Anhinga Trail

 

Anhinga Trail is one of the most popular hiking trail within Everglades National Park. The trail is made out of paved path and board walk, thus it is very suitable for people of all ages to hike this trail. The hiking trail is located right by Royal Palm Visitor Center. The trail itself is only less than a mile long and has zero elevation gain. It is a really easy trail but you get to spot many different wild life.

We got to Royal Palm Visitor Center around 8AM in the morning. We were the only one there and the visitor center was not open yet. As we approach the trail, we could hear loud roars from the pond. Initially we thought these roar sound came from the alligators in the water. Then when we asked the rangers, he told us that these are from Pig Frogs. These Pig Frogs can generate super loud sound like dinosaurs.

As we hiked down the trail, we saw a white heron stand by the side of the pond. It stood very still and not even moving an inch. It was very focused looking down into the water. It was waiting for the fish to show up and would strike rapidly to catch the fish. It was completely ignoring us as we walked by.

As we walked further on the board walk, we saw several alligators lying in the water. These alligators had their eyes wide open but barely move a bit. The alligators were just floating in the pond and not doing anything. We were hoping that the alligators would at least open its jaw to show some intimidation.

Anhinga Trail is definitely the trail to go to when visiting Everglades National Park. It is an easy trail to hike and offers a plenty of wild life to see.

Versailles

 

Versailles is a very famous Cuban restaurant in Miami. It is said to be the best Cuban restaurant in the whole Miami region. The restaurant has been there since 1971 and has been in operation for over 50 years. Beside the restaurant, there is a big parking lot dedicated only for this restaurant's customer and this is because this restaurant simply has way too many customers.

We got to Versailles around 2PM in the afternoon. There was a lot of parking spaces at the parking lot and there was a person there checking that people are heading to Versailles and not anywhere else. When we walked to the restaurant, we saw a long line in front of the restaurant. We were so surprised.

We asked around and realized that the long line was due to the credit card machine not working. The restaurant owner was trying to fix it and thus not accepting new customers. After about 10 minutes the credit card machine was still not working and the restaurant could only accept cash. Luckily we brought enough cash with us.

We ordered a Versailles combo as the appetizer, then Paella Versailles and Versailles Especial as the entrees. The Versailles combo comes with yuca fries, croquettes, and empanadas on the plate. It was quite a lot even for just 2 people.

The Paella Versailles was like Spanish seafood fried rice. It came with shrimp, mussels, clam, and squids. This Paella Versailles came with a huge portion that can feed 2 to 3 people. We really liked Paella Versailles. The rice has absorbed all the flavors from the ingredients from the sea. The Versailles Especial is the special Cuban sandwich. The sandwich is gigantic. Although the sandwich is cut in half, half of the sandwich was still huge. The sandwich uses the flat bread but it was not as good as we had hoped. The bread was pretty plain and we were hoping it was toasted and have some garlic taste to it.

Overall, Versailles did not disappoint. It definitely offered the Cuban experience that we were looking for and even exceeded our expectation. There was a lot to offer on the menu but we could only order the amount that we could finish. We would probably visit Versailles again and try different items on the menu.

Salty Donut

 

Salty Donut is a shop that specializes in making donuts as the name suggests. We found out about this donut shop while we were searching for specialty food around Miami. There are many Salty Donut shops across the continental US but it originated from Miami near Wynwood Wall.

When we saw the recommendation of Salty Donut, we were under the impression that the donut would have salty taste. We were quite excited to try and thus we went to Salty Donut while we were on the way to Wynwood Wall. It was only about 5 minutes away from Wynwood Wall.

When we got to Salty Donut around 2PM in the afternoon, many of the donut flavors were sold out. We ordered a Affogato Donut and a White Chocolate Tres Leches Donut. The Affogato Donut has espresso cream glazed on top and some coffee flavored chips spread on top. The taste was not too sweet and had strong coffee smell. The White Chocolate Tres Leches Donut had a beautiful presentation. The white cream was beautifully placed on top of the donut. The cream was then torched and caramelized beautifully. The White Chocolate Tres Leches Donut was a sweet donut, which we liked. The cream on top was quite fresh as well.

Overall, Salty Donut was a great donut shop with unique donut flavors.  We enjoyed the unique donut here at Salty Donut although we were expecting salty flavored donut. 

Azucar Ice Cream

Azucar Ice Cream is a very famous ice cream shop at Little Havana of Miami. It is probably the only ice cream shop that is visible from the street. This ice cream shop has a huge ice cream sign at the front wall. No one can miss that. Azucar Ice Cream shop has many seasonal flavors for its ice cream. It also offers a mix of Cuban taste to its ice cream.

Since Miami is so hot that day. we really needed to get something to cool us down. We saw Azucar Ice Cream shop sign from far away and definitely needed to get ice cream. As we walked into the shop, we were shocked by the amount of ice cream flavors that it offered. There were just so many on the wall.

We got the Cafe Con Leche, which is the best flavor of the shop. Then we also got Abuela Maria flavor. These 2 flavors were the top 2 flavors. The Cafe Con Leche had strong Cuban Coffee taste to it and mixed with the sweetness of the ice cream. We really liked this. The taste is strong than the usual coffee ice cream. Abuela Maria had guava sauce dripped on top of the ice cream. When mixed with ice cream, the guava sauce mixed with the sweetness really well. It was really good too.

The Azucar Ice Cream is definitely a place to get ice cream from at Little Havana of Miami. Since Miami is always hot, we don't see a reason not to get ice cream from here. We definitely recommend it. 

