🐟 Memorial Day weekend in Pompano Beach and 10 things to do before Monday

Sea turtle nesting season started May 1st, which means loggerheads are currently dragging themselves onto Pompano Beach at night, digging holes, and laying eggs - the same thing they've been doing here for about 110 million years. Before the condos. Before the Amphitheater. Before anyone was charging $18 for a fish taco.

Quick turtle facts for your next beach walk: they can hold their breath for 10 hours while sleeping. The sand temperature decides whether a baby turtle is male or female (South Florida's beaches are running so warm that some sites are producing almost all females). They "cry," but it's actually salt glands flushing seawater, not an emotional response to the Waldorf Astoria going up on their beach. And the babies find the ocean by following moonlight, which is why Pompano dims the beachfront lights every nesting season. Without that, hatchlings will walk toward a parking lot instead of the Atlantic. We've all been there.

Here's what's going on this week.👇

Monday is Memorial Day. Before it becomes about grilling and day-drinking, it's worth remembering what it's actually for.

Memorial Day Parade & Ceremony 📅 Monday, May 26 · 9:00 AM 📍 Parade steps off from the former Wells Fargo at 2400 E Atlantic Blvd and proceeds to the City of Pompano Beach Cemetery at 400 SE 23rd Ave 💰 Free 📞 954-786-4111

The City of Pompano Beach, in partnership with Pompano Beach Fire Rescue and the Broward County Sheriff's Office, hosts this every year. The parade features local veterans' groups, marching bands, scouts, school groups, and city officials walking the route from Atlantic Blvd to the cemetery, where a formal ceremony follows — Taps, a wreath-laying, and speakers honoring the men and women who gave everything. Residents are encouraged to line the parade route with flags. It's one of those events that makes Pompano feel like a small town in the best possible way. Show up, bring the kids, stand on the sidewalk. It matters. 🇺🇸

City offices are closed Monday. Parks and beaches stay open. Plan accordingly if you need anything from City Hall — they're back Tuesday.

Memorial Day started after the Civil War as Decoration Day — a time to lay flowers on the graves of soldiers. It became a national holiday observed on the last Monday in May. For a lot of people, it marks the unofficial start of summer. But the reason it exists is the cemetery at the end of that parade route, and the names that are read during the ceremony. The cookout can wait until noon. 🇺🇸

Take a moment Monday morning. Then enjoy the rest of it. That's the whole point

While the Waldorf Astoria and Ritz-Carlton get most of the headlines, there's a smaller building at 305 Briny Ave that's quietly about to become the first of the new luxury wave to actually deliver units. Salato Residences — a nine-story, 40-unit boutique condo right across from the beach — topped off last year and is on track for move-ins this spring. Prices range from $2 million to $4.9 million. Nearly 60% of the units are already sold.

What makes Salato different from the big towers going up is the scale. It's 40 residences, not 400. Four semi-private elevators, 14-foot-deep terraces, interiors by Steven G., and 20,000+ square feet of amenity space including a pool, spa, sauna, massage room, and a 24-hour concierge. There's also 2,700 square feet of retail space facing A1A — the developer has been in talks to bring in a restaurant concept on the ground floor.

For a city where most of the luxury condo conversation has been about projects that won't deliver until 2027 or later, Salato is the one where people are actually about to move in. It's worth watching — partly because it's a signal that Pompano's beachfront transformation isn't just cranes and renderings anymore. It's becoming a place where people live.