Visiting Miami

[Frank Wentzel]

I'll be attending a conference next week in Miami. Any suggestions? I'm already planning a visit to The Barnacle, Comodore Munroe's old place.

/// Frank ///

[alteran]

Get a concealed carry permit.

[ccmanuals]

Go to South Beach. It's a hoot.

[Tristan]

The Barnacle is a wonderful place. I kept a small sharpie and later a Bahama dinghy moored off the Barnacle for many years. Wirth Monroe gave me a key to the boathouse and I helped look after the dinghy they kept tied up at the dock, etc. Wirth (the Commodore's son) died shortly after I began hanging around there and I became friends with Mary (Wirth's widow), Patty and Bill Catlow (the commodore's daughter and son-in-law), Bill Monroe (Wirth's son), etc. Reading "The Commodore's Story" of course will give you some perspective on the place. Coconut grove, in general, is a pretty neat place, or used to be. The Cocount Grove Sailing club, 100 yds east of the Barnacle, was originally a place where you set out your own mooring, later a small club-house was built and free sailing lessons were offered to local kids. Eventually the city forced the club to build bigger, nicer looking quarters, the price for membership went up, etc. etc. While in Miami you might enjoy visiting Fairchild Gardern (to the south), a beautiful tropical garden (big, many acres). There are lots of interesting boats in Coconut Grove's Dinner Key Marina, a neat farmers market on Saturdays (at the Grove end of Grand Avenue). Key Biscayne has a nice beach, probably still has a couple good restaurants. Go to Fleming's Restaurant, south of Miami, for great food (my son in law owns it), lots of neat Bayside restaurants in the Coconut Grove, great Cuban food throughout Miami (chicken, yellow rice, black beans, roast pork). Drive carefully and prepare for traffic. If you get a chance drive south past Homestead and visit the Everglades National Park. Go all the way to Flamingo, site of an old fishing village on the tip of Florida. Beautiful and peaceful. Enjoy, Lowell P. Thomas