Miami-Everglades-Key West
February 5-11, 2017
Escorted by Jocelyn
February 5-11, 2017
Escorted by Jocelyn
Those of us traveling from Northern California were very excited to experience warm and dry weather in Florida, after an especially wet and cold winter. We were not disappointed!
Our first hotel, Cadillac Marriott, is set on Miami Beach with a white sand beach and an inviting swimming pool.
The first day we toured Miami with our guide Steve. We visited Coral Cables with its glamorous Biltmore Hotel and learned the history of enticing travelers to visit Florida by train and buy land. Then on to the Haitian cemetery where Michael Jackson's Thriller video was filmed. We traveled through Little Havana, a neighborhood settled by the first immigrants from Cuba, and learned about the impact of their culture on Miami. We experienced some of that culture firsthand with lunch at La Versailles, an authentic Cuban restaurant. Then on to a discussion of Florida's native inhabitants at the Miami Circle, followed by a walking and driving tour of Miami's art deco South Beach.
The next day we drove to the Everglades for a private airboat ride and visit to wildlife sanctuaries. We saw a couple of alligators in the sawgrass, and they posed for our photos.The Everglades is a slowly moving river 60 miles wide and 100 miles long, which has its share of ecological problems including invasive plants and animals (cobras!).
On to Key West with a lunch stop in key Largo to see the original African Queen steamboat, made famous in the movie with Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn.
Key West is a charming quirky town at the southern tip of Florida. We stayed at the equally charming Lighthouse Court Hotel with its own Mojito bar. The next morning we walked across the street to tour Earnest Hemingway's House, where he did his most prolific writing. Walked another block and took the Conch (konk) Train tour around town, then chose independent activities for the rest of the day. We met at Mallory Square for the breathtaking sunset. It was lovely.
Up early the next morning for a full day sail and tour of Dry Tortugas National Park. It is called dry because it has no fresh water. Yet in the mid 1800's the huge Fort Jefferson was built by the Army Corps of Engineers to protect America's interests in the Caribbean Ocean. In addition to breakfast and lunch we enjoyed a tour of the fort and, for some, snorkeling.
The next morning we bade farewell to Key West and drove back to Miami, stopping at the Coral Castle, limestone structures created by an eccentric Latvian American - Edward Leedskalnin.
We finished up our trip with a visit to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick International Harvester fortune. Natural limestone competed with carved marble throughout this palatial estate.
We had a whirlwind yet somehow relaxing tour of southern Florida, with its natural and man-made wonders.
Our first hotel, Cadillac Marriott, is set on Miami Beach with a white sand beach and an inviting swimming pool.
The first day we toured Miami with our guide Steve. We visited Coral Cables with its glamorous Biltmore Hotel and learned the history of enticing travelers to visit Florida by train and buy land. Then on to the Haitian cemetery where Michael Jackson's Thriller video was filmed. We traveled through Little Havana, a neighborhood settled by the first immigrants from Cuba, and learned about the impact of their culture on Miami. We experienced some of that culture firsthand with lunch at La Versailles, an authentic Cuban restaurant. Then on to a discussion of Florida's native inhabitants at the Miami Circle, followed by a walking and driving tour of Miami's art deco South Beach.
The next day we drove to the Everglades for a private airboat ride and visit to wildlife sanctuaries. We saw a couple of alligators in the sawgrass, and they posed for our photos.The Everglades is a slowly moving river 60 miles wide and 100 miles long, which has its share of ecological problems including invasive plants and animals (cobras!).
On to Key West with a lunch stop in key Largo to see the original African Queen steamboat, made famous in the movie with Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn.
Key West is a charming quirky town at the southern tip of Florida. We stayed at the equally charming Lighthouse Court Hotel with its own Mojito bar. The next morning we walked across the street to tour Earnest Hemingway's House, where he did his most prolific writing. Walked another block and took the Conch (konk) Train tour around town, then chose independent activities for the rest of the day. We met at Mallory Square for the breathtaking sunset. It was lovely.
Up early the next morning for a full day sail and tour of Dry Tortugas National Park. It is called dry because it has no fresh water. Yet in the mid 1800's the huge Fort Jefferson was built by the Army Corps of Engineers to protect America's interests in the Caribbean Ocean. In addition to breakfast and lunch we enjoyed a tour of the fort and, for some, snorkeling.
The next morning we bade farewell to Key West and drove back to Miami, stopping at the Coral Castle, limestone structures created by an eccentric Latvian American - Edward Leedskalnin.
We finished up our trip with a visit to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick International Harvester fortune. Natural limestone competed with carved marble throughout this palatial estate.
We had a whirlwind yet somehow relaxing tour of southern Florida, with its natural and man-made wonders.