Everglades National Park
The Everglades is the 3rd largest national park in the continental US. It is huge! There are 3 separate entrances/visitors centers that are relatively far from each other. We chose to spend 2 half days in the Everglades to hit the best spots. On Thursday, we headed to the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center where we picked up our stamps, Junior Ranger Booklets and unigrids. We had special guests – Viviane and Steven – joining us for this outing. We started at Anhinga trail, which was my favorite trail of the entire trip. It was a paved boardwalk filled with wildlife – anhigas, alligators, turtles, as well as other birds and fish. After lunch we continued to the Mahogany Hammock Trail, which was about 30 minutes away and showed some of the park’s greenery. (In my opinion, this trail was not necessary.) We returned to the visitor center to get our park badges and exited the park. If you’re coming to this area, I highly recommend a stop at Robert is Here Fruit Stand to taste some exotic fruits.
A few days later we visited the Shark Valley Visitor Center area, where we took an airboat tour of the Everglades through the Everglades Safari Park company. The boat rode through the river and the captain pointed out a few alligators. Surprisingly, this was where we saw the fewest animals in the park. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the noisy boat ride and it was a unique way to experience the national park. Afterwards, we walked through an animal trail, saw a quick animal show, and took photos with a baby alligator.
Lion Country Safari Park
We had a great day at Lion Country Safari! It is about an hour and a half drive from Miami, so be prepared to spend a long time in the car. Once you arrive, the first stop is the drive through safari. We saw about 20-30 different species of animals including giraffes, ostriches, zebra and more! The kids and I really enjoyed it, especially when the ostrich came right up to our car. Afterwards we entered the park, where there was a plethora of fun options for the kids. We fed a giraffe, went to a petting zoo, splashed in the water park and rode the water slides.
Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens
Sam was working again, so Judah and I took the kids to the beautiful gardens, which are located about 45 minutes from Aventura.
Biscayne National Park
This was one of the more difficult national parks to get to and experience. It is almost 95% water and accessible by boat. We had to book a boat tour through the Biscayne National Park Institute. Since kids younger than 8 are not allowed on the group tours, we booked a private snorkeling experience. We met the boat at the dock, about 1.5 hours from Aventura. We rode for about 30 minutes before we reached our first stop – the mangroves for snorkeling. It was too cold and uncomfortable for Allen and Joseph to snorkel, but Sam, Judah and I got to see the ocean wildlife, which was quite surreal. We then rode another 15 minutes to Elliot’s Key, a small island in the park, before heading back to the dock.
Wynwood Walls
If you’re a fan of art, check this out! Super cool outdoor exhibit. The entire area looked nice, but it was a long day and the kids couldn’t handle anymore.
