I love Coral Gables. One of the things that makes it so charming are the fountains and plazas like…read morethis one. Balboa Plaza is just a tenth of an acre in the median of Coral Way, South Greenway Drive, De Soto Boulevard, and Anderson Road. This plaza is named for Spanish conquistador, Vasco Nunez de Balboa (1475-1519) who is famous for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean which made him the first European to lead an expedition to the Pacific Ocean from the New World. Balboa Plaza was designed by Denman Fink, the uncle of George Merrick who founded Coral Gables. He was not a licensed architect so he worked with landscape architect Frank Button. The plaza includes a wall fountain that spouts water into a half circle basin. In 2018 the public art piece A Midsummer's Night Dream by artists Roberto Behar and Rosario Marquardt was added to the plaza. The art piece is a giant sofa made of oolitic stone. It is 30 feet long and four feet high. On either side are two lamps standing 14 feet high. About their art piece the artists said "the oversized piece is sudden and wondrous, at once real and fantastic, familiar and unprecedented, bringing a slice of domesticity in a public park. The artwork invites us to converse, experience a moment of repose or wait for a friend. Together with the two lamps we are reminded of home." A Midsummer's Night Dream is estimated to have cost $120,000 and it was donated by MG Developer Miami LLC, the first contribution to the Art in Public Places, Public Art in Private Development program. In addition to the stone couch the park has giant banyan trees. Like all of the plazas in Coral Gables, this is the perfect place to stage a photo shoot. If you want some great shots bring your model and head on over to this historic treasure.

This is what I found on the internet…read more Balboa Plaza is a grassy street median at the intersection of Coral Way, South Greenway Drive, De Soto Boulevard and Anderson Road. Designed by George Merrick's uncle, Denman Fink, and landscape architect, Frank Button, the site includes a wall fountain that spouts water into a semicircular basin. The decorative limestone structure has end-piers with lanterns. This plaza is named for the Spanish conquistador Vasco Nuñez de Balboa. _______________ A really beautiful area of Coral Gables, gorgeous walls, fountains and there is a HUGE seating area. v v pretty, would make for awesome instagram photo ops. Unfortunately for me I came on a very raining day. If you like historical sights, then come and see this gem!

This is one of Miami's hidden treasure filled with history of old Miami. If you're in North Miami…read moreor just in search of a quiet space, go there. Of course, there is the rebuilt arch over the creek, an old limestone bridge into town. There's the little museum filled with archeological material and historical evidence of early settlers. Then the trails, well kept and easy to meander around. It's worth your time and a nice escape from the busy city rushing by.

You probably have driven by this park innumerable times and did not take the time to stop in…read morebecause it's well hidden. If your ever in the North Miam area, definitely check this place out. Here's a little history that I learned last night during our guided hike tour by eco-adventure. Our tour guide , Itch(H) explained that Arch Creek Park was a site of the Tequesta Indians from 500 B.C. to 1300 A.D. There is a natural limestone bridge, a mysterious burial site and incredible natural beauty one can explore.

Where is Rapunzel? Can you see the cut out hearts? This gem is called Coral Gables Wayside Park…read moreand is located in Coral Gables. Talk about Mediterranean Revival. It consists of 8 towers and a park at the western entrance to Coral Gables. Coral Gables Waterway passes right through this park. A pair of 13-foot square towers form the entrance with additional smaller towers that flank SW 34th and 35th street. On January 19, 1989, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

This park looks like something out of a fairy tale. Located at the western edge of Coral Gables…read morethis park has eight Mediterranean Revival style towers that were built in 1925. Two thirteen foot tall towers form the entrance while the smaller towers are on 34th and 35th street. The Coral Gables waterway passes through the park and it is filled with ducks and wading birds. This park was added to the US National Register of Historic places on January 19, 1989. It is a lovely spot to have a picnic under one of the large shade trees as you take in the charming view.

