The histories of Cuba and Miami are deeply intertwined, and reminders of that connection can be…read morefound throughout the city, including here at Tamiami Park. While driving through the park, I couldn't miss the large Cuban Flag Memorial near the FIU stadium. Curious to learn more, I stopped for a closer look. The Memorial Cubano was created through a community effort by Cuban exiles in South Florida who wanted to commemorate those who died under the Cuban government after 1959 or while attempting to flee the island. The project began in 2002 when a group of exiles organized a symbolic cemetery to honor victims whose graves were either inaccessible or nonexistent. Thousands of white crosses were placed throughout Tamiami Park, each bearing the name of a deceased person. What began as a temporary tribute soon became an annual tradition. After years of displaying the crosses, a permanent memorial was officially inaugurated on February 22, 2014. Designed by Cuban architects Willy Borroto and Otto Borroto, the memorial features a 62 foot tall obelisk painted as the Cuban flag, a large white star-shaped plaza representing the flag's star, royal palm trees representing the national tree of Cuba, and black marble panels engraved with the names of the deceased. Memorial Cubano, Inc., the nonprofit organization that owns and maintains the memorial, keeps records of individuals whose deaths it deems are attributed to political repression, imprisonment, military actions, or attempts to escape Cuba. Annual ceremonies continue to be held here to honor those who lost their lives under Castro's regime. One particularly large gathering took place on the day of Fidel Castro's funeral. As I walked through the memorial and looked at the names and photographs, the cost of the struggle for freedom was driven home. It was a moving experience. This memorial is well worth a visit if you find yourself in Sweetwater. It is a reminder of the enduring impact Fidel Castro's regime has had on Cubans and the South Florida community.

Recently stayed at the Sunrise Harbor condominium which nudges up against the Sunrise Blvd Draw…read moreBridge. We had to wait a few minutes to get across on foot since we were going to the Fort Lauderdale strip just on the other side which is at the entrance of Birch State Park (along the sides of the bridge they offer a nice walking path with a safety railing). There is also a CVS Pharmacy at the north side of the bridge in case you injure yourself walking up the steel giant. The traffic approaching the bridge is influenced by tourists visiting the Galleria Mall then going to the beach. We got fantastic pictures at the top of the bridge as yachts passed under on the Fort Lauderdale Intercoastal (see pics).

Took a nice long walk from the Galleria Mall to the beach but in order to complete this task the…read morebridge is the obstacle standing in the way. Exciting to stand at the top of the bridge and watch the boats float under on the intercostal. Walked to the Fort Lauderdale beach then back at night over the bridge that luckily was still not erect.

Another iconic building in Downtown Miami. Definitely worthy of a visit. If you do go, hit the…read morebutton to the top in the elevator, to see sweeping views. The public are allowed to go there. Once you are up there, you can see this area of Miami from a different wow factor insight. Check out my pictures for a taster.. The Miami Tower is a 47-story, landmark office skyscraper in Miami, Florida, United States. It is located in central Downtown. It is currently the 16th tallest building in Miami and Florida. Add to your "must see" list for Down town Miami.

Newly renovated "Sky Lounge" is awesome! The gym is nicer than some gyms you have to pay for. Staff…read moreis nice and the building is clean.

