After a fun stay at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, I travelled a little further south in Florida to meet up with family before our next Caribbean cruise.
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I’d been to Miami several times before. My first airplane trip was to the Magic City, with my family when I was about eight years old. I later visited there on business during my misspent youth as a wage worker. And I was once even stranded overnight at the Miami International Airport Hotel after a delayed flight caused me to miss my connection to San Salvador.
To lessen the likelihood of any similar travel troubles, my family and I arrived a few days ahead of our cruise departure, giving us some time to sample Miami’s cultural treasures.
Day One — Vizcaya Museum & Gardens
Villa Vizcaya was the winter home of James Deering, an executive in his family’s Deering Harvester Company, which later merged with the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company to become the International Harvester Company.
The opulent Italian Renaissance property was built during the 1910s and is located in the Coconut Grove neighborhood on Biscayne Bay. It reminded me of the Gilded Age cottages in Newport, Rhode Island.
Vizcaya has a robust history. It has appeared in several movies, and former actors President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II met at the estate in 1987.
Vizcaya’s extensive gardens are designed like those of France and Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries. My favorite spot was the Orchidarium.
The mansion boasts 34 rooms. There are few architectural elements I love more than a loggia, which is a room with one side that opens, usually to a garden or the water. Vizcaya’s East Loggia reminded me of the similar room at The Breakers in Newport.
Vizcaya’s East Loggia features a model caravel hanging from the ceiling; Spain and Portugal commonly used this small sailing vessel during the 17th-19th centuries. Deering chose it as the symbol of the house to reflect his love of exploration.
But the caravel is not the most remarkable vessel at Vizcaya. That would be the Barge. The property’s limestone breakwater is designed in the shape of a boat, and Deering often used it for parties, with guests ferried out and back on a gondola.
Deering made sure his Barge parties were fun. Dade County turned dry in 1913, seven years before Prohibition went national with the 18th Amendment. Deering acquired and hid alcohol in defiance of the intrusive law. The museum displays his bootlegging letters cryptically referring to alcohol as “comforters”, “quilts”, and “bed covers”.
After our day amid this spirited opulence, we went for a casual dinner at Berries in the Grove, where the surprise hit of the meal was the Nutella Pizza.
What to Know Before You Go to
Vizcaya Museum & Gardens
Vizcaya Museum & Gardens is located at 3251 South Miami Avenue in Coconut Grove. Parking is complimentary.
There is a small Café and Shop across from the Orchidarium.
Wear layers and comfortable shoes.
Allow four to six hours.
The closest five-star hotel is the Four Seasons.
Day Two — Frost Science
The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science is housed in an enormous complex in downtown Miami’s Maurice A. Ferré Museum Park.
It has a Planetarium and exhibits on subjects ranging from flight to neurology. The most intriguing exhibit when we were there was Bugs, an immersive experience where we wandered into pavilions resembling the habitats of different insects, like the orchid mantis.
But the Museum’s centerpiece is its three-level Aquarium. At the Vista, the open-air top level, you can look down into the water and see sea life like stingrays and hammerhead sharks swimming. There is also an aviary, with unique birds like Roseate Spoonbills.
At the Dive, the middle level, you can watch fish maneuver around coral and mangroves. At the Deep, the lower level, you can recline on the carpeted floor beneath a 31-foot oculus lens and look up at the same sharks and rays.
After a long day of absorbing this scientific bounty, we crossed Route 1 for dinner at Pierogi One. The service was quite good, and we enjoyed sitting outside in the comfortable weather.
The pierogis were delicious, but the surprise hit of the meal was zurek, a tangy soup made with Polish sausage, onion, and hard-boiled egg.
Afterwards, we headed back to Frost Science to enjoy the view from the building’s roof-top terrace.
We topped the day off by strolling through the Museum Park’s Dogs and Cats Walkway and Sculpture Garden, which features brightly painted aluminum statues of the domestic animals, nestled among palm trees, perennial flowers, and other South Florida plants. But no orchids, or orchid mantises.
What to Know Before You Go to Frost Science
The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science is located at 1101 Biscayne Boulevard in the Maurice A. Ferré Museum Park in Downtown Miami. There is an on-site garage as well as street parking.
The Food@Science café serves light bites and offers indoor and outdoor seating. There is also a Science Store gift shop.
Wear durable clothes and comfortable shoes.
Allow four to six hours.
The closest five-star hotel is the InterContinental.
Continue your adventure in the Southeast:
- 24 Hours in New Orleans
- Ava Gardner Museum in Smithfield, North Carolina
- When to Visit Colonial Williamsburg
I believe that travel can change our lives, and that exploring the past helps us enjoy the present, and that when you put them together, it’s magic. Read more …