Coral Gables offers a charming blend of history and architecture for visitors to enjoy. The tower…read morestands out as a true masterpiece, capturing the attention of photography enthusiasts looking for the perfect subject.

in a sophisticated residential area, this attraction may seem modest at first glance, yet it…read moreundeniably offers a tranquil and exquisite setting. The ambiance is calming and inviting, making it well worth a visit. On this particularly gorgeous day, the clear blue skies served as the perfect backdrop for capturing stunning photos, some of which I have shared for you to appreciate. If you enjoy what you see, feel free to show your approval by liking this post!

Continuing to brush up on my Latin American history, I present the bust of General José Gervasio…read moreArtigas. This is one of a number of Latin American monuments from the 1960s that were moved to the exterior of Bayfront Park when it was redesigned by artist and landscape architect Isamu Noguchi in the 1980s. José Gervasio Artigas (1764-1850) was a soldier and statesman famous for leading the independence movement in Uruguay. Artigas was born in Montevideo, then part of the Spanish Empire. He worked as a rancher and cavalryman before joining local militias. In 1811, inspired by broader independence movements in South America, he led a revolt against Spanish colonial authorities. His victory at the Battle of Las Piedras became a major symbol of resistance. This bust can be found near the Freedom Tower. It honors Artigas's role as a leader of the gauchos in the fight against Spanish domination. He is a national hero known as the "Father of Uruguayan Independence."

Keeping watch over the northern end of Bayfront park is the of Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon…read more You can find him next to the Torch of Friendship. Juan Ponce de Leon was the first Westerner to reach Florida. It is believed that he landed on the Florida coast near Melbourne beach on April 2, 1513. He was a conquistador and later became the first governor of Puerto Rico. Fun fact: Juan Ponce de Leon stood only 4 feet 11 inches tall. Legend has it that Juan Ponce de Leon was searching for the Fountain of Youth but research by Florida historian Douglas T. Peck suggests that he was searching for gold and to conquer and colonize the land for Spain. It is believed that he chose the name Florida because his arrival coincided with the easter feast, Pascua Florida. This statue was sculpted by Enrique Monjo and was donated by the Government of Spain in 1976. it was rededicated on May 22, 1995. It represents the historical connections between Spain and Florida as well as the legacy of exploration and colonization in the Americas.

The bust of Bernard O'Higgins is one of many monuments to Latin American leaders that can be found…read morethroughout downtown Miami. These busts and statues date to the 1970s and were relocated from inside Bayside Park to the outskirts when the area was redesigned in the 1980s. Today, you can find O'Higgins keeping watch over a nearby parking lot. Read on as I continue filling in the gaps in my knowledge of Latin American history with this chapter of Chilean history. Bernard O'Higgins (1778-1842) is considered one of the founding figures of modern Chile and is often referred to as the "George Washington of Chile." He was born the illegitimate son of Ambrosio O'Higgins, an Irish-born official in the Spanish Empire. Determined to free Chile from Spanish colonial rule, he became a leading figure in the Chilean independence movement in the early 19th century. During the Chilean War of Independence, O'Higgins worked closely with José de San Martín. Together, they led the famous crossing of the Andes Mountains and defeated Spanish royalist forces at the Battle of Chacabuco in 1817. After Chile formally declared independence in 1818, O'Higgins became the nation's first Supreme Director. His government promoted education, infrastructure development, and military reform. However, his centralized style of leadership drew opposition from some members of the Chilean elite. In 1823, he resigned from office and went into exile in Peru, where he remained until his death in 1842. Today, Bernard O'Higgins is widely regarded as a national hero in Chile. Numerous statues, memorials, and landmarks throughout the Americas bear his name. This bust in Miami serves as a reminder of Chile's struggle for independence and symbolizes the enduring ties between Chile and the United States.

Continuing our history of Latin American leaders in downtown Miami, we come to Simón Bolívar…read more(1783-1830). Simón Bolívar was one of the most important leaders of Latin America's independence movements against Spanish colonial rule. Often called "El Libertador" ("The Liberator"), he played a central role in freeing Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Panama from Spanish rule in the early 19th century. Following 16 years of war, the Republic of Bolivia was established on August 6, 1825, and named in his honor. You will find this eight-foot bronze statue honoring Simón Bolívar near the Torch of Friendship. The statue was a gift to the City of Miami from the government of Venezuela in 1979. Today he stands surrounded by a collection of Latin American flags.