Well how many times have I been on this roundabout and NEVER noticed this in the centre of it? says…read moreit all really imo! This is a gorgeous area - don't get me wrong - as it is located right on the canal, Near a park, and has huge dripping Banyan trees and is most definitely in a POSH area. But these shoes are hard to see, and get to! The sculpture is set right in the centre of this HUGE roundabout. Anyway I sauntered across dodging traffic to get a closer look. They call this area Cocoplum, but it is actually called the "Cartagena Plaza." Supposedly named after the city of Cartagena in Colombia and this is where the original shoe statue is found. Luis Carlos Lopez, a Columbian poet wrote a poem honouring the city where he was born and comparing his emotions to that love that one feels towards an old pair of shoes. Go figure!! This replica was given to the City of Coral Gables in the mid 1980's and is to signify the bond between our "City Beautiful" and that of Cartagena. Cartagena was the first "sister city" of Coral Gables, a program developed back in 1956 to link the US with citizens of other countries, promoting cultural and commercial ties. Anyway back to the shoes, mmmmm

This is a traffic circle at the edge of the Coral Gables Waterway. It is sometimes called Cocoplum…read moreCircle because it is at the entrance of the exclusive Cocoplum neighborhood where the average house sells for 3 million dollars. The circle connects LeJeune Road, Sunset Drive, Old Culter Road, Cocoplum Road and Ingraham Highway. In the center of the circle is a replica of a sculpture titled My Old Shoes by Colombian-born Luis Carlos López. López wrote a poem that compared his love of Cartagena to his love of an old pair of shoes. The sculpture was presented to Coral Gables by it's first sister city Cartagena, Colombia in the mid 1980's. The original sculpture is in Cartagena, Colombia. Matching US cities to cities in other countries in order to promote business ties was a program that was started in 1956. I love the art in public spaces in Coral Gables. This is just one of the many works of art you can find in the roundabouts in the city. The art is just one of the reasons Coral Gables is called the city beautiful.

There is so much history all around us if we pay attention. A great way to learn more about the…read morehistory of Florida is from these blue historic markers you can find all around the state. I discovered this one in Little Haiti at the Marketplace, part of the Little Haiti Cultural Complex, the center of artistic life in this historic Miami neighborhood. The Cultural Complex is Little Haiti's largest venue space In the 1980's thousands of Haitian immigrants settled in Miami and formed the neighborhood of Little Haiti. The Mache Asisyen Caribbean Marketplace is located in a building that was built in 1936 but which largely sat empty through the years. In 1984, the Miami Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, in partnership with the nonprofit Haitian Task Force, organized a competition for designs to repurpose the building. The contest was won by Miami architect Charles Harrison Pawley, who was born in Haiti to American parents and lived there as a child. Pawley based his design on Haiti's gingerbread-style houses and the Marche Ferrier, the famous Iron Market in the capital of Port-au-Prince. He used vibrant colors to evoke the spirit of the Caribbean. When the marketplace opened in 1990, it won a Florida Architect Award and an American Institute of Architects National Honor Award. In 1999, the market closed due to lack of funding and merchants were unable to keep their businesses open. The city took over the building in 2005 and planned to tear it down but protests from the community saved it. In 2014 the market was renovated and had a grand reopening. It is still a focal point of the Haitian community today and you can purchase food and authentic Haitian arts and crafts. Plan on visiting on Saturday when it is the most active. Historic marker number F-1009 was installed in 2018 by District 5 Commissioner, Keon Hardemon, The City of Miami Parks Department, Little Haiti Cultural Complex, Libreri Mapou, Haitian omen of Miami, Maximilian Consultants, Santla Neighborhood Center, Visit Little Haiti, and the Florida Department of State.

Miami River Rapids Park is a pocket park across from the Miami River. Pocket parks are generally…read moreless than a half acre in size and can have different amenities for the public. This type of mini park arose from a desire in communities to have places for kids to play instead of another building or wasted vacant land. This small park is located on the north fork of the Miami River which drains out of the Everglades and runs 5.5 miles through downtown Miami before ending at the Miami Canal at Miami International Airport to Biscayne Bay. The park and this area of Miami takes it's name from when the river was in its natural, unaltered state. The river used to have rapids formed by water from the Everglades flowing over a rocky ledge four miles from its mouth. The rapids were removed when the Miami Canal was dredged in an attempt to drain the wetland. The park is just down the street from the $750 million dollar Tides and Moorings at River Rapids, a two building, 593 unit development being built. Next to the park is the Miami Bridge Youth and Family Services, Miami's only 24 hour/ 7 day a week youth shelter and family crisis center. The park has a basketball hoop, tables and chairs, and a sand volleyball court for use by the children being serviced by the center.

