The entrance to Biscayne Bay looks as thought you are headed out into the ocean! A very large body of water and the wind/weather was perfect for the crossing. It wasn't too long before the skyline of Miami began to appear in the horizon - still about 30 miles away though. The first thing we did when we arrived was to check out the Coconut Grove area (supposedly the 'old Miami') complete with a Johnny Rocket so a shake, root beer float and onion rings were a perfect late afternoon snack :-) Steve checked out the park farther down the way - oldest house, history of the area and a hurricane-proof house that outlived the gentleman that designed it in the 20's. Even Hurricane Andrew didn't get it!
Miami used to be home to the largest number of anchored (permanently) boats in the US. For a number of reasons (including abandoned sunken boats), the city opted for a new approach and put in a mooring field with over 200 spots. This is were we stayed last night. Steve had to take a picture of Bolero - one of the smaller big boats we saw in the area - we've heard Ft. Lauderdale will have even more of even bigger boats (I guess at some point I need to use the description yacht).
Up early again this morning so we could stop at No Name Harbor on Key Biscayne at a state park there. It was very nice but small so we were glad we went to the mooring field instead. There was a very nice bike path (it was really hot in the sun so the shade was very welcome). There was also rebuilt lighthouse (Steve went to the top - I opted not to) that was fun. The history of it included the Seminole Indians attacking it during the wars with the natives of the area. Imagine that - they preferred to stay living in the Keys area instead of moving to the middle of nowhere on a reservation.
Overall - this area is just a crazy place on the water! Boats everywhere (of course it was Sunday so we kind of figured but really?) Downtown Miami is quite impressive from the water and the Port of Miami had 4 cruise boats in which would leave later in the day. There were 4 different ones in yesterday - business in the cruise industry must still be doing well. As we continued north, we came upon what we thought was a huge marina - turn out it was just a huge number of boats all anchored in this tiny spot. Sorry for the person in the middle! Crazy though - 10 times more crazy than Big Chief by Orillia. Miamian's do love their boating!!
Boats are everywhere but the cutest we saw was the little tug boat we passed: Little Toot . What else could you name this little boat?! Tomorrow: we explore Hollywood - a place we stayed many time before but never having arrived by water!
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