Miami Florida Attractions

Before being discovered. Miami was a sleepy fishing village. When Henry Flagler extended his east coast railroad to town, Miami became it's southern terminal and began to grow quickly as.Trainloads of northeners began pouring in. In 1920 the Miami trolley line reached across the recently built McArthur causeway to 5th street in Miami Beach.

Miami became the southern transportation hub, with ship and air travel making it the gateway to the caribbean and latin america. The present Dinner Key auditorium and marina was the Pan American World Airways seaplane base before the war. The second world war accelerated the city's growth with thousands of GI's coming to the area for military training.

With summer approaching, it may be a nice idea to take a break from one's gruelling daily routine and splash around in the cool waters of the Atlantic. Talking about beach resorts, why look any further than Miami Beach?

Originally established in 1915, the city, located in the Miami-Dade County of Florida, changed its name to Miami Beach in 1917. It is a city known not only for the excitements that it offers as a seaside resort but also for its cultural and artistic heritage.

The city's Art-Deco style architecture won recognition in 1979 when the city's Art-Deco Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Hundreds of hotels, apartments and other structures built during the period 1923-43 provide the architectural basis for declaring the district a historic place of national importance. Besides Art-Deco, Mediterranean and Streamline Moderne are the other architectural styles that are well represented in the district.

The city's South Beach is one of the most popular waterfront areas. Being a great draw to European tourists and largely influenced by their preferences, South Beach is one of the few public beaches in the country that tolerate topless sunbathing. Today, this part of the city is a major entertainment destination with hundreds of nightclubs, restaurants and oceanfront hotels.

The city is also very well known for its nightlife, fine dining culture, bike riding and shopping. While the once down-trodden Lincoln Road in the South Beach area is today acknowledged throughout the US as the destination for quality food, adventure thrills and great shopping experiences, its real claim to fame is the fact that Lincoln Road and the South Beach area has today replaced Los Angeles and New York City as the country's top night life destination.

Often called the Sun and Fun Capital of the world, Miami Beach offers tourists several points of interest on the waterfront.. Take Collins Bridge for instance. Way back in 1913, John S. Collins and Carl G. Fisher built a 21/2 mile bridge to connect the City of Miami on the mainland and the City of Miami Beach on a barrier island in southern Florida. It was then the longest wooden bridge in the world. Although the Venetian Causeway has today replaced the original Collins Bridge, it was this link that ushered in rapid development for Miami Beach. Today the Venetian Causeway follows the original route taken by Collins Bridge.

Another must-see landmark is the Miami Beach Botanical Garden spread across 4.5 acres of land. The garden includes a conservatory and has several varieties of palms and orchids.

For fun, sun and so much more there is nothing to beat Miami Beach waterfront fun!

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A lot of people are making money cleaning out foreclosed homes. The diverse population of Miami makes it the most international city in Miami

They say that there are more pink flamingoes made in plastic then there are in reality. And where does one find the plastic ones the most? Miami. Welcome to Miami. Will smith sing all the way? They say that party never ends on the Miami beaches. Being on the southern most tip of America it enjoys the maritime climate. So very fit for the other wise cold country. The golden sands on Miami beaches attract millions and you find yourself among the most number of people if you decide to go in the fall. The year was 1895 when the Americans realized that to save the travelers from the intense cold they must move to the southern tip of Florida. And thus came up the biggest state of Florida- Miami.

Known for not only its beaches, it has the biggest of the universities. The city finds its Latin roots come handy when it comes to hospitality. It has finest hotels of whole America and the best beaches too. The American holiday cannot be defined with out the Miami factor. It has reached deep in to the Hollywood and the glory runs too deep. Even the hurricane and the shark threats do not falter the tourist's faith and no body wants to miss the chance to go to Miami, Florida. The place has wonders in store for the gourmet. The food styles expand from the continental to the seafood extravagance. The effect of the Caribbean food is too extensively seen in the menu cards. The Cuban and the Latin food are also very famous in the city. Mangoes, coconut, rice, fish, crabs and oysters all form important ingredients in the food list.

The beaches give ample space and opportunity for the sports enthusiasts. The beach volleyball events as well as the water sports are found all over the place. The clubs and small set pups provide many options for people to enjoy. The Para-sailing is also picking up at a fast pace. The water scooter is very popular among the youngsters. For the not-so-sporty types the beach is full of serene places to bask in the sunny sands. The tan is lasting and the experience is magical. Apart from these the place is known for its football, baseball, hockey and basketball teams. Major players of these teams come from the universities.

The art and culture of Miami is one of its kinds and is rich with artifacts and regional styles. Apart from these the pop culture has come in a big way for the place by the infusion of many films and television feature shootings in and around the beaches. The regional art too is picking pace and the local museums and art galleries are encouraging the locals to show their talents. These art galleries too form an important part of the Miami travel schedule. The lively nightlife of the place is just electrifying and the people enjoy their lives out on the beaches in the nighttime. Sitting around slowing fires they have the time of their lives.

Coconut Grove is where Miami began. Incorporated in 1919, it actually goes back to 1825, when the Cape Florida lighthouse was built. Northerners, plus British and Bahamian immigrants, began arriving from the mid 1800's. A British couple, Mr and Mrs Peacock arrived from the Bahamas and opened the Peacock Inn about that time,at the site of the present Peacock park, bringing their Bahamian servants. This began the establishment of Coconut Grove as an early tourist attraction, which continued to grow.

Farther north, another town by the name of Miami had been established and began to grow. The railroad was extended to Miami, where it rapidly grew, and finally annexed Coconut Grove and most of the town of Silver Bluff, in 1925. In the late 1920's Pan American World Airways built their seaplane base at Coconut Grove, which was active until about World War 2. That became the big Dinner Key marina, and the old passenger building is today City Hall. Sailing is big here, with the Miami Sailing Center and the Coconut Grove sailing Club. Today it's one of Miami's most popular attractions, with the CocoWalk shopping complex, Hotels, outdoor and dockside restaurants, Plus the historic Coconut Grove Playhouse, now about half a century old and still packing them in.

On Wednesday, August 12. Traveled back from Miami to St.Petersburg, Florida. Taxis in Miami are plentiful but expensive. Buses are frequent and now up to $2. They now have a reloadable card you can get and reload online.Great idea which saves your cash. At Government Center downtown You have dozens of bus lines, the downtown MetroMover and the MetroRail, which connects to the Tri-Rail, the Tri county passenger train which takes you all the way to North Palm Beach county. This is a godsend for the car less traveler, it saves you a lot of money, and stops near the Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach airports.

Miami bus #42 stops at the Miami Airport terminal, runs south along LeJeune Road [ 42nd Avenue] to Coral Gables. Along LeJeune, you can get bus #J, going to Miami Beach North, or southbound to Coral Gables also. Advice for thrifty travelers. At LeJeune and NW 27th street is the Greyhound terminal, directly across from the American Airlines Maintenance base on the east side of the field. There you can get the Key West and Fort Lauderdale buses, which continue North or West to the Gulf Coast.

USS Spiegel Grove

Not far from Miami is the latest shipwreck dive site in the Florida Keys for scuba divers, the USS Spiegel Grove. This is a former US Navy Landing Ship that was sunk in 2002 to create an artificial reef in Key Largo, much like the Duane and Bibb ships were in the same general area.

The Spiegel Grove is 510 feet in length and 84 feet wide making it the largest of the shipwrecks accessible to scuba divers in the Florida Keys. This wreck sits at a depth of 134 feet near Dixie Shoals and the depth at the highest point of the ship is about 60 to 65 feet depending on the tide level