Latest links from my Facebook page (2020)

Taking a boat tour of the north coast of Anguilla, 2003

Below are some more recent links to posts on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mikeespositotravelblog

Luther Bryan, who took me out on his boat from Island Harbour to Scrub Island, Anguilla (2003) https://www.facebook.com/mikeespositotravelblog/posts/10157965739660129

The beach at Negril, Jamaica (2013) https://www.facebook.com/mikeespositotravelblog/posts/10157945675465129

Enjoying Miami Beach with the family in 2003 https://www.facebook.com/mikeespositotravelblog/posts/10157915652970129

Placemat with map of the island of Culebra, a small island off the east coast of the main island of Puerto Rico. I visited there in 2007 https://www.facebook.com/mikeespositotravelblog/posts/10157906931715129

View of the eastern savannah of Colombia from the eastern edge of the Andes (1981) https://www.facebook.com/mikeespositotravelblog/posts/10157886094160129

The Choo Choo Barn, a massive train layout in Strasburg, PA (2015) https://www.facebook.com/mikeespositotravelblog/posts/10157865757760129

Hotel Mockingbird Hill, Port Antonio, Jamaica (2013) https://www.facebook.com/mikeespositotravelblog/posts/10157861280005129

A splendid horse in El Quelite, Sinaloa, Mexico (2013) https://www.facebook.com/mikeespositotravelblog/posts/10157840170430129

A stairway with a steep descent in the town of Mesitas del Colegio, Cundinamarca, Colombia (1992) https://www.facebook.com/mikeespositotravelblog/posts/10157833519230129

Antwerp, Belgium (2009) https://www.facebook.com/mikeespositotravelblog/posts/10157827491925129

What I learned about Miami on a short trip

Enjoying Cuban coffee at La Carreta restaurant on the Calle Ocho

There were many highlights to a short trip that my wife and I took to Miami Beach last year, which coincided with Spring Break. I will mention just a few casual observations I made based on our experiences there.

The Art Deco district in South Beach was fun, and definitely worth the price tag of reserving a room in that area. We stayed at the Park Central Hotel, which was right in the center of the area of South Beach we wanted to visit and even had its own small pool, which some of the other Art Deco hotels didn't have. We had continental breakfast at their adjoining sidewalk cafe and could order eggs if we wanted to pay a little extra.I could float in the water at South Beach. Normally I can't find water calm enough to float in except in an enclosed bay or where there is a coral reef offshore.

The local advice is if you move to Miami to work, never live more than five miles away from your place of work, because traffic is so congested. The roads don't seem to be enough to handle all the volume, though for ourselves as visitors, nothing we experienced seemed unusually difficult.

The party animals are kept corralled. The police on South Beach kept watch over the Spring Break kids partying in a cluster on the beach, jumping up and down as if part of some ritual, and collectively making a noise that sounded like a beehive.

We liked the selection of Latin food that was available in Miami, especially La Carreta restaurant on the Calle Ocho. The restaurant has expanded to other locales as well, but it felt especially enjoyable to be sampling Cuban food in that location, and especially the Cuban coffee called "cortadito" served with milk.

The threat of hurricanes always looms in the background. In fact, we saw a TV commercial there that proclaimed, "In South Florida, the question is not if, but when," and smart homeowners will have hurricane shutters and other precautions worked out in case one hits. Still, Miami has been fortunate not to have had a serious hurricane in the past ten years or so, and hopefully it will remain that way. Its residents seem, by and large, willing to exchange the risk for the opportunity to enjoy the mix of American and Latin in a warm, inviting atmosphere.

Antique car parked in front of the Park Central Hotel, an Art Deco hotel in South Beach

Miami: Visit to Star Island, 1998

For many years my wife and I would travel back and forth between Philadelphia and Bogota and change flights in Miami. We were curious to visit Miami but didn't have the chance to do so until 1998, when our flight from Philadelphia to Bogota had a six-hour layover in Miami.

We left the airport and found a taxi driver who offered to take us around the city for three hours. This taxi driver was originally from Sweden and on his card said that he spoke 14 languages. His Spanish sounded very Cuban, and he conducted the entire tour in Spanish. While he was driving he took a call on his cell phone from his daughter. They were discussing the results of the World Cup that was going on at that time. He spoke to her in Danish and gave her the score of the game: "et - et" (1-1).

Among the places he took us were Coconut Grove, Miami Beach, particularly South Beach, and Biscayne Bay. On the way back from Miami Beach, we stopped at Star Island, home to many celebrities. He drove up and told the guard that he was taking us on a tour, and he was let through. He stopped at the house in the first photo that he said was the residence of Gloria Estefan. (Note: On Google Earth Gloria Estefan's house is now identified as a different house on the island.) The next stop was a house that he said formerly belonged to Julio Iglesias (second photo).

After this trip we felt content that we finally were able to see something of Miami. We returned to Miami in 2003 and stayed ten days.









Visit my webpage on Latinos in the United States at
http://www.latinandcaribbeantravel.com/latinosintheus.html


Other websites:

Caribbean Folk Arts Network (Caribfolk) - Caribbean cultural network: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/caribfolk/

Raices Culturales Latinoamericanas (Latin American Cultural Roots) - a nonprofit organization I founded in 1991 that presents Latin American cultural shows, exhibits, and workshops: http://www.raicesculturales.org/

Raicesnews - Latin cultural events in the Philadelphia area: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/raicesnews