I love discovering old places, and if they are abandoned even better for me! It is surely worthy of…read morea trip - lets hope they GET ON WITH RESTORING IT, and stop wasting money on just maintaining it!! (its been owned by the state since 2007 after all!!!) Here is some more information and history about this house (sourced from https://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/things-to-do/arts-history/marjory-stoneman-douglas-house.html) Almost 68 years after Marjory Stoneman Douglas' "The Everglades: River of Grass" changed the popular conception of the Everglades from worthless swamp to treasured ecosystem, the Stoneman Douglas house in Miami's leafy Coconut Grove neighborhood will be designated a national historic landmark. During his first visit to Everglades National Park in April 2015, President Barack Obama declared the protective designation for the conservationist's modest 1926 cottage at 3744 Stewart Ave. No plans have been announced yet for opening the stucco-covered, wood-frame Stoneman Douglas house to the public, although fans still can go by the historic one-story home, now surrounded by million-dollar mansions. Preservationists and environmentalists have argued for years with neighbors over the fate of the bungalow and concerns that turning it into an education center or attraction would overwhelm the area with traffic and violate residential land use codes. A plan to move the house three miles from its South Grove location to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden was scrapped in 2006. The Stoneman Douglas house and property have been owned by the State of Florida and since 2007 has been maintained by the Florida Park Service as a lasting memorial to a remarkable "woman who saved the Everglades." As a 34-year-old divorced woman living with her father, buying her own house represented independence to Douglas. In her autobiography, "Voice of the River," she wrote about her desire to have a place of her own. I didn't need much of a house, just a workshop, a place of my own. All I wanted was one big room with living quarters tacked on. I knew an architect, George Hyde, who drew up some plans. He mostly built factories, which was fortunate, because I hoped my little house would be as stout and as sparse as a factory with not much to worry about. Because she never learned to drive, the house had no driveway (or air conditioning, electric stove or dishwasher). Part Tudor Revival and part Medieval Revival in design, the house, created by well-known architect George Hyde, is noted for its hip roof, half-timbering, post-hurricane wood floors, elegant detailing, and cast bronze hardware. Starting out as a young writer working for her father at The Miami Herald in 1915 following her brief marriage, Marjory Stoneman Douglas eventually produced more than 100 short stories for popular magazines. "River of Grass," published in 1947, was her most influential work. Later in life, she became a relentless crusader for the natural preservation and restoration of the nature of South Florida. She recognized that the Everglades was a system that depended not only on the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee into the park, but also upon the Kissimmee River which feeds the lake. To add a voting constituency to her efforts, in 1970 she formed the Friends of the Everglades, and was active as the head of the organization. Dubbed the "Grande Dame of the Everglades," she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Upon her death at the age of 108 in 1998, The Independent in London stated, "In the history of the American environmental movement, there have been few more remarkable figures than Marjory Stoneman Douglas." Today, Everglades National Park, the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, protects over 1.5 million acres. It's the third-largest national park in the lower 48 states, behind Yellowstone National Park and Death Valley National Park. There are three ways to access the park by car. The main entrance in Homestead connects visitors to the Royal Palm Area and the Flamingo Area of Everglades National Park. The Shark Valley entrance is in Miami and the Gulf Coast Entrance is in Everglades City.

Marjorie Stoneman Douglas lived in this home in Coconut Grove. It was built in 1926 by George Hyde…read moreand is designed to look like an English Cotswolds country cottage. The house looks like it is out of a fairy tale. The house is extremely small, barely 900 feet. Marjorie considered it more of a workshop than a home. It is a single story wood frame T shaped structure with a stucco, brick, and half-timbered exterior walls and a sloping roof covered in wood shingles. The interior has hardwood flooring, plaster walls, and plaster ceilings with exposed beams. The interior has one large room that used to be dominated by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas's desk. The other rooms are a little bedroom and a tiny kitchen that only held a hot plate and toaster. Furnishings in the home were very simple. The house didn't have a driveway because she never learned to drive or central air conditioning. Marjorie did much of her writing in the home including the 1947 book The Everglades: River of Grass which spawned a movement to save the Everglades from development. The state of Florida purchased the house in 1991. Marjory was allowed to live out the rest of her life in her home which she did until she passed away at the age of 108 in 1998. The house was designated a national landmark in 2015. The house sits vacant as the people in the neighborhood have fought any attempts at turning the house into a museum fearing the traffic it would bring to the area. With the shooting that took place at the high school named in Marjorie Stoneman Douglas's honor in Parkland her name has been thrust back in the spotlight and there is renewed interest in finally doing something with the house. It seems like the neighbors may finally be coming around to allowing access to the house on a limited basis. Before that can happen the state needs to repair termite damage and mold caused by an air conditioner leak. Some of the ideas for the house are to turn it into a museum to honor Marjory or to allow a writer to live there in residence. A plan that has been scraped is to move the house to Fairchild tropical Gardens where there is a statue of Marjory Stoneman Douglas sitting on a bench. I am a long time Marjory Stoneman Douglas fan. As someone who loves the Everglades I appreciate her and everything she did to save it from development. I have seen many lovely pictures of her outside her home usually with a cat. Visiting her house was a thrill. I especially loved discovering the seahorse on the outside fireplace and the hand shaped doorknocker on the front door. I truly hope the neighbors and the state can come to an agreement to allow people access to the property. Right now you can easily park in front of the house and take a peek in the windows. Marjory Stoneman Douglas created a lasting environmental legacy and her home deserves to be protected and maintained. Maybe even more so after what happened in Parkland. The house belongs to all of us and we should be able to pay our respects to her there.