The House of Cuban Coffee

 

The House of Cuban Coffee is a gourmet Cuban coffee shop located at the Little Havana of Miami. It is right on the main street of Little Havana. The House of Cuban Coffee offers authentic Cuban Coffee and the store also sell coffee beans and other Cuban items.

We got to Little Havana and wanted to have authentic Cuban experience. We went to a cigar store and the sales lady told us that the House of Cuban Coffee is a must try, thus we went to try it. As we walked in, the waiter gave us a warm welcome. He was very patient and gave us an overview of all the coffee that they have.

We ordered a Latte and a Triple Milk Coffee. Other than just the coffee, we also ordered a guava cheesecake. As we sat down, the waiter brought us complementary vanilla cookies that came with the coffee. The Latte had a very strong coffee taste, which was what we expected. The Triple Milk Coffee had a sweeter taste, which we really liked. There was barely any bitter taste in this coffee. The guava cheesecake came with guava jam on the top. We liked the guava taste a lot.

While we were sitting there enjoying our coffee and cheesecake, a guy came in selling Cuban Cigar. The Cuban Cigar is $1 each, quite cheap.

Overall, we highly recommend The House of Cuban Coffee when visiting Little Havana. It offered everything we were looking for to experience the Cuban Taste.

Vizcaya

 

Vizcaya Museum and Garden was an estate owned by business man James Deering about 150 years ago. It was later opened for public with admission fees and it is a great location for wedding photography. The Vizcaya estate has a beautiful architecture with amazing indoor decorations. On top of that, the garden was beautifully maintained as well. It is one of the attractions at Miami.

We visited Vizcaya as part of our Florida trip. The admission for each person was $18 and can only be purchased online. Many people didn't know that and had to buy it online with their phones at the gate.

We got to Vizcaya around 10AM in the morning. It was still early and the parking lot was still mostly empty. As we walked into the building, the first we noticed was that it has AC! We were so glad because it was such a hot day at Miami.

There is a courtyard in the center with rooms surrounding it. The rooms are well decorated with beautiful sculptures. As we walked around, we also saw several groups of high school student dressed up with medieval time clothing. It seemed like a field trip for history class.

The rooms on the second floor are the bedrooms. It included the bedroom for James Deering himself and several others for his guests and servants. The main room on the second floor was a dining room with many Chinese sculptures. We didn't know James Deering was into Chinese stuff.

As we proceeded to the garden, it was so hot. We saw several couples with profession photographers taking photos for them. The couples were also sweating a lot and had to wipe the sweat after every photo being taken.

The garden was beautiful nontheless. At the back of the garden, there was a small room, like an outdoor theatre. We were wondering if that could be booked for holding wedding reception.

Overall, Vizcaya is definitely a must visit place when travelling to Miami. It would only take about an hour or 2 at max, but it was definitely an interesting place to visit.

DJ's Clam Shack

 

DJ's Clam Shack is a famous place selling its well known lobster roll. DJ's Clam Shack are located in various locations, most notably in New York but it also has locations in Florida. Most people come here for the lobster roll. The bread used for the lobster roll was said to be toasted perfectly and goes really well with the lobster.

As we were visiting Key West, we went to DJ's Clam Shack located on the South Side of Key West. We got there around noon and there weren't too many people. We ordered 2 lobsters rolls and a conch fritter. The lobster roll itself was $22, which was quite pricy.

After about 5 minutes, the lobster rolls were delivered to us. It was quite fast. By looking at the lobster roll, we could see that the lobster used here wasn't the big ones. Also, it only used the meat from lobster claws and no tail meat. As we grabbed the first bite, we just found out that the lobster meat was cold. We thought it was supposed to be boiled and warm. So it was more like lobster salad. It was a bit disappointing because the lobster meat could have been there for a long time and not necessarily fresh. The bread had garlic taste but we wouldn't say it was the best bread used ever.

Overall, the lobster rolls at DJ's Clam Shack was okay but it did not meet our expectation. We were expecting to see better lobster to be used but we guessed that the cost might be even higher.  It is probably worth a try if you have never been here before, but we will probably not go again for a long time.

Fort Zachary Taylor State Park

 

Fort Zachary Taylor State Park is one of the state parks located at Key West. It is located at Southwest corner of Key West island.  Within the state park, there is a historic fort that has been there for hundreds of years. On the South side of the park, there is a beautiful beach with crystal clear ocean water. It is also not far from Key West Mallory square and only takes about 25 minutes to walk to here. Thus many people drop by to see the fort when visiting Key West.

We walked to Fort Zachary Taylor State Park from Mallory Square early in the morning around 9AM. It was already very hot this morning with high humidity in the air, thus walking to the park was already making us to sweat. While we were walking to the park, we came across this public water park. It was quite interesting and we figure that kids will love to play there.

The entrance fee to Fort Zachary Taylor State Park was $2.50 per person. It was not that expensive. We first visited the fort on the right hand side of the state park. It was very quiet in the morning and we were the only people in the fort. There were stairs the went all the way to the rooftop where we can see the ocean on the far side. The old cannons were still there as well. The fort however, was smaller than what we expected. We only spent around 15 minutes there and headed to the beach.

As we got to the beach, we saw several people taking yoga lesson there under the tree. It was quite a scenery with beautiful beach and nice breeze. The sand on the beach was white sand and the water was crystal clear. The only down side is that it was not soft sand on the ocean bed and thus it was painful walking in the water.

There were also few hiking trails within the state park, but we were so exhausted from the humidity and decided not to do it.

Overall, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park was an interesting place to visit, but it was definitely not a must visit attraction at Key West.