Miami and the Florida Keys alive

493 Pages·2001·3.2 MB·English

by  Lisa Simundson

LisaSimundson
HunterPublishing,Inc.
130CampusDrive
Edison,NJ08818-7816
(cid:1)732-225-1900/800-255-0343/Fax[phone]
Website:www.hunterpublishing.com
E-mail:[email protected]
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ISBN1-55650-913-8
©2001HunterPublishing,Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro-
duced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyform,
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, record-
ing, or otherwise, without the written permission of the pub-
lisher.
Thisguidefocusesonrecreationalactivities.Asallsuchactivi-
tiescontainelementsofrisk,thepublisher,author,affiliatedin-
dividuals and companies disclaim any responsibility for any
injury,harm,orillnessthatmayoccurtoanyonethrough,orby
useof,theinformationinthisbook.Everyeffortwasmadetoin-
suretheaccuracyofinformationinthisbook,butthepublisher
andauthordonotassume,andherebydisclaim,anyliabilityfor
lossordamagecausedbyerrors,omissions,misleadinginforma-
tion or potential travel problems caused by this guide, even if
sucherrorsoromissionsresultfromnegligence,accidentorany
MapsbyLissaK.DaileyandToniCarbone,
©2001HunterPublishing,Inc.
IndexingbyNancyWolff
4 3 2 1
About the Alive Guides
Reliable, detailed and personally researched by knowl-
edgeableauthors,theAlive!serieswasfoundedbyHarriet
andArnoldGreenberg.
This accomplished travel-writing team also operates a re-
nownedbookstore,TheCompleteTraveller,at199Madi-
sonAvenueinNewYorkCity.
About the Author
LisaSimundsonisalifelongresidentofMiamiandafre-
quent visitor to the Florida Keys. Now a freelance travel
writer, she was previously the editor of a local visitors
guideandthemanagingeditorofanationaltravelindus-
trypublication,forwhichshecoveredFlorida,LatinAmer-
icaandtheSoutheasternUnitedStates.
www.hunterpublishing.com
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Alive!guidesfeaturedinclude:Aruba,Bonaire&Cura-
çao; Jamaica; Buenos Aires & The Best of Argentina;
Venezuela;TheCaymanIslands;Cancún&Cozumel;
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hamas;Martinique,Guadeloupe,Dominica&St.Lu-
cia;TheCatskills;Dallas&FortWorth;andAtlanta.
CheckoutourAdventureGuides,aseriesaimedatthe
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booksinthissignatureseriescoverplacestostayand
eat, sightseeing, in-town attractions, transportation
andmore!
Hunter’sRomanticWeekendsseriesoffersmyriadthings
to do for couples of all ages and lifestyles. Quaint
places to stay and restaurants where the ambiance
will take your breath away are included, along with
fun activities that you and your partner will remem-
berforever.
ForDavid,KellyandVeronica
Acknowledgments
Thanks to the following for their invaluable assistance in
compiling the information for this book: Jack Dunlavey,
Media Relations for Hawk’s Cay Resort; Andy Newman,
VicePresident,StuartNewmanAssociates;EmilyO’Brien,
Research Assistant; and the helpful staff members at the
KeyLargoChamberofCommerce,theIslamoradaCham-
ber of Commerce, the Marathon Chamber of Commerce,
the Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce, the Key West
ChamberofCommerce,theGreaterMiamiConvention&
Visitors Bureau, and the Miami Beach Chamber of Com-
merce.
We Love to Get Mail
Thisbookhasbeencarefullyresearchedtobringyoucur-
rent, accurate information. But no place is unchanging.
We welcome your comments for future editions. Please
writeusat:AliveGuides,c/oHunterPublishing,130Cam-
pusDrive,Edison,NJ08818,ore-mailyourcommentsto
[email protected]. Due to the volume of mail we
receive,weregretthatwecannotpersonallyreplytoeach
letterormessage,butyourcommentsaregreatlyappreci-
atedandwillberead.
Contents
Introduction
ABriefHistoryofMiami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
The20thCentury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
MiamiToday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
ABriefHistoryofTheKeys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The1800s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The1900s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Miami
TheMagicCity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Dining&Shopping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Attractions&Nightlife. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Accommodations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Orientation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
KeyBiscayne&VirginiaKey . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
MiamiBeach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
NortheastMiami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
CentralMiami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
CoconutGrove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
CoralGables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
NorthwestMiami. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
WestMiami&AirportArea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
SouthMiami-DadeCounty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
TheEverglades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
GettingHere. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
ByAir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
ByBus&Train . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
ByCar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
ByWater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
GettingAround . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
PublicTransportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
CarRental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
SpecialtyRentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Taxis&Limousines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Bicycle&In-LineSkateRentals. . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Climate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
PlanningYourTrip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
viii Miami & The Florida Keys Alive!
InformationSources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
PackingTips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
SafetyTips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
SunuptoSundown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Beaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Watersports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Tennis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Spas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
SpectatorSports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
ShopTillYouDrop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Attractions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Fairs,Fiestas,Festivals&Food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
January . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
February. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
April . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
May. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
June . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
July. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
August . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
September . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
October. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
December . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Arts&Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
PerformanceVenues&Organizations . . . . . . . . 126
Tours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
BestPlacestoStay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
DowntownMiami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
SouthBeach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
MiamiBeach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
CoconutGrove. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
KeyBiscayne. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
CoralGables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
AirportArea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
TheEverglades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
BestPlacestoEat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Cuisine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
WhattoWear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
DowntownMiami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Contents ix
LittleHavana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
NortheastMiami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
MiamiBeach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
CoconutGrove. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
KeyBiscayne. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
CoralGables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Kendall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
SouthMiami. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Homestead. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
CentralWestMiami. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
NorthwestMiami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
AfterDark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
SouthBeach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
DowntownMiami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
NortheastMiami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
CoconutGrove. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
CoralGables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
SouthMiami. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
AirportArea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
MiamiAtoZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
The Florida Keys
TheGreatEscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Attractions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Dining&Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Accommodations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
UpperKeys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
MiddleKeys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
LowerKeys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
KeyWest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
GettingHere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
ByAir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
ByWater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
ByRoad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
GettingAround. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Upper,Middle&LowerKeys. . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
KeyWest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
PlanningYourTrip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290