Fisherman's Channel from downtown Miami
We’ve spent the last 2 weeks in Miami at Dinner Key Marina. Since we’ve never stopped here before, we have had fun finding our way around and seeing more of the greater Miami area.
Dinner Key Marina
Eighty years ago, where Orion sits on her mooring today, we would be in a prime spot to watch the comings and goings of PanAm’s Clipper fleet, sea planes that ferried passengers to all of its Latin American destinations. The vestiges of this era are seen in the model planes in the Marina office along with the sample menus (e.g. filet mignon) and pictures of luxurious aircraft interiors. The Miami City Hall next door was the main terminal and the old hangars are now boat storage for the nearby Grove Key Marina. This was a major transportation hub in its day.
Eighty years ago, where Orion sits on her mooring today, we would be in a prime spot to watch the comings and goings of PanAm’s Clipper fleet, sea planes that ferried passengers to all of its Latin American destinations. The vestiges of this era are seen in the model planes in the Marina office along with the sample menus (e.g. filet mignon) and pictures of luxurious aircraft interiors. The Miami City Hall next door was the main terminal and the old hangars are now boat storage for the nearby Grove Key Marina. This was a major transportation hub in its day.
Miami City Hall in the Pan Am Terminal building
Now, Dinner Key Marina occupies much of the waterfront that was once PanAm’s domain. The city marina has 7 piers full of boats and over 100 moorings just east of the breakwater that protects the docks. Due to Orion’s somewhat shorter length, some incredibly lucky timing and the help of James at the marina, we managed to get one of the closest of these moorings to the breakwater. With our small dinghy, this has been a huge benefit, since we have been able to use it most days that we want to, without worry about getting drenched. Since the marina also has a shuttle boat, we can also choose to leave the dinghy at the boat. It’s nice to have the flexibility. With a free pump-out boat, access to a dock to pull in to re-fill water tanks and availability of fuel nearby at Grove Key Marina, it’s hard to ask for more. Well, there is one thing that’s missing: WiFi.
Miami's Metromover monorail
On shore, we are a short distance away from a grocery store, and the local Coconut Grove circulator bus will take us to the metro and throughout the town for only a quarter. We have taken the metro to downtown Miami (only 2 stops away), taken buses to Miami Beach and Coral Gables, ridden the free Metromover monorail throughout downtown Miami to Bayside, the Omni and south to the Financial District (where Dave finally got a long-standing issue resolved at our bank). It’s a relatively easy city to get around. We walk a lot as well, exploring the upscale dining and shopping districts in the center of nearby Coconut Grove, checking out the impressive local hardware store, Shell Lumber, and the tree-lined streets that stretch north and south along the water.
Patti, Renee, and Jim at the Cruisers Get-together
We were initially dismayed that most of the boats around us seemed to be local boats that were unoccupied much of the time. Most of the cruisers were on moorings much further out. With no cruisers’ lounge on shore, it was a little difficult to meet other boaters. However, we gradually ran into others who had similar interests, and we managed to start up a weekly get-together that hopefully will continue even after our departure.
What’s to See?
As with any big city, Miami offers lots to see and do. We started our touring by heading downtown to the Visitor’s Bureau. We found information in a guidebook that said this was on the 27th floor of a skyscraper downtown, but when we got there, there was nothing at ground level that confirmed this. We took a chance, walked into the sleek Bank of America building and walked on to the first open elevator. Oops. Not so fast. Apparently, these elevators don’t have buttons inside them. Instead you walk up to a console outside the elevator, key in the floor you want, then it tells you which one to get on. The elevator goes straight to that floor – fast. When we got off, we were greeted and welcomed with an overwhelming amount of information and brochures, even a PC with internet access. Then there was the amazing view from this office – of downtown Miami, the port. It was definitely worth the trip. We got more information about possible things to do that would help guide us through our visit.
As with any big city, Miami offers lots to see and do. We started our touring by heading downtown to the Visitor’s Bureau. We found information in a guidebook that said this was on the 27th floor of a skyscraper downtown, but when we got there, there was nothing at ground level that confirmed this. We took a chance, walked into the sleek Bank of America building and walked on to the first open elevator. Oops. Not so fast. Apparently, these elevators don’t have buttons inside them. Instead you walk up to a console outside the elevator, key in the floor you want, then it tells you which one to get on. The elevator goes straight to that floor – fast. When we got off, we were greeted and welcomed with an overwhelming amount of information and brochures, even a PC with internet access. Then there was the amazing view from this office – of downtown Miami, the port. It was definitely worth the trip. We got more information about possible things to do that would help guide us through our visit.
