Bal Harbour in Florida

17 April 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida Reading Time:  9 minutes

Collins Avenue in Bal Harbour © Alexf

Collins Avenue in Bal Harbour © Alexf

Bal Harbour is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The population is at 3,000. Since the 1920s, the Detroit-based Miami Beach Heights Corporation – headed by industrialists Robert C. Graham, Walter O. Briggs, and Carl G. Fisher – owned 245 acres (0.99 km²) of undeveloped, partially swampy land that stretched from the bay to the Atlantic. Mr. Graham assumed the duties as the developer for Bal Harbour. In the 1930s, city planners Harland Bartholomew & Associates were called in to design the Village. The company made several plans, and they were submitted to the Miami Beach Heights for review.   read more…

Museum of Ice Cream

11 March 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area, Bon appétit, Miami / South Florida, Museums, Exhibitions, New York City, San Francisco Bay Area Reading Time:  5 minutes

Museum of Ice Cream in San Francisco © Cjfrey/cc-by-sa-4.0

Museum of Ice Cream in San Francisco © Cjfrey/cc-by-sa-4.0

Museum of Ice Cream, started in Manhattan, New York City, is an interactive art exhibit with ice cream and candy themed exhibits, all brightly colored, in a maze of rooms containing “among other things, a rock-candy cave, a unicorn, and a swimming pool of rainbow sprinkles”. The exhibits are very often the backdrop for selfies, and the many selfies posted to Instagram, Flickr, Facebook, and other social media sites have served to promote the exhibit. Each visitor is offered numerous tastings throughout. Tickets must be purchased in advance for specific time slots online only. The term “museum” was chosen for the temporary art exhibition because it was something people would understand.   read more…

Stock Island in Florida

9 March 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Averette/cc-by-3.0

© Averette/cc-by-3.0

Stock Island is a census-designated place (CDP) & Unincorporated community on an island of the same name in the Florida Keys in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The population of the CDP was 4,410 at the 2000 census. It is located on the portion of the island south of US 1. It is supposedly named for the herds of livestock formerly kept there. Alternatively, some local historians suggest that it may be named for an early settler. Due to the quiet peripheral location compared to the tourist hustle and bustle on and in Key West, it is now an insider tip and because of its relative naturalness called the “real Key West”.   read more…

Bayfront Park in Miami

28 February 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida Reading Time:  5 minutes

Panoramic view of Bayfront Park during the 2013 Ultra Music Festival © Robert Giordano/cc-by-sa-3.0

Panoramic view of Bayfront Park during the 2013 Ultra Music Festival © Robert Giordano/cc-by-sa-3.0

Bayfront Park is a 32-acre (13 ha) public, urban park in Downtown Miami, Florida on Biscayne Bay. The park began construction in 1924 under the design plans of Warren Henry Manning and officially opened in March 1925. Beginning in 1980, it underwent a major redesign by Japanese-American modernist artist and landscape architect, Isamu Noguchi. Today, Bayfront Park is maintained by the Bayfront Park Management Trust, a limited agency of the city of Miami.   read more…

The Super Bowl LIV in Miami Gardens

31 January 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida, Sport Reading Time:  15 minutes

© nfl.com

© nfl.com

The NFL Super Bowl LIV, the 54th Super Bowl and the 50th modern-era National Football League (NFL) championship game (American Football) will decide the league champion for the league’s 2019 and 100th season. The game will be played on February 2, 2020 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. This will be the 11th Super Bowl hosted by the South Florida region and the sixth Super Bowl hosted in Miami Gardens, which hosted Super Bowl XLIV ten years earlier. At the beginning of the Super Bowl, America the Beautiful (America the Beautiful on YouTube) and the American national anthem (The Star-Spangled BannerUS National Anthem by Beyonce) is intoned, followed by a fly-over over the stadium by a flying unit of the United States Armed Forces (one will have to wait in vain for a while to be able to watch the overflight by the new 6th armed forces, the United States Space Force). This year’s legendary halftime show will be co-headlined by the American artist Jennifer Lopez and the Colombian artist Shakira.   read more…

Brickell City Centre in Miami

27 January 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida, Shopping Reading Time:  8 minutes

© B137

© B137

Brickell City Centre is a $1.05 billion shopping and mixed-use project in Miami, Florida. When finished, it will span up to five blocks to the west of Brickell Avenue and to the south of the Miami River, in the Brickell district of Greater Downtown. It will be anchored by a 107,000 square-foot Saks Fifth Avenue, Cinemex, and Italian food hall. The project is located between 7th and 8th Streets on both sides of South Miami Avenue and east of South Miami Ave on the north side of 7th Street. Additionally, it may expand to develop two more blocks that Swire already owns at 700 Brickell Avenue and SE 6 Street.   read more…

Virginia Key in Miami

6 January 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, Environment Reading Time:  12 minutes

© Ebyabe/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Ebyabe/cc-by-sa-3.0

Virginia Key is an 863-acre (3.49 km²) barrier island in Miami, Florida, United States in Biscayne Bay, south of Brickell and north of Key Biscayne. It is accessible from the mainland via the Rickenbacker Causeway. The island is mainly occupied by the Virginia Key Beach Park, Miami Seaquarium, Miami-Dade’s Central District Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Other facilities include the former Miami Marine Stadium, the National Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Fisheries Science Center, and an office of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.   read more…

Miami Avenue

18 December 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida Reading Time:  5 minutes

Mary Brickell Village on Miami Avenue © Averette/cc-by-3.0

Mary Brickell Village on Miami Avenue © Averette/cc-by-3.0

Miami Avenue is a 16.8-mile (27.0 km) main north-south street running through Coconut Grove, Brickell, Downtown, and Midtown in Miami, Florida. It is the meridian road dividing the street grid of Miami and Miami-Dade County into east and west avenues. In Brickell, Miami Avenue, is Brickell’s main restaurant and nightlife avenue, with many bars, restaurants, and lounges, including the now-demolished Tobacco Road.   read more…

Portrait: John S. Collins, the founder of Miami Beach

27 November 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Miami / South Florida, Portrait Reading Time:  4 minutes

John S. Collins © floridamemory.com

John S. Collins © floridamemory.com

John Stiles Collins was an American Quaker farmer from Moorestown Township, New Jersey who moved to South Florida and attempted to grow vegetables and coconuts on the swampy, bug-infested stretch of land between Miami and the ocean, a barrier island which became Miami Beach. John S. Collins died in 1928 at the age of 90. Collins Avenue and the Collins Canal, both on Miami Beach, are named in his honor.   read more…

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