While driving through Miami Shores, I came across this blue historical marker in front of Village…read moreHall. The marker is part of Florida's Historical Marker Program, one of the Division of Historical Resources' most recognizable public history initiatives. These markers commemorate significant people, places, and events throughout the state and can be found along roadways, at archaeological sites, battlefields, cemeteries, colleges, historic districts, schools, and churches. Historical Marker F-1178 was erected in 2021 by the Miami Shores Historic Preservation Board and the Florida Department of State. During Florida's land boom of the 1920s, developer T. V. Moore envisioned an upscale, master-planned residential community on land he owned in what is now Miami Shores' commercial district. In 1924, the Shoreland Company purchased Moore's property, along with the Gordon Tract, Bay View Estates, and other scattered parcels, to create the community of Miami Shores. Homes were designed in the Mediterranean Revival style, reflecting the company's vision of creating "America's Mediterranean." The development was named after Victor Jacobi's popular 1919 waltz, On Miami Shore. Although the devastating 1926 Miami hurricane and the collapse of the Florida land boom slowed construction, the community continued to grow steadily over the following decades. Miami Shores was officially incorporated as a village in 1932. It developed into a primarily residential community known for its tree lined streets, green spaces, and commitment to preserving its architectural heritage. A major milestone came in 1940 with the founding of Barry University which grew into one of the village's largest institutions and an important cultural and educational center. Miami Shores is one of my favorite South Florida communities because of its beautiful historic homes and welcoming small town atmosphere, despite being surrounded by the larger Miami metropolitan area. I always enjoy visiting for its historic preservation efforts, parks, and convenient location just minutes from downtown Miami.

Fun fact: the third tallest statue in the United States is right here in Hallandale Beach--and it's…read morenot exactly subtle. The moment you arrive at Gulfstream Park, you're greeted by the massive Pegasus and Dragon--a dramatic sculpture of a Pegasus locked in battle with a dragon. It's bold, over-the-top, and definitely not something you see every day. Standing at 110 feet tall and weighing around 700 tons, this monumental piece was the vision of Frank Stronach, founder of the Stronach Group. The sculpture is meant to honor the role horses have played throughout civilization, with Pegasus symbolizing good triumphing over evil in its battle against the dragon. The statue itself is an impressive feat of international craftsmanship. It was designed by German firms, cast in bronze in China, and shipped to Florida in 26 containers before being assembled on-site in 2014--a process that took about eight months and reportedly cost $30 million. On select nights, the experience is elevated even further with a laser light show featuring music and bursts of fire. If you've spent any time at Gulfstream Park, you've probably seen crowds gathered around it--it's a go-to photo spot. I recently visited while in the area for Luzia, and the statue absolutely towers over the circus tent nearby. I made sure to stop by for a closer look before leaving, and that evening it was beautifully lit in pink and purple hues. Photos don't quite capture it--you really have to stand beneath it to appreciate the sheer scale and detail. It's grand, a little theatrical, and completely unforgettable. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area.

Guarding the main entrance of the Gulfstream Village is the 110 foot tall Pegasus statue fighting a…read moremassive dragon. Today, came to Gulfstream Village to watch the Cirque du Soleil venue which is directly next to the Pegasus statue. This incredible tourist attraction is the 3rd tallest statue in the United States. Made of bronze and steel at 340 tons and at a thirty million dollar price tag, it is a sight to see when visiting Hallandale. During the day you get a great view of it's details, but at night the purple hue surrounding the statue is surely unique, impressive and unforgettable.

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.

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.

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.

Next to the parking lot across from Bayside Marketplace and Bayfront Park sits the bust of Rubén…read moreDarío. I was always curious about it as I passed by over the years, so I set out to learn more about it. I discovered that this bust was installed to honor the man considered the "Prince of Spanish literature." The bust was dedicated in 1961, around the same time as other monuments to Latin American leaders in Bayfront Park. They were moved to the outskirts of the park in the 1980's when artist and landscape architect Isamu Noguchi was hired to redesign Bayfront Park. Rubén Darío (1867-1916) was an influential Nicaraguan poet, journalist, and diplomat. He began publishing poems when he was only 14 years old. He is best known as a leader of the Spanish American literary movement known as Modernismo, which reached its height at the end of the 19th century. Darío's first major literary work was Azul ("Blue"), a collection of short stories, descriptive sketches, and verse. In 1886, he left Nicaragua and traveled the world. In 1893, he was appointed Colombian consul in Buenos Aires. While working as a correspondent for the Buenos Aires newspaper La Nación in Europe in 1898, he became concerned about the future of Spanish America after the collapse of Spain's empire in the New World. In response, he wrote what is considered his masterpiece, Cantos de vida y esperanza (1905; "Songs of Life and Hope"). In 1914, on the brink of World War I, Darío left for New York, where he contracted pneumonia. He passed away shortly after returning home to Nicaragua. Today, Darío is considered by many to be one of the greatest poets to have written in Spanish. In addition to honoring Rubén Darío, this monument also recognizes the broader Nicaraguan community in South Florida. On September 15, 1992, Miami-Dade County Parks dedicated a park in Darío's honor. As you enter the park, you can see a large statue of Rubén Darío that was added in 1993.

Continuing our history of Latin American leaders in downtown Miami, we come to Simón Bolívar…read more(1783-1830). Simón Bolívar was one of the most important leaders of Latin America's independence movements against Spanish colonial rule. Often called "El Libertador" ("The Liberator"), he played a central role in freeing Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Panama from Spanish rule in the early 19th century. Following 16 years of war, the Republic of Bolivia was established on August 6, 1825, and named in his honor. You will find this eight-foot bronze statue honoring Simón Bolívar near the Torch of Friendship. The statue was a gift to the City of Miami from the government of Venezuela in 1979. Today he stands surrounded by a collection of Latin American flags.

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.