Happy Valentine's Day! Please enjoy this special themed nominee for Florida's Special Places by Audubon's Everglades Policy Associate Jane Graham! This year, grab your loved ones and head outdoors for the evening sunset or for some quality time under the beautiful Florida night sky. In any case, enjoy this special nominee!
Ah, Valentine’s Day. A day for long walks on the beach, multicolored sunsets where the sun melts like an orange into lavender skies, the breeze in your hair and sand between your toes.
Rolling your eyes yet? I know this sounds like a total cliché, but there is a place but 15 minutes away from the teeth grinding traffic of downtown Miami to experience this pleasure - Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne.
Nestled between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, Bill Baggs State Park has over 2 miles of shoreline, ample mangroves, and maritime hammock habitats. Enjoy bike trails within the hammock and along the beach. They even have tandem bikes to rent with your special someone, although only one “steering wheel” on the bike actually works.
Wildlife is abundant in the park, from gulls and pelicans on the beach to raccoons and an occasional crocodile. The bird sighting list for the park has over 217 species.
Bill Baggs State Park is also an important historical site. The park is designated as a National Underground Railroad Network Freedom Site, as runaway slaves in the 1800s met in secret on the island waiting to board ships to take them to safety in the British Bahamas. In 1825, a lighthouse was built, today the oldest standing structure in Miami-Dade County.
Climb to the top of the lighthouse and you’ll see a number of wooden homes built on stilts in the bay. This is the remains of Stiltsville, a collection of houses dating from the age of Prohibition. According to a Bill Baggs park ranger, bootleggers would serve liquor (and host wild parties) in these structures because the structures were just over a mile away from shore and not subject to the ban on alcohol. Hurricanes have not been kind to this strange encampment over the decades, but a number of these structures remain.
End your visit with a romantic dinner watching the sunset at one of the two restaurants within the park, either Boater’s Grill by No Name Harbor, or the Lighthouse Grill by the beach. Their fresh snapper is delectable. Happy Valentines Day!
