George Merrick is the founder of the City of Coral Gables. His family came to Miami from PA two…read moreyears after Henry Flagler brought the railroad to Florida. It was the dawn of the development of Florida. George Merrick attended Rollins College in Winter Park and in 1922 he meticulously planned Coral Gables. The houses were so well made that they survived hurricanes before there were building codes and his architecture was so charming that Coral gables is called the city beautiful. He also created the University of Miami. At first he wanted his buildings to be strictly Spanish and later Mediterranean style. Eventually he expanded his vision to include seven unique villages inspired by different international influences. The villages were built during the land boom years in the 1920's. It was a joint venture between Merrick, The American Building Company and former Ohio Governor Myers Cooper. The original plan was for more 1,000 residences in a series of villages based on architecture from around the world. The plan was never fully realized when the housing boom crashed from two hurricanes followed by the Great Depression. In the end only seven villages were built including this Italian Village. By 1928 George Merrick was forced out of the city he founded and ended up in the Keys. He returned to the city two years before he died to serve as postmaster. You can learn more about George Merrick by taking a tour of his family home in Coral Gables. Built between 1925 and 1926, the French Country Village was inspired by 18th-century rural French provincial farmhouse estates and chateauxs. There are two different style of architecture. Architect Frank Forster designed country homes and farm buildings and architects Edgar Albright and Philip L. Goodwin designed a rustic chateaux style of home. They were all built in the country style and they have have spacious yards and gardens. Design elements include steeply-pitched roofs, turrets, carved wood and wrought-iron balconies, red brick, and tall ceilings. You can find them on the 500 block of Hardee Road. When you see this neighborhood you feel like you stepped into Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Belle sings there must be more than this provincial life but I would be quite happy here. Since there are only 12 homes the demand for them is extremely high. When they do hit the market the price is over 2 million if you could even be lucky enough to get one.

See my other reviews there are a few "villages" in Coral Gables to depict different styles from…read morearound the world, this area is French country. See below for some information. French Country Village On the 500 block of Hardee Road are homes inspired by 18th century rural French architecture. This thematic district has two evident styles. Architect Frank Forster designed the farm styled homes, while architects Edgar Albright, and Phillip L. Goodwin designed the homes that are more rustic in style. I came for a drive around during covid - and definitely saw "French architectural styles" from the car, check out my pictures and you decide!

While High School reunions aren't always straight from a John Hughes movie, but it's always a plus…read moreto see and reconnect with the old friends you grew up with. My high school (Class of 1993 baby!) held a combined alumni picnic this Saturday at Charles Hadley Park and it was a great summer afternoon of reminiscing and adventure. By adventure I meant the summer monsoon that caught us at the beginning of the picnic when one of the 305's notorious summer storms hit and all of a sudden it was our senior summer of 1992 and Hurricane Andrew. Of course the afternoon recovered, and I got to socialize, try different catered dishes and catch up with an old crush. But since I'm not Mr. Hughes either, I'll get to some details about the park itself. Located right off NW 12th Avenue and next to both an elementary & middle school, it is accessible by the #12 bus route or reminisce on your P.E. class & take a 15-minute stroll from the Allapattah Metrorail station. You can also uber there, since the gravel parking lot can get packed during events. Street parking is also available, and for big events, sometimes the neighbors are out selling home-cookedfood. With the rainstorm mentioned, drainage of the park was pretty decent in that it didn't become a Woodstock-style mud pit. Inside the park, there are a few gravel walking paths, a public pool and football & basketball court. Part of the site also includes a senior center and day care buildings. At least for our event there were no direct in-park food concessions, but the organizers dealt with the City of Miami for food trucks and grills. We also rented a stage from the Parks Department.

For such a bad neighborhood of Miami this park is excellent and super spacious with a variety of…read moreactivities. Almost all is separately fenced off. Some courts need maintenance. Large playground. People were doing a dance class in the open space.

While driving through Wynwood, this colorful, large scale mural of a baroque alligator caught my…read moreeye. It is located at the front gates to Mana Wynwood a culture, arts. and events center. Artist Miguel Ángel Sánchez also known ad SATURNO was invited to paint the Tea Gator mural by Superchief Gallery based out of Los Angeles, New York, and Miami. The gallery was tasked with finding artists to paint the walls of Wynwood for the prestigious art festival in 2019 . SATURNO was already part of a gallery exhibit when they asked him to paint one of the walls. SATURNO is a Spanish artist who was born near Barcelona. He started off as a graffiti artist in the mid 1990's in Europe and has since gone on to create art featuring illustrated monsters and characters with exaggerated proportions. I love the details in the mural. The regal alligator is dressed in the finest and dripping in Jewels. There is a teapot on his back billowing colorful steam. SATURNO chose to use an alligator as the subject because of their connection to Florida. The rough skin contrasts with the porcelain of the teapot and the delicate feathers and flowers. The teapot represents the mind. always boiling with new ideas while the gold armor represents the subconscious which holds our most precious family, goals and experiences under protection just below the surface. It is hard to photograph the entire mural because the building bends. You have to see Tea Gator in person to fully appreciate the majesty of the artwork.

