Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Kampong
HISTORIC SITE, GARDENS
305-442-7169;
www.ntbg.org/gardens/kampong.php
; 4013 Douglas Rd;
tours
by appointment only 9am-4pm Mon-Fri)
David Fairchild, Indiana Jones of the botanical world and founder of Fairchild Tropical
Gardens, would rest at the Kampong (Malay/Indonesian for 'village') in between journeys
in search of beautiful and economically viable plant life. Today this lush garden is listed
on the National Register of Historic Places and the lovely grounds serve as a classroom for
the National Tropical Botanical Garden. Free self-guided tours (allow at least an hour) are
available by appointment, as are $20 two-hour guided tours.
Arts Precinct
GALLERY
Coconut Grove, like many of Miami's neighborhoods, has been making a big deal of pro-
moting its homegrown art galleries. You can walk among them - they're concentrated near
CocoWalk
and
Streets of Mayfair
malls (with a few exceptions) - on the first Saturday
night (from 7pm) of every month; the Coconut Grove Art Walk is decidedly the most fam-
ily friendly of Miami's many neighborhood art walks.
AC Fine Art
GALLERY
One our favorite galleries, AC Fine Art specializes in limited editions and originals (!) of
masters like DalĂ, Picasso, Lautrec, Warhol, Basquiat and Lichtenstein.
Plymouth Congregational Church
CHURCH
This 1917 coral church is striking, from its solid masonry to a hand-carved door from a
Pyrenees monastery, which looks like it should be kicked in by Antonio Banderas carrying
a guitar case full of explosives and Salma Hayek on his arm. Architecturally, this is one of
the finest Spanish Mission-style churches in a city that does not lack for examples of the
genre.
Ermita de la Caridad
MONUMENT
305-854-2404;
www.ermitadelacaridad.org
; 3609 S Miami Ave)