They do not enforce the 15 and 45 they will bring the draw bridge 10 minutes before its time, as if…read moreboats are more important that local traffic

Situated between the Commercial Boulevard and the Sunrise Boulevard bascule bridges at Intracoastal…read moreWaterway Mile Marker 1060.6, the Oakland Park Beach Boulevard Bascule Bridge has a 22-foot closed vertical clearance with 88 feet of horizontal clearance at the center span. Several restaurants and businesses are located just feet from this bridge, such as Shooters Waterfront and Thasos Greek. This is a busy bridge connecting the Galt Mile with the rest of Fort Lauderdale. Some reference information for boaters.... Mile Marker: 1060.5 Lat / Lon: N 26° 10.043' / W 080° 06.232' Bridge Type: Bascule Vertical Clearance (Closed): 22.00 ft. Horizontal Clearance: 88.00 ft. Schedule: The draw shall open on the quarter-hour and three-quarter hour. VHF Channel: 9

Philemon and his wife Lucy Catherine Bryan along with their seven children came to Ft. lauderdale…read moreto start over after a freeze killed his crop of oranges in Smyrna, Florida, In 1895. In Ft. Lauderdale he purchased 840 acres of land and planted twenty-five orange trees. Henry Flagler gave him the job of laying railroad track from Pompano Beach to Miami which he did along with his two sons. With the railroad in town a hotel was needed which was Philemon's next project. In order to build the New River Inn Philemon and Lucy's Bryan's family wooden house was torn down and the hotel which was completed in 1905 was placed where it had stood. To replace the lost family home Lucy's two sons requested contractor Edwin T. King to build a new home in 1905. The house is built of hollow concrete block in a Colonial Revival style. Lucy lived in the house until she died from an accident at the age of 72. During World War II it served as a boarding house for young women whose husbands were away at war. Later on it became a yoga studio. The house is the oldest remaining example of residential masonry architecture in Fort Lauderdale. There are many stories of the house being haunted by the spirit of Lucy. People have reported her to be a kind and comforting presence. The house is now owned by the Ft. Lauderdale historical museum who restored it. It is open for visitors during their history tours.

I first saw - and entered El Jardin in 1982/83. At that time it contained the office of Father…read moreRoger Radloff, a Catholic priest and Jungian psychologist which he used in relation to a private practice that he maintained in addition to being the "shrink for the diocese" as he put it. His assistant at that time was Eugene Ritter. I believe Radloff also offered services to students at the adjoining Carrollton School, which owned the gatehouse. As with all Miami revival architecture, El Jardin is at one with the earth, looks organic, and is built with color, shapes and textures as well as stone.

I went to coconut Grove to see as many historical places as possible, and spotted this one. See…read moreinfo I got from the net regarding it. El Jardin is a house located at 3747 Main Highway in Miami, Florida. It is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. El Jardin is now home to Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart in Miami, Florida. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on August 30, 1974. Built in 1918 along a ridge of oolitic limestone, El Jardin expresses the broad training of its architect, Richard Kiehnel of Kiehnel and Elliott, and the experience of its owner, John Bindley, then president of Pittsburgh Steel. Kiehnel, in a September 1928 article for Tropical Home and Garden, referred to the house as a "progenitor of the Modern Mediterranean style home." Kiehnel relocated to Miami from Pittsburgh and became the architect for many landmark buildings, including the Coral Gables Congregational Church, Miami Senior High, and the Coral Gables Elementary School.

If you ever walk along the Ft Lauderdale Riverfront in Esplanade Park near the performing arts…read morecenter, you have probably come across this statue. The Lone Sailor is a seven foot, 809 pound statue of a sailor along the Riverwalk in Ft.Lauderdale. The sailor has his back to the city as his gaze looks out to the New River. He wears a sailors signature pea coat with his duffel sack at his feet. City commissioners along with volunteers from the Navy League of the United States spent four years raising funds for the statue. It was dedicated on October 14, 2006. The original Lone Sailor is at the Navy Memorial Plaza in Washington DC. There are now 18 Lone Sailor statues around the world. The statue signifies all of the men and women who have served or are serving in the Navy, past , present, and future. The statue stands for honor, courage, and commitment. Ft. Lauderdale was a major military base during WWII and many former military personnel retire here for the warmer climate, This statue recognizes their contributions and our history as a seafaring community. You can learn more about Ft. Lauderdale's role in WWIi at the Naval Air Station Museum in Ft. Lauderdale.