Opened in December of last year, the Typoe Sculpture Garden is part of the Underline, the new…read morelinear park that is running under the Miami Metrorail. You can find the Typoe Sculpture in the section of the park called the Fern Room. Artist Typoe is from Miami. He has been in gallery and museum shows around the world including in Mexico City, New York, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Basel, and Switzerland. His most recent showing was at the Warhol Museum. He is the co-founder and Creative Director of PRIMARY, an art collective and gallery in Miami's Design District and Little River. When creating this public art piece Typoe was influenced by children's building blocks which inspire play, joy, and creativity. The large pieces were inspired by the Art Deco movement which flourished in Miami from the 1920's to the 1940's. "This park is my love letter to Miami. It is something I hope the entire community can come to enjoy and experience together. My dream has always been to design parks and public spaces, and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to make my dream into reality with The Underline and Airbnb" I was so excited to spot this colorful art work beneath the Metrorail. There is a walkway and places to sit. My favorite sculpture was the smiley face which makes the perfect back drop for a photo. As nearby Southside park is redesigned, the sculpture garden area will eventually blend into the park.

It's always nice to see areas get an overhaul. This is a small colourful and relatively new art…read moreinstallation situated under the tram tracks in Brickell. Unfortunately it seems to have be taken over by a few homeless people.

Ask any Cuban who Jose Marti is & they'll all have positive comments to say. This little slice of…read morewhat is often overlooked northern gables has a big meaning in a tiny triangular patch of grass. The plaque commemorates the figures responsible for designing, creating, and sponsoring it but it has so much more meaning when you realize they placed his head statue at the same height he was. That way when you're looking directly at it, it's exactly as if he were there. There's a small lit concrete piece with a plaque on it naming all the Cuban provinces. Located directly across the Coral Gables Women's Park, it's another green area in Coral Gables worth strolling by. There's even a dog bag post in the event that your pup also feels inspired. It's well lit and worth stopping by to check out if you're in the area.

Freedom Plaza is located in Coral Gables across from the Coral Gables Woman's Plaza at the…read moreintersection of Santillane Avenue, East Ponce de Leon Boulevard and Galiano Street. The plaza was built to commemorate the centennial of the Republic of Cuba, founded on May 20, 1902. Royal Palms represent the six Cuban Provinces. The plaza contains the José Martí Monument designed in 1997 and cast in 2000 by Marc Andries Smit. José Martí (January 28, 1853 - May 19, 1895) is considered to be a Cuban national hero. Many parks and monuments throughout South Florida are named in his honor. He was a poet, revolutionary philosopher, writer,, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher. He dedicated his life to the promotion of liberty and political independence for Cuba. His death during a battle against Spanish troops at the Battle of Dos Ríos was used to rally people to the cause of the independence of Cuba from Spain. The José Martí monument is a pyramid with alternating bands of marble and granite that has soil from Cuba in the interior. On the outside is a bronze portrait head of José Martí that rests on a small rectangular pedestal at his actual height of 5'6". The plaza also contains a time capsule that has books written by José Martí about his life and letters to future generations from local and national leaders. The time capsule was installed on Jan. 28, 2003, on the sesquicentennial of Martí's birth, and is set to be opened in fifty years. It is not a large park so I wouldn't make a special trip. If however you are in the area and like history it is worth a stop to pay your respects to one the greatest turn-of-the-century Latin American intellectuals.

Lovely passive park with beautiful art, walking trail, gardens, benches, amphitheater, and…read morepowerlines above. This park is truly lovely but the placement near an industrial area and townhome is weird. Although it is close to the highway this makes it convenient to visit. Basically one can walk the park in 15 minutes but if you study the art it will take longer. For me the vibe is freedom, starting over, and liberty for immigrants in the expression of the art. I can totally relate since my parents migrated from another county and struggled here and made it here. In my opinion, the art felt like it was a tribute to all the Latin artists and what they felt. I am glad I made my way to this park because I think the idea of art in a park is brilliant as well as using dead space among the power lines is smart.

