The last post I will share about Miami is our trip to Vizcaya.
"Vizcaya, the winter residence of James Deering (1859–1925),
was built between 1914 and 1922 in the Coconut Grove area of Miami. The estate
was entirely surrounded by subtropical forest—the Main House and the formal
gardens appeared as a dreamlike vision in the midst of the jungle on the shores
of Biscayne Bay. Today, Vizcaya is an oasis of silence and green, miraculously
preserved just south of Miami’s modern skyline."
I love going to old houses, even though this one wasn't that old. It was designed and decorated from old European mansions and castles. Some of the rooms were transported to Miami in their entirety.
The grounds were also very European-esque. They reminded me of a less opulent and smaller version of Versailles.
We did the audio tour a meandered around the house and grounds for about 3 hours. Each room had at least one recording describing what the room was for, how it was decorated and John Deering's feelings on the room.
Visiting Vizcaya was one of my favorite things in Miami.
Last week we went on our babymoon to Miami. When we found out we were expecting and Mr. J heard of the "babymoon" idea he was in. In fact he was adamant about taking a little vacation. After going over some possibilities we settled on Miami for three main reasons. First we had never been there. Second, it was relatively easy to get to being on the east coast. And third, it was so far south that it was sure to be warm.
We landed just after noon a week ago Sunday and immediately went out in search of food. We headed to Little Havana and stopped in Versailles. A tourist and local joint this place was like a big dinner Cuban style. We both got two different sampler platters and munched away.
After lunch we walked around the Little Havana area seeing lots of old men smoking cigars. There wasn't too much to do on Sunday afternoon but it was great to stretch our legs and see all of the unique buildings and stores. It definitely felt like another country.
Before leaving we got the best ice cream at Azucar ice cream company. It was so good and I would go back just for that ice cream.
The next day we took off for the Everglades. It took about 30 minutes to get out of Miami in the morning but once you were out of town the landscape immediately changed. We were so excited to see our first alligator we turned around twice to get a better look.
Little did we know that within another mile we would be seeing alligators all over the place. I would guess we easily saw over 50.
We didn't plan any activities ahead of time but after stopping at the first Visitor/Ranger station we had a good idea of what we wanted to see. We did a short 1/2 mile boardwalk trail into the swamp. This was perfect as I wasn't ready to venture longer than a 1/2 mile being pregnant. Even more important though was the raised boardwalk. There are alligators, snakes and all sorts of other creatures that I was not planning on getting close too.
After our little walk we headed toward Everglades city stopping along the way at one more Ranger station.
There are very few places to eat besides in Everglades city. After a quick google search we ended up at Camellia Street Grill. It was right on the river causeway. We had a great lunch; the salad was amazing and watched the airboats go by.
We continued on to the tip of the ten thousand island Ranger station and got tickets to do the island boat ride. Here we saw lots of mangroves and dolphins. Mr. J got way better dolphin pictures. I think I was too slow. We saw two different pods, over 20 dolphins. They put on quite a show and got much closer to the boat than this picture shows.
After the boat ride we headed back toward Miami. We ended up doing a back road loop to go back into the swamp on the way home. This allowed for way more opportunity to get out of the car and walk around. I didn't really participate but Mr. J got out quite a bit. I would watch him closely through the mirror making sure he didn't get too close to the critters.
The following day we checked out the Biltmore hotel and golf course.
Another amazing stop was Michael's Genuine Food and Drink in the Design district.
We got two snacks - deviled eggs for Mr. J and homemade potato chips with fried onion dip for me. The chips and dip were out of this world.
I got a short rib pizza with dandelion greens. For dessert we split the chocolate cremosa. It was like mousse and ice cream in one.
I have one more post about Miami before we move on to real life.
One of the activities we planned for our trip was a food tour with Miami Culinary Tours. They have four or five area tours but because of scheduling the only one we could make was the South Beach tour. The website gave lots of details for each tour and I knew whatever one we took would be great.
There is a variety of food for each tour. And although they do not accommodate for food preferences they gladly gave me two substitutions since alcohol and raw fish is frowned upon when you are pregnant.
The first stop was a Colombian restaurant. It was a sit down stop where we sampled empanadas, ceviche, and a beer cocktail. I got a creamy fruit soda and a chicken swap out. All was good and very filling. The portions were huge so there was no worries about leaving the tour hungry.
The next stop was a grab and good for an Argentinian churro. I am not a huge fan of churros but this one was super good. It was so fresh. The outside was crispy but the center was soft and there was dulce de leche filling in the center.
The tour goes into the history and culture of South Beach from when it was first populated through present. We walked down Ocean Drive to see the Art Deco buildings as well as the Versace mansion.
Another stop on the tour was a Cuban restaurant, Habanos. Here we took a sit down break and sampled some Cuban comfort foods and a bowl full of plantain chips.
We also got a sample of Cuban coffee. It was the littlest shot of coffee ever but it was super strong. I had about two sips before passing it along to Mr. J. Not because it wasn't good but because it was getting late and there was no way I would fall asleep if I had much more.
The last savory stop was Block pizza where we sampled little sandwiches made with mother dough from over 300 years ago.
At this point I was beyond stuffed but I wasn't going to say no to the last tasting of gelato.
The gelato machine was so cool. It was a little circular space ship that spun around to keep all flavors at a consistent temperature. This little treat was the perfect way to end the night.
We had a great time and are so glad we took the time to do this tour. The only regret is that we did it on our last night. Our guide was so informative and gave lots of insight of the area for things to do and eat. I guess we might need to plan another trip to Miami.