Marjorie Stoneman Douglas lived in this home in Coconut Grove. It was built in 1926 by George Hyde…read moreand is designed to look like an English Cotswolds country cottage. The house looks like it is out of a fairy tale. The house is extremely small, barely 900 feet. Marjorie considered it more of a workshop than a home. It is a single story wood frame T shaped structure with a stucco, brick, and half-timbered exterior walls and a sloping roof covered in wood shingles. The interior has hardwood flooring, plaster walls, and plaster ceilings with exposed beams. The interior has one large room that used to be dominated by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas's desk. The other rooms are a little bedroom and a tiny kitchen that only held a hot plate and toaster. Furnishings in the home were very simple. The house didn't have a driveway because she never learned to drive or central air conditioning. Marjorie did much of her writing in the home including the 1947 book The Everglades: River of Grass which spawned a movement to save the Everglades from development. The state of Florida purchased the house in 1991. Marjory was allowed to live out the rest of her life in her home which she did until she passed away at the age of 108 in 1998. The house was designated a national landmark in 2015. The house sits vacant as the people in the neighborhood have fought any attempts at turning the house into a museum fearing the traffic it would bring to the area. With the shooting that took place at the high school named in Marjorie Stoneman Douglas's honor in Parkland her name has been thrust back in the spotlight and there is renewed interest in finally doing something with the house. It seems like the neighbors may finally be coming around to allowing access to the house on a limited basis. Before that can happen the state needs to repair termite damage and mold caused by an air conditioner leak. Some of the ideas for the house are to turn it into a museum to honor Marjory or to allow a writer to live there in residence. A plan that has been scraped is to move the house to Fairchild tropical Gardens where there is a statue of Marjory Stoneman Douglas sitting on a bench. I am a long time Marjory Stoneman Douglas fan. As someone who loves the Everglades I appreciate her and everything she did to save it from development. I have seen many lovely pictures of her outside her home usually with a cat. Visiting her house was a thrill. I especially loved discovering the seahorse on the outside fireplace and the hand shaped doorknocker on the front door. I truly hope the neighbors and the state can come to an agreement to allow people access to the property. Right now you can easily park in front of the house and take a peek in the windows. Marjory Stoneman Douglas created a lasting environmental legacy and her home deserves to be protected and maintained. Maybe even more so after what happened in Parkland. The house belongs to all of us and we should be able to pay our respects to her there.

I love discovering old places, and if they are abandoned even better for me! It is surely worthy of…read morea trip - lets hope they GET ON WITH RESTORING IT, and stop wasting money on just maintaining it!! (its been owned by the state since 2007 after all!!!) Here is some more information and history about this house (sourced from https://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/things-to-do/arts-history/marjory-stoneman-douglas-house.html) Almost 68 years after Marjory Stoneman Douglas' "The Everglades: River of Grass" changed the popular conception of the Everglades from worthless swamp to treasured ecosystem, the Stoneman Douglas house in Miami's leafy Coconut Grove neighborhood will be designated a national historic landmark. During his first visit to Everglades National Park in April 2015, President Barack Obama declared the protective designation for the conservationist's modest 1926 cottage at 3744 Stewart Ave. No plans have been announced yet for opening the stucco-covered, wood-frame Stoneman Douglas house to the public, although fans still can go by the historic one-story home, now surrounded by million-dollar mansions. Preservationists and environmentalists have argued for years with neighbors over the fate of the bungalow and concerns that turning it into an education center or attraction would overwhelm the area with traffic and violate residential land use codes. A plan to move the house three miles from its South Grove location to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden was scrapped in 2006. The Stoneman Douglas house and property have been owned by the State of Florida and since 2007 has been maintained by the Florida Park Service as a lasting memorial to a remarkable "woman who saved the Everglades." As a 34-year-old divorced woman living with her father, buying her own house represented independence to Douglas. In her autobiography, "Voice of the River," she wrote about her desire to have a place of her own. I didn't need much of a house, just a workshop, a place of my own. All I wanted was one big room with living quarters tacked on. I knew an architect, George Hyde, who drew up some plans. He mostly built factories, which was fortunate, because I hoped my little house would be as stout and as sparse as a factory with not much to worry about. Because she never learned to drive, the house had no driveway (or air conditioning, electric stove or dishwasher). Part Tudor Revival and part Medieval Revival in design, the house, created by well-known architect George Hyde, is noted for its hip roof, half-timbering, post-hurricane wood floors, elegant detailing, and cast bronze hardware. Starting out as a young writer working for her father at The Miami Herald in 1915 following her brief marriage, Marjory Stoneman Douglas eventually produced more than 100 short stories for popular magazines. "River of Grass," published in 1947, was her most influential work. Later in life, she became a relentless crusader for the natural preservation and restoration of the nature of South Florida. She recognized that the Everglades was a system that depended not only on the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee into the park, but also upon the Kissimmee River which feeds the lake. To add a voting constituency to her efforts, in 1970 she formed the Friends of the Everglades, and was active as the head of the organization. Dubbed the "Grande Dame of the Everglades," she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Upon her death at the age of 108 in 1998, The Independent in London stated, "In the history of the American environmental movement, there have been few more remarkable figures than Marjory Stoneman Douglas." Today, Everglades National Park, the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, protects over 1.5 million acres. It's the third-largest national park in the lower 48 states, behind Yellowstone National Park and Death Valley National Park. There are three ways to access the park by car. The main entrance in Homestead connects visitors to the Royal Palm Area and the Flamingo Area of Everglades National Park. The Shark Valley entrance is in Miami and the Gulf Coast Entrance is in Everglades City.

