March 11: CocoWalk to Villa Viscaya, Versailles Cafe
After I left The Bookstore at the Grove, I walked down Grand Avenue to Bayshore Drive and turned left. I started walking up Bayshore Drive towards downtown. I stopped at a park, where I had a good and sunny view of Biscayne Bay. I sat for several minutes at a bench overlooking the bay, savoring the moment of being bayside in Miami.
Around 3:00, I continued walking towards Villa Viscaya, listed in my “1000 Places in the U.S. and Canada you Must See Before you Die” book (thanks Christie) as well as my AAA guide to Miami. Along the way I went down some side streets to see some homes that judging from their size and design were built for some very wealthy people. One house that looked like an Italian Villa I had to take a picture of.
From the AAA map Villa Viscaya didn’t look that far from downtown Coconut Grove. But it was getting close to 4:00 and I still hadn’t made it. I was beginning to think about taking the bus when I saw a sign that said “Viscaya 100 feet”. Finally!
I entered the gates and walked down a garden path with occasional statues along the way to the entrance. It wasn’t cheap–$11 with a $1 discount from AAA–but when I saw the house in the distance, I knew I had to go in.
If I had the trip to do over again, I would start at Villa Viscaya and end up in downtown Coconut Grove. As I said earlier, CocoWalk and its commercial neighbors weren’t quite awake at 11 a.m. In contrast, Villa Viscaya seems to be enjoyed best earlier in the day. I had already missed the last tour of the day (included in the price). I had enough time to enjoy seeing the house and gardens, but some of the exits were closed off as visiting hours neared the end. I also would not walk, especially in new sandals.
That said, Villa Viscaya, in my opinion, was worth every penny and blister and deserves its place in the guidebooks. The house is a 3-story, 22-room mansion with a huge stone courtyard in the middle. Most rooms have elaborate coverings of European-style tapestries or paintings (except the more modest decorations of the owner, James Deering’s, study and bedroom and the “Asian themed” rooms). Deering had a marble bath and sink. He had a dining room and a breakfast room, and two pantries. One side of the house has an opening right onto Biscayne Bay. The gardens have buildings that looked like they had been made from materials right in the ocean. My words are truly not doing it justice. Sadly, no photos are allowed inside the house, but I have many photos of the exterior on my Photobucket site:
http://s193.photobucket.com/albums/z72/reisefrau/Miami–Spring%20Break%202008/
I left Viscaya around 5:30. Despite the hours I’d spent walking, I felt refreshed. That said, I wasn’t eager to try to walk all the way back to Halle’s. Fortunately, there was a security guard in the parking lot who directed me to get on the nearest bus and take it to Viscaya Metrorail station where I could change buses and head down Coral Way to the intersection near where Halle lives.The bus ride was much easier than walking, and only cost $2. I was “home” at last–for a while.
When Halle got back from work, we put on our party clothes and called a cab. Our destination: Versailles Cafe. Not a French restaurant, but a famous Cuban restaurant in the heart of Little Havana.
It may seem strange to you that I say this (it didn’t seem strange to Halle), but when I walked into Versailles Cafe, I felt like I was in Jewish deli. There was a case of sweets right at the front door, many tables, mirrored walls like Brent’s at home, and a communal energy mixed with the promise of food for soul.
While someone could take the argument further and point out that both the American Jewish and Cuban communities are diasporas that dream of one day being reunited with their homeland, the sentiment is felt much more strongly at Versailles Cafe. Halle told me that people still picket Versailles Cafe with signs protesting the revolution, to which people respond cruelly, “Viva Castro!”. There is also a rock outside the restaurant with a plaque dedicating the rock to the Cuban exiles who are Cuban patriots and dream of returning to a free Cuba.
The food was also not Jewish (pork abounds) but it was darn good. I got the special– meatloaf, red beans and rice and fried plaintains for only $6.50. Halle got paella, which surprisingly had meat in it. We also got a side order of fried yucca with green dipping sauce (yum!), and Halle ordered a pitcher of sangria. Both the sangria and the food were very filling–Halle had her food wrapped up, but I had to scarf mine down because I knew I wouldn’t have a chance to eat leftovers. We didn’t even have room for dessert.
We thought about walking around Calle Ocho afterwards, but, as Halle’s landlady/roommate Miriam had warned us, nobody walks around Calle Ocho at night. Not because it’s dangerous, but because it’s not a part of the city where people walk. Halle spotted a cab and we took it back to the house. She slept while I drafted this blog.
Tags: Coconut Grove, Miami, transportation, U.S., Villa Viscaya, walking
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