Miami Beach Botanical Garden, South Beach – Free Guided Tours

Miami Beach Botanical Garden

Just a short walk from the crowds of South Beach's Lincoln Road, is the peaceful Miami Beach Botanical Garden, on Convention Center Drive, with palm trees, orchids, a Japanese-style garden and many sub-tropical plants.

Pond and Meandering Paths
Remodelling of the garden is in progress and it is closed at present, probably until October. Meandering paths will replace the previous straight concrete ones and a pond is being added.

Types of Palm Tree
Varieties of palm trees in the garden include the royal palm, the cabbage or sabal palm – the state tree of Florida – and the MacArthur, Everglades and Puerto Rican hat palms.

Palm trees are mostly solitary, but are sometimes planted in artificial clumps.

South Florida's humid climate isn't suitable for date palms, which are desert trees, although there are coconut palms all over Miami.

The Hurricane Season in Miami - Preparations and Evacuation

Hurricane Evacuation Sign

As I write this, tropical storm Irene out in the Atlantic is getting stronger while it heads in the general direction of Miami, and may have turned into a hurricane by the time it approaches South Florida in about four days time.

Miami and South Florida's official hurricane season is surprisingly long, lasting from 1 June to 30 November.

So May is the time to pick up a hurricane checklist from your local Publix supermarket, complete with a map of the Atlantic to track tropical storms which might turn into hurricanes, and a list of this year's names for hurricanes.

How Hurricane Are Named
The United States Weather Bureau is responsible for naming hurricanes, alternating male and female ones in six alphabetical lists which are rotated. Names are only replaced if used for a really devastating hurricane.

Hurricane Watch
The start of the hurricane season certainly doesn't mean that there'll be a hurricane every week, although there could be more than one hurricane watch in a month, meaning that there is the possibility of a tropical storm or hurricane within 36 hours.

Bayside Marketplace, Downtown Miami - Shops, Marina and Boat Trips

Bayside Marketplace & Marina, Miami

The touristy Bayside Marketplace is a pleasant spot to take a stroll around the marina, have a coffee or a beer, and shop for souvenirs.

It's not a place where I'd want to spend more than a couple of hours, but you could have an interesting day out if you combined your trip to Bayside with a visit to other nearby attractions in Miami's Downtown, ending the day with a boat trip.

Other Downtown Attractions
Take a look at the nearby Freedom Tower, on the opposite side of Biscayne Boulevard from Bayside, stroll around Miami's main Downtown shopping centre in and around Flagler Street (although not in the evening when the shops are closed) and have a ride on the free Metromover driverless train for a view of the Brickell financial district.

Bayside Boat Trips
A boat trip from Bayside is definitely worth considering. Several companies operate trips which skirt the islands in Biscayne Bay, including Star Island, where you can see the lavish homes of millionaire celebrities such as Gloria Estefan, Sylvester Stallone and Julio Iglesias.

Kennedy Space Center, Florida - Launchpads, Shuttle, Rockets, Lunar Module

Launchpad, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

At the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, you can get a close-up view of the Saturn rockets used for the Apollo programme, walk around a replica space shuttle, and see the launchpads where they blasted off into orbit, the Vehicle Assembly Building where they were prepared for launch, an amazingly flimsy Lunar Landing Module, a Moon Buggy and lots more.

A Whole Day Needed to See Kennedy Space Center
It's easy to spend a whole day at the Space Center without running out of things to see. The 2-hour bus tour, with stops at various attractions, is included for the standard admission price, but the one which takes you close to the launchpads is extra.

Arrive Early for a Close View of a Launchpad
If you want a close view of a launchpad you need to arrive early as this tour sells out quickly. I don't usually like tours, but there's no other way to get around the sprawling complex.

Here are the main attractions:

Cruise the Waterways of Fort Lauderdale - Water Taxi to the Sights and Beaches

Water Bus, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

The water buses, or water taxis, of Fort Lauderdale provide a pleasant and leisurely way to see the sights and beaches of Fort Lauderdale, in South Florida, about an hour's drive north of Miami.

Regular Schedule
These yellow boats cruise the rivers and canals to a regular schedule, with a fixed route, but the operating company is called Water Taxi.

Riverwalk Near Las Olas Boulevard
Start from Riverwalk, also known as Riverfront, near Las Olas Boulevard, the main shopping street in Downtown Fort Lauderdale.

Riverfront is a small shopping mall on the New River with waterfront restaurants and bars, and here you'll find Water Taxi stop number 11 (on the Water Taxi map described as Las Olas Riverfront/Briny Pub).

Day Tickets for Water Taxi
Buy a day ticket on the first boat that you board. This allows you to to get on and off as often as you want, and costs $20 for adults, $16 for seniors and $12 for children aged five to eleven. Children under four travel free, and there is also a $55 family ticket for two adults plus three children or seniors.