South Florida

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We took a Florida vacation in late January of 2009 visiting Miami Beach, the Florida Keys and the Florida Everglades. This happened to correspond to the Martin Luther King holiday parade and the inauguration of President Obama. Both very interesting events.

In South Miami Beach we stayed at a recently refurbished Wave hotel (aka the Lord Balfour) just down the street from the Art Deco District (we love this area of the city). We took in an afternoon drag show which was real fun - outrageous and engaging the pedestrians walking by.

We went to the Martin Luther King parade and were pretty much the only white folk there -- it's not a well integrated city.

We visited the historic Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables and the Villa Vizcaya -- two monuments to a time when buildings were grand, ornate and detailed. Villa Vizcaya had several bridal photo shoots -- it's a lovely garden setting. Both are worth a visit.

On our way down the Florida Keys to Key West we stopped at a bar for the inauguration of President Obama. There didn't seem to be much interest in the bar, but we thought it was pretty historic. The first black person to be elected president. And he turned out to be a very good one.

Key West is music, bars and drinks,  sunsets on Mallory Square, wild life of all sorts and a casual atmosphere that we enjoy. It was pretty cool weather though. We tried to go swimming at Bahia Honda State park but the water was frighteningly cold.

We had our travel bikes and road on the old 7-mile bridge out to Pigeon Key. We explored the Everglades National Park and met more wildlife -- lots of birds and lots of alligators to keep you on your toes.

Here's a link to some photos if you're interested.