Wow! Well done Hialeah! Opened in 2015, Garden of the Arts is a free botanical garden with art…read moreinstallations. It was created as a result of the Miami-Dade County Building Better Communities Bond Program. A paved half mile walking trail winds among art and plants located under power lines. This is an area that is usually left empty although I sometimes see other towns put passive parks under them. The art in the park is by local and world renowned artists. Artists featured include Alexander Mijares, Astrid Alcayaga Art, Reynaldo Artires, Villamil ART, Rafael Consuegra Studio, Noel Leon, Antonio Fortuna Art, Aristide, Juan Abuela, Zaida del Río, Roberto Perez Crespo, Ramon Pedraza, Florencio Gelabert, and Alexis Porro-Fortún Artist. There are 11 murals, some of which relate the history of Hialeah. There are also sculptures that range from small to quite large. I never got bored. As I wandered down the path there was always a cool plant or thought provoking piece of art to discover. As I walked it was a little disconcerting to hear the power lines crackling overhead. The park also includes an amphitheater, benches and seating areas, and an elevated stage with turf seating. The amphitheater can be rented for private events like weddings. Parking is in a free lot at the entrance to the park. What a wonderful place to experience the arts and culture in the setting of a beautiful botanical garden.

When entering Miami Beach you can't help but smile when you spot this cheerful mural. This is the…read morelargest mural ever approved by the city of Miami Beach and is 50 feet high and 120 feet long. Completed in October of 2016, the Welcome to Miami mural was painted by David "Lebo" Le Batard. Lebo was born to Cuban immigrants and was raised in South Florida. Inspired by American cartooning, fine art, indigenous art and Egyptian hieroglyphic, his art work includes murals, paintings, and sculptures. He is a pioneer of Postmodern Cartoon Expressionism, an art form that uses cartoon imagery, rich color, and unique lines to create layers of meaning. Lebo has a showroom in Wynwood and a studio in Miami Beach. His art can be found all over the world and his has done corporate partnerships with Norwegian Cruise Lines, Lulu Lemon, Harley Davidson, Audi, Google, Microsoft, Redbull, Ketel One, Bacardi, and Ferrari. American. Murals are on display at the Airlines Arena in Miami, Calle Ocho, Hart Plaza in Detroit and Hotel de Artes in San Francisco. About his art Lebo has said "'My aim in creating is to explore the purest, most spiritual elements of the arts and sciences (from astronomy to history, from music to physics) and to interpret them through the language of cartoons, giving them a unique and vibrant voice. After all, cartoons are a primordial form of expression that have always combined images in order to tell stories. We have only to think of rock paintings, hieroglyphics or religious iconography for our proof. In reality, even when we look at Picasso's work after 1905, it all becomes very hard-edged yet organic. The very essence of cartooning. The Welcome to Miami mural is on the side of the historic Roosevelt Theatre along the Biscayne Channel. The left side of the mural features a monk parakeet. Native to Argentina, Uruguay and other South American countries, they were introduced to South Florida in 1969 through the pet trade. On the right side of the mural is a native Florida flower, the night blooming jasmine. Lebo said that "A big reason I chose to highlight the Monk Parakeet for this project is its unique nature as a tropical species. Not only can their interesting squawking be heard throughout the area, but you can also see their family nests located in palm trees all around Miami Beach. Below the parakeet and night jasmine blossom is a stylized wave pattern inspired by the Art Deco movement, another trademark of Miami Beach. The lifeguard stand also captures another Miami Beach highlight with its delightful one of a kind feel, as it stands dotting the Atlantic". I really like the pop art feel of the mural which gives vintage postcard vibes. Since its creation the Welcome to Miami Mural has been a landmark for visitors to Miami Beach. Take your picture in front of it and let everyone know you are in Miami.

The Design District has some of the best public art in Miami and this blue glass building façade is…read moreno exception. Completed in 2014 and spanning 17,000 square-feet, it is located over two floors in Palm Court, linking the storefronts with the courtyard in the southern part of the Miami Design District. It was designed by noted award winning Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto who takes his inspiration from nature such as forests, nests, and caves. He seeks to combine nature with architecture. For this piece he was inspired by waterfalls and Miami's torrential rainstorms which is represented by a series of glass fins. I love the blue color and how it cascades over the front of the buildings transforming ordinary store fronts into art. It is one of my favorite pieces to photograph in the Design District. It is so much fun to play with when taking pictures. You can shoot it at different angles and even through it to make creative photos. It is also a great backdrop for portraits and selfies.