Essential Florida travel destinations by Jill Podehl: West Palm Beach anchors Palm Beach County in South Florida and is a fast-growing urban area with numerous cultural attractions, countless excellent restaurants, and a bustling city center. It’s a place where people congregate to enjoy one-of-a-kind shops, superlative dining, and countless entertainment options. And, lest we forget, West Palm Beach is just minutes away from the Atlantic Ocean, with easy access to 47 miles of some of the best beaches in Florida. And just across Lake Worth is the tiny island of Palm Beach itself. One of the wealthiest towns in the USA, this ritzy community was built by industrialist Henry Flagler at the turn of the 20th century. Read additional info at Jill Podehl.
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens are set upon the former estate of James Deering. Situated on Biscayne Bay in Miami’s Coconut Grove, the villa and larger grounds once took up 180 acres of land. Now, the expanse of the attraction contains 50 acres of stunning gardens and well-kept grounds. Deering was a conservationist of the renowned Deering McCormick-International Harvester fortune. He set up the estate to conserve tropical and mangrove environments, and its main building was completed in 1916. When he passed away, his nieces inherited the estate, and they began to sell parts of the state to pay for the high upkeep costs necessary for the property. Some of the lands were also donated.
Recognized as one of Miami’s greatest treasures, The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens with its stunning architecture, grounds and artwork are certainly worth a visit. Featuring 34 rooms arranged around a breath taking courtyard, the Renaissance-style villa is filled with the most exquisite European furniture and arts reaching from the 15th to the 19th century. Over 1,100 craftsmen were bought over from Europe for true authenticity in design, to complete this 28-acre estate. But to truly enjoy a vacation you also need a nice place to stay.
Do you want to enjoy the blue sky and the warm sun ? Miami is a perfect place to relax. What can you see in Miami? Bayfront Park, on the east side of Biscayne Boulevard, is a 32-acre green space, adjacent to the Bayside Marketplace. The park has several interesting monuments and sculptures. One of the unique features is the electronically controlled Pepper Fountain. Other highlights include the Challenger Memorial, commemorating the crew of the Challenger spacecraft; the Light Tower, an amphitheater used for musical performances of all kinds; and a children’s playground. Locals often come here just to run or walk on the paved trails.
High quality Florida travel destinations by Jill Podehl: No trip to Miami is complete without a visit to Little Havana. This vibrant, south-of-downtown neighborhood is packed with art galleries, unique shops, and busy restaurants and bars. Explore the area: Head to Maximo Gomez Park (known as Domino Park by the locals) for a real flavor of Hispanic culture, to watch men playing dominoes outdoors, smoking cigars and arguing about politics. Look out for the huge mural depicting the Summit of the Americas in 1993. The neighborhood Calle Ocho is located in the center of it all, where you can watch the markets and street stands in action while soaking up some Cuban culture. Fan of Latin cinema? Another highlight is the Little Havana Paseo de las Estrellas (Walk of the Stars), which is a Latin American version of the Hollywood Walk of the Stars, commemorating Latin American actors, writers, artists and musicians.
New owners William Edgemon and Raymond Moss saw the potential in their purchase and spent the equivalent of 20 million dollars to move the whole structure and rebuilt it in the northern area of Miami. Its life didn’t begin here in Miami, Florida, though – it started out as a building in Spain that served as the living quarters of Cistercian monks, keeping up this purpose for over 700 years. It would fall out of this use after being seized by a revolutionary movement, which repurposed it into a stable and granary. In 1925, William Randolph Hearst, a newspaper magnate, was so impressed by the sheer beauty and wonder of the monastery that he decided to completely purchase it. Each part of it was broken apart into individual stones, packaged into over 11,000 boxes, and sent to Brooklyn, New York. Read even more information at Jill Podehl West Palm Beach, Florida.
The great outdoors offers its own myriad of fun possibilities. Get out on the water to experience Greater Miami from a different perspective aboard an airboat tour in the Everglades or on a Millionaire’s Row cruise through Biscayne Bay aboard the Island Queen. Or, you can simply rent a paddleboard or kayak and experience the unique aquatic ecosystems up close. Delicious food, stunning natural environments, incredible art collections and museums, and fascinating historic monuments all come together to create an amazing city with a lot to share.