Orange Bowl and Surprise National Parks

Notre Dame is having a great football season, and I (Paul) decided to make the trip to see them in the Orange Bowl in Miami. Lots of things aligned to make this happen, including a federal holiday (RIP Jimmy Carter) and a Skymiles flight. My plan was to fly to Ft. Lauderdale Thursday morning, see the game Thursday night, and fly back to Atlanta Friday afternoon. Mother nature had different ideas - more on that later. :)

After landing, I went to lunch at Temple Street Eatery, just north of downtown Ft. Lauderdale. It's kind of a small food hall, with a noodle/dumpling restaurant and a bubble tea place. My food was OK, but the bubble tea was great. I also enjoyed eating outside - although it was "chilly" for south Florida, in the 60s. After lunch I went to the nearby "Secret Woods," a nature center run by Broward County. Apparently they had some flooding recently and parts were closed, but there was a nice boardwalk trail with views of the swamps. It was a great little stop while I waited for hotel check-in time.

After checking in to the hotel, I had a little while before I needed to go to the stadium. I decided to go on another nature walk part way to the stadium. Checking Google Maps, I saw "Snake Warrior's Island Natural Area." This was more like a park, with a nice paved trail around a pond. I had a pleasant walk with some wildlife viewing.

I arrived at the Orange Bowl a couple hours early, and there were already big throngs of people. There is no transit to the stadium so it's a bit of a cluster with all of the cars and parking lots. Notre Dame won, securing a spot in the national championship! My aunt and uncle who live in Tampa were there, so it was a great bonus to be able to visit with them. Unfortunately it took more than an hour to leave the parking lot when the game was over. I really appreciate being able to walk, bike, or take transit to Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta.

Lunch

A little raccoon friend in Secret Woods.

I love the stabilizing roots of swamp trees.

The boardwalk.

An iguana and Snake Warrior's Island.

Always lots of birds to see in Florida.

A big ol tree.

Made it to the stadium.

The goodyear blimp at sunset.

Irish win!

The next morning, a big winter storm hit Atlanta. My flight was cancelled, but I was put on another flight which was delayed until early afternoon. I took the morning to visit the nearby Weiner museum of decorative arts. This is small museum that has a surprising collection of glass and other art. It was worth the visit. I then went to the airport, where my new flight was cancelled, and then I was put on another flight that was delayed. Eventually they announced the departure would be at 11:45pm. Since I was unsure if this would even happen, and amid a complete ground stop at ATL and with no end in sight to the snow, I decided to just leave the airport and try to come back to Atlanta on Sunday. not what I had planned, but it gave me an unexpected bonus day to do some tourist things. I quickly got a rental car and a new hotel, and spent an hour on the phone with Delta to rebook my flight for Sunday early afternoon. That evening I walked around "The Shops at Pembroke Gardens" near my hotel and got some ice cream.

Some cool glass art at the museum.

A cool elephant vase.

Ice cream time!

On Saturday, my bonus day, I woke up early and began the one hour drive to Biscayne National Park, which I had never been to before. Most of this park is underwater, but there is a visitor center and a small jetty trail you can take. I met some nice tourists from Boston who took my picture in front of the sign, and spent about 45 minutes walking the trail and enjoying the scenery and wildlife. Ideally I would have done a boat tour, but since it was a weekend with no notice, they were all booked up for the entire morning. So, I drove west to visit the other national park in Florida, Everglades National Park. I went to Everglades as a kid, so it was nice to visit again. I stopped by the main visitor center, and then went to the Royal Palm visitor center where I did the Anhinga Trail and the Gumbo Limbo Trail. The Anhinga trail is a short boardwalk trail with iconic swamp views. I saw three alligators (including one very close-up), turtles, and lots of different birds. This is the quintessential Everglades experience. Right next to this is the Gumbo Limbo Trail, which was very different but equally cool. It's a forested trail, with lots of neat plants and little pockets of swamp and sink holes. I greatly enjoyed this loop trail because it was empty and quiet - a nice moment to commune with nature away from the crowded boardwalk.

With a quick google maps search I found a spot for lunch, but along the way while driving through an agricultural/industrial area I happened to see a brewery sign. I pulled over, and it was Miami Brewing, which was just about to open since it was noon. I went inside and had one beer. This is a pretty cool venue that I'm sure is more popular in the evenings. At lunch on a drizzly Saturday there were only two other people there. I then continued to lunch at Rancho Los Jamaliches (Jamaliches is Cuban slang for someone who eats a lot). This is an outdoor restaurant where the tables are picnic tables under canopies. It's pretty nice though, with lush plants. It's mostly family style, but I ordered "La Unica," the meal for one. It was delicious, and was a ton of food - enough for two meals, and I ate the leftovers for dinner. This place is definitely geared toward Cuban families, and I was assigned to the one waitress that spoke English, but also communicated in my limited Spanish to the other staff. I would highly recommend this place. While a bit pricy, the food is exceptional.

I planned to go to the nearby Knaus Berry Farm, which is kind of like a farm stand and bakery. However there was a huge line, as apparently their cinnamon roles are very famous, so I just used their bathroom and left. :)

Yay, new national park credit!

Miami is visible in the distance.

The boardwalk trail.

Birds on a sign.

A cool little fish.

Second national park of the day!

Watch out for Florida panthers.

This guy was very close to the boardwalk trail.

I love all of the aquatic plants.

Birds...

... and more birds.

A little swampy area on the Gumbo-Limbo trail.

Cool old rotting tree.

Camouflaged lizard.

As I was leaving, some rain moved in, which looked really cool across the wetlands.

Beer break!

This was SO GOOD. Pork, tamales, rice and beans, and yucca.

The line at Knaus - no thanks! :)

Continuing north back to the hotel, my last stop of the day was the Gold Coast Railroad Museum, which is right next to the Miami Zoo. This was a cool stop. They have a bunch of trains in a big train shed, which was destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and rebuilt. The most notable train is the Ferdinand Magellan, a presidential train that was used by Truman and FDR, and even by Reagan in a throw-back whistlestop tour. I took a tour of this train and it was interesting to hear about the history and see the bullet proof windows and thick steel walls. I then went back to my hotel, where I relaxed after a busy day and ate my leftovers.

Gold Coast Railroad Museum.

Umm, I guess it's famous?

Exhibit on separate sections of trains for black people during Jim Crow.

An army hospital train.

The Ferdinand Magellan, a national historic landmark.

The famous photo of Truman holding up the "Dewey defeats Truman" paper was taken on the train!

The windows are bullet proof, but several of them cracked from Hurricane Andrew damage.

Inside the train.

FDR's wheelchair he used on the train, which is narrow to fit down the aisles.

Photos of Hurricane Andrew damage.

A blimp exhibit - the site was originally a military blimp hangar and launch pad.

On Sunday, I woke up to see my flight delayed, as the effects of the Atlanta snow were still cascading through the system. So, I made one last stop - Flamingo Gardens, a wildlife rescue center and botanical garden. This was a neat attraction, with lots of birds and beautiful trees and flowers. They also have a rescued Florida panther.

Bird!

Cool looking plant.

Up close with butterflies.

More butterflies.

And another one!

Red puffball plant. I think that's the official name.

Cattle egret.

A giant banyan tree.

Peacock roam freely through the garden,

One of the huge trees.

I went to the airport, and eventually my flight took off, and I made it back to Atlanta early Sunday evening, "only" 48 hours later than expected. But I appreciated the opportunity to visit some national parks, have some great food, and see lots of nature.