MIAMI FLA
The Foreign Land Closest To America?

Miami Fla, to paraphrase Charles Dickens "Tale Of Two Cities", is the best of places and the worst of places. You will learn why on this website.

In Miami, I am known as an Anglo, as in Anglo-American. The town is overwhelmingly Latin. Latin people are warm and friendly, so I feel right at home there too.

"Bienvenidos a Miami" they say. Welcome to Miami.

To find out what made Miami what it is today, read this history of Miami Florida.

MIAMI, FLORIDA HOTELS

There are many places to stay in the Miami metropolitan area, so I'll just focus on a couple of them that I like.

1. Biltmore, 1200 Anastasia Avenue, Coral Gables, FL 33134. Tel: 305-445-8066 Ext. 4306. This is a fantastic historic hotel originally built by George Merrick and lovingly restored a few years ago. It includes a golf course, restaurants, spas, tennis courts, and is a place you should try at least once.
2. Miami River Inn, 118 SW S River Drive, Miami Fla 33130. Tel: 305-325-0045. Turn of the century charm with modern amenities. Tropical garden, swimming pool and wide porches to watch the boats on the Miami River. Originally constructed between 1906 and 1910, the Miami River Inn boasts four cottages surrounding a pool and jacuzzi in a lush tropical garden. Reasonable rates. Learn more about this B&B or make reservations now! Click Here

MIAMI FLA RESTAURANTS

There must be a thousand restaurants in the greater Miami area. I will focus on only a few that I know something about.

1. Houstons. 210 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables, Florida. Tel: 305-529-0141. Fine dining in the heart of town at the corner of Ponce de Leon and Miracle Mile.
2. Las Culebrinas. 4700 W Flagler St, Coral Gables, Florida 33134. Tel: 305-445-2337. Some of the best Cuban food in town, which is saying a lot in Miami.
3. Maroosh., 223 Valencia Avenue, Coral Gables 33134. Tel: 305-476-9800. I love Mediterranean food, and this fine little restaurant is my favorite.
4. News Cafe, 800 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139. 305-538-6397 This is a cafe and bar in the heart of the art deco area of South Miami Beach with inside and outside seating. It is open 24 hours a day for breakfast or a light menu with hamburgers, desserts, and nice Mediterranean soups and salads. I go here to watch the beautiful people.
5. Perricones Marketplace and Cafe, 15 SE 10th St., Miami Fla 33131. 305-374-9449. Close to downtown and Brickell Avenue, this restaurant has great Italian food at reasonable prices. It has both indoor and outdoor dining, and is in a building that looks like a big old Vermont barn.Great ambiance.
6. The Rusty Pelican, 3201 Rickenbacker Causeway, Key Biscayne, FL 33149. 305-361-3818. This is a waterfront restaurant with a beautiful view of the downtown Miami and Brickell Avenue skyline. It has good seafood and drinks, and fire rings on the deck overlooking the water. A nice place to sit and veg before the fire on a cool evening.

MIAMI FLA ATTRACTIONS

1. Coral Castle, Homestead
2. Fruit and Spice Park, Redlands
3. Miami Seaquarium, Key Biscayne
4. University of Miami. Coral Gables, Florida 33124. Just visit the campus and look at the beautiful buildings and landscaping.
5. Venetian Pool. 2701 De Soto Boulevard, Coral Gables, Florida 33134. Tel: 305-460-5306. Owned by the City of Coral Gables, this pool is on the National Registry of Historic Places. It is a spring fed swimming pool that used to be the quarry used to build much of Coral Gables.

SOUTHEAST FLORIDA THINGS TO DO NEAR MIAMI FLA

Southeast Florida Art Festivals

Southeast Florida Day Trips

Southeast Florida Heritage Sites

Southeast Florida Museums

Southeast Florida Parks

Southeast Florida Theater

Southeast Florida Tourist Attractions

Southeast Florida Wineries

I have lived in Miami on three separate occasions, including once at the marina pictured to the right.

I enjoyed my time living in Miami with one exception: the traffic. It just seems to get worse every year.

The first NFL football team in Florida, the Miami Dolphins, still performs on Sundays at what the locals still call Joe Robbie Stadium after the team founder.

Coach Don Shula and many players from the famous undefeated and unequaled 1972 season still live in the Miami area.

There is always something exciting going on. Many movies and television series are filmed there, and it's easy to bump into famous actors at various restaurants and taverns around the area. South Beach and Coconut Grove are great for star watching.

Miami Vice, with Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as Miami vice detectives, was filmed here. Don's character, Sonny, lived aboard his sailboat at Miamarina, now next to Bayside Marketplace.

CSI Miami and Burn Notice are two current series being filmed in town. CSI has some fantastic and beautiful aerial videography of the city, the best I've ever seen. I'm not crazy about all the violence and bodies, but the buildings are gorgeous.

The movie True Lies with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis was filmed here. The movie has some tremendous helicopter scenes along the Brickell area of Miami, and some great chase and blow up scenes.

Sylvester Stallone and Madonna both lived in Coconut Grove, and Oprah Winfrey, Mel Brooks and other famous stars have made their homes on Star Island, Palm Island or Fisher Island off the MacArthur Causeway to Miami Beach.

Even the real Al Capone, not the knockoff from the movie "Scarface", had a place on Palm Island back in the day.

When movies are being made, local streets are sometimes shut off and the traffic gets even worse. Miamians don't seem to care, they think it's worth it.

Miami Fla and its division of the South Florida Metropolitan Area has grown from about 300 people during Julia Tuttle's time in 1896 to more than 2.5 million people in 2009.

You can't miss it. Just take I-95 from anywhere north; it ends in Miami and funnels into U.S.-1 South, also known as South Dixie Highway in these parts.

Or you can take U.S.-41 across the state from Naples. It is known as Tamiami Trail, and in Miami is also the famous "Calle Ocho", N.W. 8th Street. It ends in downtown Miami Fla.

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