How'd the Bahia Mar get its name?

[moguls2go]

Does anyone know the story behind the Bahia Mar name? My wife and I stopped by the Bahia Mar resort with plans to stay, but it was overrun with college spring breakers- a party for which we are 15 years too late. A quick 4.5 hour call with the booking company solved the problem (man that SUCKED!).

Would love to know the story behind Bertram's decision to name several models after the place, though... if anyone know it, I'm sure it'll be someone here.

[Tommy]

I look forward to hearing from others, but my guess is just a cool name with a lot of Ft. Lauderdale waterfront history (found the following on-line):

Bahia Mar has storied history:

The Bahia Mar Resort and Marina started life as an army fort—Fort Lauderdale, in fact—in 1839.

In the mid-1800s, it became known as the House of Refuge for shipwrecked sailors. And during Prohibition, the Coast Guard moved in. Fort Lauderdale's own version of Elliot Ness - Sydney Sanderlin - was killed during one midnight run, and the smuggler who did it was hanged in a seaplane hangar at the Bahia Mar.

After a series of owners, bankruptcies and court battles, the city took over. In 1949, it created an island where the New River meets the Intracoastal Waterway and ringed it with 400 dock slips. The name Bahia Mar - or Ocean Bay - was coined in a citywide contest.

Now the storied property hosts the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show each year, and is home to a 250-slip marina and a 297-room Double Tree by Hilton.

[Charlie J]

I would say its the coolest of all the models