George Merrick is the founder of the City of Coral Gables. His family came to Miami from PA two…read moreyears after Henry Flagler brought the railroad to Florida. It was the dawn of the development of Florida. George Merrick attended Rollins College in Winter Park and in 1922 he meticulously planned Coral Gables. The houses were so well made that they survived hurricanes before there were building codes and his architecture was so charming that Coral gables is called the city beautiful. He also created the University of Miami. At first he wanted his buildings to be strictly Spanish and later Mediterranean style. Eventually he expanded his vision to include seven unique villages inspired by different international influences. The villages were built during the land boom years in the 1920's. It was a joint venture between Merrick, The American Building Company and former Ohio Governor Myers Cooper. The original plan was for more 1,000 residences in a series of villages based on architecture from around the world. The plan was never fully realized when the housing boom crashed from two hurricanes followed by the Great Depression. In the end only seven villages were built including this Dutch Village. By 1928 George Merrick was forced out of the city he founded and ended up in the Keys. He returned to the city two years before he died to serve as postmaster. You can learn more about George Merrick by taking a tour of his family home in Coral Gables. The five Dutch South African style homes were designed by famous Palm Beach architect Marion Syms Wyeth. the houses took inspiration from the farmhouses of wealthy Dutch planter colonists in the 17th century. The style originated in medieval Germany, France, and the Netherlands, and the decorated gables in particular makes you think of Amsterdam. The homes are L and U shaped. The exterior of the houses are characterized by high-domed arches, whitewashed walls, ornate gables, walled gardens, scrollwork, and steeply pitched roofs. Properties in this village are 6612, 6700, 6704, 6710 LeJeune Road and 6705 San Vicente Street. The properties in the villages rarely hit the market and they are highly sought after. Today there are 80 homes left. Since there are only five of the farmhouses, they are especially limited. When one of them hit the market in April 2014 it was listed at 2.175 million dollars. If you want one, you need a lot of money and be prepared to wait. It is easy to see why they are so coveted.

Another of Coral Gables ..villages.. Dutch South African…read moreVillage One of a number of villages planned for the City of Coral Gables to add diversity to its predominantly Mediterranean character, the Dutch South African Village is a unique assemblage of houses patterned on the farmhouses of Dutch colonists who settled in South Africa in the 17th century.  Marion Sims Wyeth was the architect.  These homes are located at 6612, 6700, 6704, 6710 LeJeune Road and  6705 San Vicente Street.

Alhambra Entrance - Suggesting twin towers and a bridge, the stone archway entrance to Coral…read moreGables at Alhambra Circle is located where Madeira Avenue meets Douglas Road. The address is SW 37th Avenue (Douglas Road), Majorca Avenue and Alhambra Circle. The Alhambra entry arch is also known as the commercial entry to Coral Gables, as Alhambra Circle leads to the central business district of the City of Coral Gables and Miracle Mile. A worthy photo op.

When George Merrick designed Coral Gables he wanted a series of gates to enter the city. They are…read morereminiscent of the medieval gates in Europe and were meant to show that Coral Gables is separate from the surrounding city. This is the one at the Alhambra entrance. They are made out of native stone and have benches to sit on. All of the Mediterranean style gates to the city were designed by Denman Fink, George Merrick's uncle. Denman Fink was an artist and magazine illustrator. In addition to the gates he designed the Venetian Pool and the Alhambra Water Tower. He served as the artistic adviser for the City of Coral Gables. I looked closely at the gate and after I cleared away some weeds as I able to find his seal with a D and G entwined. It was such a cool find to see his mark left on the gate. Since he was not a licensed architect he had architects Phineas Paist and Walter De Garmo do the final sign off. The gate is so beautiful. I loved looking at all of the intricate details in it. Parts of it are covered in bougainvillea. It's easy to imagine a medieval princess sitting on the bench waiting for her prince. The lovely gates are just one of the reasons Coral Gables has the well earned nickname city beautiful.