Miami 2012: South Beach

I stayed at Casa Grande Hotel on the main & famous "Collins ave" on Miami Beach. Although my main goals were relaxation, sight seeing, and partying I had a good opportunity to observe the city and make some connections to this class. 

The Spanish invaded the Miami region 
in the 1500´s . On one of the tours we went on the guide said that the Natives from this region were called the Tequesta Natives. 

In this picture the Street of Ponce De Leon and Antiquera are crossing each other. 

Ponce De Leon was said to be the first European man to see the Miami area by sailing into Biscayne Bay. He wrote in his journal that he reached Chequescha, which was Miami's first recorded name. At this time there were already natives established in the area. 

A lot of the houses in Miami and Southern Florida that I saw still had the spanish style to them. The picture on the right is a photo of a Millionaires mansion on the private island of Miami Beach called Stars Island. The house you see here is the house of the creator of Viagra. Each of these trees were 10 million dollars they are imported from Africa.

Hispanic Influence in Miami & Cuba
After the 1959 Cuban Revolution hundreds of thousands of Cubans immigrated to the USA coming with little or nothing and by the end of the 1960s, more than four hundred thousand Cuban refugees were living in Miami-Dade County, since then hundreds of thousands of more have settled from all levels of social class. 

Our bus tour took us into Little Havana wich is an area that is predominately Cuban populated and filled with great restaurants  cigar spots, and cultural landmarks. The plate that I have pictured above is Camarones y Pollo al Ajillo con arroz y frijoles.

Garlic shrimp and chicken with rice and beans.