Cathy at the Miami Science Museum
The next day we took a walk north of the marina to Miami’s Science Museum and Planetarium. As luck would have it, the planetarium show was about the Orion cluster of constellations. (Did they know we were coming?) There were also some live demonstrations (with explosions) and several rooms of exhibits. We started traveling further afield after that, joining our friends on Dream Ketcher for a ride up to Hollywood Beach’s boardwalk and into Ft. Lauderdale. Later we rented a car to go see the Everglades and Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens.
The Everglades
It’s hard to talk about our day in the Everglades without a sense of awe. It was a nearly perfect day – sunny, windy and cool. With it being the dry season, the animals were gathered together more than in the wetter months. Along the popular Anhinga Trail, we were standing next to alligators, herons, egrets, nesting anhingas, purple gallinules, and on and on. They were incredibly close and almost completely unfazed by our proximity. It was hard to know where to look with so much going on. The alligators were everywhere, simply sunning themselves on any higher ground they could find. The nearby birds wandered around them, apparently unafraid of becoming the next item on the menu.
It’s hard to talk about our day in the Everglades without a sense of awe. It was a nearly perfect day – sunny, windy and cool. With it being the dry season, the animals were gathered together more than in the wetter months. Along the popular Anhinga Trail, we were standing next to alligators, herons, egrets, nesting anhingas, purple gallinules, and on and on. They were incredibly close and almost completely unfazed by our proximity. It was hard to know where to look with so much going on. The alligators were everywhere, simply sunning themselves on any higher ground they could find. The nearby birds wandered around them, apparently unafraid of becoming the next item on the menu.
We drove through the southwestern arm of the park to Flamingo, on Florida Bay. This is a saltwater marsh environment, and there we saw a crocodile and flocks of white pelicans. We couldn’t stay long, because we wanted to take in the Nike Missile Tour which required us to drive most of the way back to Royal Palms Visitor Center. You might wonder, as we did, why there would be a missile site tour in the Everglades. What we learned was that the Cuban Missile crisis inspired the US to build a nuclear missile site at what was then unused farmland in Florida. It was operated for 15 years. The tour was conducted by a man who had been stationed at the site while it was operational. It had only been in the past 3 years that the tours had been conducted, and their popularity had them going 9 times a week. We were glad we made it back in time to see these sites.
We found ourselves turning back for home with still more that we could have seen and done in the park. It was an amazing place that we will hopefully get a chance to explore again.
Lalanne apple sculpture -- one of many in the gardens
Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens
The Fairchild gardens were created in the last century by reclaiming 60 acres of mangrove swamp to transform them into gardens that recreate everything from desert landscape to a rainforest. Within the gardens are endless varieties of tropical plants, augmented by the placement of several sculptures from a traveling exhibit by the LaLannes and Yoko Ono’s Wishing Tree. We had a wonderful walking tour by a volunteer guide that was amazingly knowledgeable about seemingly every plant and tree that we passed. Then we took a tram tour which gave us an overview of all of the park grounds. It was a beautiful, idyllic landscape.
The Fairchild gardens were created in the last century by reclaiming 60 acres of mangrove swamp to transform them into gardens that recreate everything from desert landscape to a rainforest. Within the gardens are endless varieties of tropical plants, augmented by the placement of several sculptures from a traveling exhibit by the LaLannes and Yoko Ono’s Wishing Tree. We had a wonderful walking tour by a volunteer guide that was amazingly knowledgeable about seemingly every plant and tree that we passed. Then we took a tram tour which gave us an overview of all of the park grounds. It was a beautiful, idyllic landscape.
Bearing Up Well
We plan to stay in Miami through the Boat Show weekend (Feb 17 – 21) and then plan to look for weather to move into the Florida Keys and Marathon. We have found a couple of other boats with the same general agenda and we might find some traveling companions to make the next hop. In the meantime, we’ll get the most out of our stay here. It’s not too hard to bear.
We plan to stay in Miami through the Boat Show weekend (Feb 17 – 21) and then plan to look for weather to move into the Florida Keys and Marathon. We have found a couple of other boats with the same general agenda and we might find some traveling companions to make the next hop. In the meantime, we’ll get the most out of our stay here. It’s not too hard to bear.
