MIAMI FLORIDA
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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.
Find out what made Miami what it is today: read history of Miami Florida. Miami is an exciting and dynamic place to live and visit, and has become a major international, financial and cultural center of the world.
It is also easy to get to with many Cheap Flights to Miami originating from all over the world.
I have lived in Miami Florida 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. Another new TV series is Glades that is action packed and full of Miami scenes.
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.
The typically tropical and balmy weather means there are always plenty of Outdoor Activities in Miami at any given time of the year.
Miami Florida 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 2010.
MIAMI FLORIDA HOTELS
Hotels in Miami range from the elegant to the simple. I've stayed at the two on the list below. They are fairly expensive but a lot of fun. There are also plenty of Cheap Hotels In Miami that offer fine lodging.
- 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.
- 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.
MIAMI FLORIDA RESTAURANTS
There must be a thousand restaurants in the greater Miami area. I will focus on only a few that I know something about.
- Hillstone. 210 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables, Florida. Tel: 305-529-0141. Formerly Houston's: fine dining in the heart of town at the corner of Ponce de Leon and Miracle Mile.
- 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.
- Maroosh., 223 Valencia Avenue, Coral Gables 33134. Tel: 305-476-9800. I love Mediterranean food, and this fine little restaurant is my favorite.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 FLORIDA ATTRACTIONS
- Coral Castle, Homestead
- Fruit and Spice Park, Redlands
- Little Havana, Miami. Little Havana is an interesting area along Southwest 8th Avenue (known in these parts as Calle Ocho) between I-95 and Southwest 22nd Avenue. This is where the early Cuban immigrants settled. Many great restaurants, shops, cigar rolling enterprises, old men playing dominoes, music festivals and art galleries. Don't miss Little Havana.
- Miami Seaquarium, Key Biscayne
- University of Miami. Coral Gables, Florida 33124. Just visit the campus and look at the beautiful buildings and landscaping.
- 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 Heritage Sites
HOW TO FIND MIAMI FLORIDA
You can't miss Miami. Just go south on I-95 from anywhere north.
Keep driving until I-95 ends in Miami and funnels into US-1 South, also known as South Dixie Highway in these parts. US-1 will take you through Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, Homestead and all the way to Key West.
Or you can take U.S.-41 across the state from Naples.
This highway is known both in Naples and Miami as the Tamiami Trail, a shortened version of Tampa-Miami Trail.
In Miami it also the famous "Calle Ocho", Southwest 8th Street, the heart of "Little Havana".
Tamiami Trail ends ends in downtown Miami Florida near the Intracoastal Waterway.
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