KEY LARGO AND MIAMI AREA
TILE PROXY STYLE!
We're continuing our journey through Florida. We're approaching our Floridian Coast Line after we've traveled through the Florida Keys with one last island to visit, Key Largo.
Did you know, that Key Largo Key Largo is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and, at 33 miles (53 km) long, the largest of the Keys. It is also the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the Keys connected by U.S. Highway 1 (the Overseas Highway). Its earlier Spanish name was Cayo Largo, eaning Long Key.
Key Largo is connected to the mainland in Miami-Dade County by two routes. The Overseas Highway, which is U.S. Highway 1, enters Key Largo at Jewfish Creek near the middle of the island and turns southwest. Card Sound Road connects to the northern part of Key Largo at Card Sound Bridge and runs southeastward to connect with County Road 905, which runs southwest and joins U.S. 1 at about mile marker 106. These routes originate at Florida City on the mainland.
Key Largo is a popular tourist destination and calls itself the "Diving Capital of the World" because the living coral reef a few miles offshore attracts thousands of scuba divers and sport-fishing enthusiasts.
Key Largo's proximity to the Everglades also makes it a premier destination for kayakers and ecotourists. Automotive and highway pioneer and Miami Beach developer Carl G. Fisher built Key Largo's famous Caribbean Club in 1938 as his last project.
The island gained fame as the setting for the 1948 Humphrey Bogart-Lauren Bacall film Key Largo, although it was filmed entirely on a Warner Brothers sound stage in Hollywood. The island's post office in Rock Harbor, which had been named after a nearby cove, changed its name to Key Largo after the film's success and pressure from local businesmen. It did this so that everyone living north of Tavernier would have a Key Largo address and the cancellation would say Key Largo instead of Rock Harbor.
There are three census-designated places on the island of Key Largo: North Key Largo, near the Card sound Bridge, Key Largo, eight or nine miles from the southern end of the island, and Tavernier, Florida|Tavernier, at the southern end of the island. Ocean Reef Club is a private gated community and club at the northern end of the island. None of Key Largo is an incorporated municipality, so it is governed at the local level by Monroe County.
Key Largo is situated between Everglades National Park to the north-west and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park to the east, the first underwater park in the United States and the site of the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States.
Leaving Key Largo
One more shot of Key Largo. This is at 11000ft.
Grand Canal Florida
We are now over the Miami Speedway. Did you know
The speedway was constructed, with the efforts of promoter Ralph Sanchez, as part of a plan to help Homestead rebound after the devastation caused by Hurricane Andrew. Groundbreaking began August 24, 1993, less than a year after the hurricane. It opened in November 1995 with a NASCAR Busch Series race. In the spring of 1996, the CART series held its first race there.
The facility is considered by some to be one of the most beautiful in the country. Though located southwest of Miami, the track reflects the art deco district of downtown Miami with its liberal use of colors such as aqua, purple and silver, among other colors.
However, the racing at Homestead was initially not considered very good. The track opened as a four-turn, rectangular-oval, based on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's layout. The sharp, flat turns and aprons made passing difficult and lowered overall speed. The geometry also created unfavorably severe crash angles. In 1996, track management attempted to correct the problems by widening the aprons of the turns by as much as 24 feet. In the summer of 1997, an $8.2 million reconfiguration project changed the turns from a quad-oval to a traditional, continuous turn oval.
In 2003, the track was reconfigured once again. The turns were changed from mostly flat to steep variable banking. Shortly afterwards, lights were installed to allow night racing for the first time. The renovations were praised by fans, and the track has produced a number of close finishes, including 2005's last-lap battle between Greg Biffle and Mark Martin.
On March 26, 2006 however, Indy Racing League driver Paul Dana suffered fatal injuries in the warm-up session before the season-opening round of the championship. He was involved in a high-speed collision, with Ed Carpenter at over 215 mph. His death is the first in the Indy Racing League since Tony Renna died at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October 2003, and only the 3rd ever since the series started. He also is the only other driver to suffer fatal injuries at the speedway since John Nemechek in a Craftsman Truck Race in March 1997, and Jeff Clinton who died in a Grand Am sports car event at the track in March 2002.
Over Homestead Speedway, Route 1 stretches in back.
Leaving Homestead Speedway
We are now approaching Cape Florida. Did you know Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park occupies approximately the southern third of the island of Key Biscayne, at coordinates 25°40′25″N, 80°09′34″W. The park is home to the Cape Florida Light, the oldest standing structure in Miami-Dade County. In 2005 it was listed as having the 8th best beach in the country.
The park is named in honor of Bill Baggs, editor of The Miami News from 1957 until his death in 1969, who fought to prevent the development of the land that is now included in the park.
Over Cape Florida
Now we're approaching one of the highlights of our tour, Miami. Did you know that Miami (pronounced maɪˈæmi or maɪˈæmə) is a global city in southeastern Florida, in the United States. Miami is the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida. With a population of more than 404,048, Miami is the largest city within the Miami metropolitan area, which is the fourth-largest urban area in the United States with over 5.59 million residents.
Miami is ranked as a global city for its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts and international trade. The city is home to many company headquarters, banks, and television studios. It is an international center for popular entertainment in television, music, fashion, film and the performing arts. The city's Port of Miami is known for accommodating the largest volume of cruise ships in the world and is home to many cruise line headquarters. Miami is also home to the largest concentration of international banks in the United States. Miami’s economic, cultural, and linguistic ties to the Americas and the Caribbean make Miami an important center of the Hispanic world.
As of 2008, Miami is undergoing a large building boom with 24 skyscrapers that are expected to rise over 400 feet (122 m) currently under construction in the city. Miami’s skyline ranks third in the U.S., behind New York City and Chicago, and 18th in the world according to the Almanac of Architecture and Design. The city currently has nine of the ten tallest skyscrapers in the state of Florida, with the tallest being the 789-foot (240 m) Four Seasons Hotel & Tower.
In 2008, Miami was ranked as "America's Cleanest City" according to Forbes Magazine for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets and city-wide recycling programs. In 2008, Miami was also ranked the 3rd-richest city in the United States and the world's 22nd-richest city in a UBS study
Over Downtown Miami
Miami Beach over the Wolfsonian, Erotic National Art Museum, and the Art Deco Historical District.
Over Miami Beach and Miami
Hope you enjoy all, be back later tonight!
Key Largo, and Miami Tile Proxy Style!
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Whoa - quite impressive!
"You haven't seen a tree until you've seen its shadow from the sky." Amelia Earhart
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