awe-inspiring about standing close to a jet as its engines roar to life, watching it accelerate, lift off, and disappear into the sky within moments, bound for destinations unknown.

The Greenbelt is located at 4300-4598 S. Perimeter Rd. (off of Griffin Road) in Fort Lauderdale. It is free and open from sunrise to sunset.