Key Biscayne in Florida

3 January 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida Reading Time:  11 minutes

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park © Tamanoeconomico/cc-by-sa-4.0

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park © Tamanoeconomico/cc-by-sa-4.0

Key Biscayne is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and lies south of Miami Beach and southeast of Miami. The key is connected to Miami via the Rickenbacker Causeway, originally built in 1947. The northern portion of Key Biscayne is home to Crandon Park, a county park. The middle section of the island consists of the incorporated Village of Key Biscayne. The southern part of the island is now protected as Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, adjacent to Biscayne National Park, one of the two national parks in Miami-Dade County.   read more…

Sunny Isles Beach in Florida

21 December 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida Reading Time:  9 minutes

Oleta River State Park and the skyline of Sunny Isles Beach © panoramio.com - Richard Mc Neil/cc-by-3.0

Oleta River State Park and the skyline of Sunny Isles Beach © panoramio.com – Richard Mc Neil/cc-by-3.0

Sunny Isles Beach (SIB, officially the City of Sunny Isles Beach) is a city located on a barrier island in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Intracoastal Waterway on the west. Sunny Isles Beach is an area of cultural diversity with stores lining Collins Avenue, the main thoroughfare through the city. It is renowned for having the 14th tallest skyline in America despite its relatively low population.   read more…

Venetian Islands in Florida

15 October 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida Reading Time:  6 minutes

Westernmost Venetian Islands © Averette/cc-by-3.0

Westernmost Venetian Islands © Averette/cc-by-3.0

The Venetian Islands are a chain of artificial islands in Biscayne Bay in the cities of Miami and Miami Beach, Florida. The islands are, from west to east: Biscayne Island (Miami), San Marco Island (Miami), San Marino Island (Miami Beach), Di Lido Island (Miami Beach), Rivo Alto Island (Miami Beach), and Belle Isle (Miami Beach). Flagler Monument Island remains an uninhabited picnic island, originally built in 1920 as a memorial to railroad pioneer Henry Flagler. The islands are connected by bridges from the Miami mainland to Miami Beach.   read more…

FTX Arena in Miami

14 June 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida, Sport Reading Time:  5 minutes

backside © Averette/cc-by-3.0

backside © Averette/cc-by-3.0

The FTX Arena (formerly known as American Airlines Arena) is a sports and entertainment multi-purpose arena located in Miami, Florida, along Biscayne Bay. It was constructed beginning in 1998 as a replacement for the Miami Arena and designed by the architecture firms Arquitectonica and 360 Architecture. The arena is home to the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association.   read more…

Coral Gables in Florida

25 January 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida Reading Time:  6 minutes

Biltmore Hotel © Ebyabe/cc-by-sa-3.0

Biltmore Hotel © Ebyabe/cc-by-sa-3.0

Coral Gables, officially the City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, located southwest of Downtown Miami, with a population of 50,000. Coral Gables is a Mediterranean-themed planned community known for its climate and historical character.   read more…

Hibiscus Island in the Biscayne Bay

4 January 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida Reading Time:  5 minutes

Hibiscus Island entrance © Averette/cc-by-3.0

Hibiscus Island entrance © Averette/cc-by-3.0

Hibiscus Island is a neighborhood in the city of Miami Beach on a man-made island in Biscayne Bay, Florida, United States. Hibiscus Island lies just north of Palm Island. It is an exclusive residential neighborhood with relatively high property values. The island is accessible via the MacArthur Causeway.   read more…

Haulover Park in Florida

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

Haulover Beach at north Miami Beach © flickr.com - Infrogmation of New Orleans/cc-by-2.0

Haulover Beach at north Miami Beach © flickr.com – Infrogmation of New Orleans/cc-by-2.0

Haulover Park is a 177-acre (72 ha) urban park owned and operated by Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation & Open Spaces Department, located in metropolitan Miami, just north of Bal Harbour, Florida. The park is located on a shoal between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, just north of the Broad Causeway (SR 922) and Collins Avenue.   read more…

Stiltsville in Florida

13 July 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Miami / South Florida Reading Time:  25 minutes

Stiltsville as seen from Cape Florida Light © Mr3641

Stiltsville as seen from Cape Florida Light © Mr3641

Stiltsville is a group of wood stilt houses located one mile south of Cape Florida, on sand banks of the Safety Valve on the edge of Biscayne Bay in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The structures stand on wood or reinforced concrete pilings, generally ten feet above the shallow water, which varies from one to three feet deep at low tide. Most sources claim the first stilt shack was built in the early 1930s, but some Dade County historians say that there were a dozen shacks in “the flats” as early as 1922. Today there seven houses remaining. Stiltsville’s frontier era ended with Hurricane Betsy in 1965. Beginning in August 1965, the state of Florida required building owners to pay $100 annually to lease their quarter-acre circular “campsites.” No permits for new construction were issued, and structures that sustained more than 50-percent damage could not be rebuilt. Building codes were implemented and the state banned commercial operations after 1969.   read more…

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…

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