The history of Cuba is deeply intertwined with that of Miami. With the recent indictment of Raúl…read moreCastro, Fidel Castro's brother, for his alleged role in the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue and the murder of four Americans it seems like an appropriate time to revisit another pivotal chapter in Cuban and Miami history: the Bay of Pigs invasion. In April 1961, Miami served as a central hub for U.S. intelligence and anti Castro operations. More than 1,500 Cuban exiles, known as Brigade 2506, were recruited, trained, and equipped in Miami for a mission to liberate Cuba from communist rule. The invasion took place at the height of the Cold War. However, President John F. Kennedy ultimately declined to provide the level of U.S. military support many believed had been promised, fearing escalation of hostilities with the Soviet Union. The operation ended in failure, resulting in more than 100 deaths and the capture of approximately 1,200 members of the brigade. In the years that followed, many Cuban Americans, feeling abandoned by the Democratic administration, shifted their political allegiance toward the Republican Party. In 2009, the Bay of Pigs Air Memorial at Miami Executive Airport was designed and constructed. It is maintained by the Cuban Pilots Association. The memorial honors the Cuban and American aviators who lost their lives during the April 1961 invasion. The memorial design resembles a waving Cuban flag, with blue and white stripes painted across the ground and a tall stone monument rising from the location of the flag's star. A centerpiece of the memorial is a retired Douglas B-26 Invader, the light attack bomber flown by many of the aviators during the operation. The Invader was originally developed during World War II carrying the B-26 designation. Miami is home to several other Bay of Pigs memorials, including monuments in Little Havana, Bay of Pigs Memorial Park, and the Bay of Pigs Museum. However, this is the only site where visitors can see an actual aircraft associated with the invasion. If you find yourself near Miami Executive Airport, the Bay of Pigs Air Memorial is well worth a stop.

I searched and found this memorial to learn more about the Bay Of Pigs invasion while I was in…read moreMiami. To my surprise and honor, I met Captain Amado Cantillo, an 85 year old veteran of the actual invasion from 62 years ago! Luckily for me, he was leading maintenance of the memorial this morning. Captain Cantillo led the creation of this monument and shared his personal story as a frogman in the Bay of Pigs invasion. It was my honor to meet him, learn his story and respect his passion for freedom. Life is good and respectful with a personal story of important history.

Next to the parking lot across from Bayside Marketplace and Bayfront Park sits the bust of Rubén…read moreDarío. I was always curious about it as I passed by over the years, so I set out to learn more about it. I discovered that this bust was installed to honor the man considered the "Prince of Spanish literature." The bust was dedicated in 1961, around the same time as other monuments to Latin American leaders in Bayfront Park. They were moved to the outskirts of the park in the 1980's when artist and landscape architect Isamu Noguchi was hired to redesign Bayfront Park. Rubén Darío (1867-1916) was an influential Nicaraguan poet, journalist, and diplomat. He began publishing poems when he was only 14 years old. He is best known as a leader of the Spanish American literary movement known as Modernismo, which reached its height at the end of the 19th century. Darío's first major literary work was Azul ("Blue"), a collection of short stories, descriptive sketches, and verse. In 1886, he left Nicaragua and traveled the world. In 1893, he was appointed Colombian consul in Buenos Aires. While working as a correspondent for the Buenos Aires newspaper La Nación in Europe in 1898, he became concerned about the future of Spanish America after the collapse of Spain's empire in the New World. In response, he wrote what is considered his masterpiece, Cantos de vida y esperanza (1905; "Songs of Life and Hope"). In 1914, on the brink of World War I, Darío left for New York, where he contracted pneumonia. He passed away shortly after returning home to Nicaragua. Today, Darío is considered by many to be one of the greatest poets to have written in Spanish. In addition to honoring Rubén Darío, this monument also recognizes the broader Nicaraguan community in South Florida. On September 15, 1992, Miami-Dade County Parks dedicated a park in Darío's honor. As you enter the park, you can see a large statue of Rubén Darío that was added in 1993.