Miami & the Florida Keys Alive!

494 Pages·2000·3.26 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
Hunter’s full range of travel guides to all corners of
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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
independent traveler who enjoys outdoor activities
(rafting, hiking, biking, skiing, canoeing, etc.). All
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
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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