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Drive to the southernmost tip of Key Biscayne, look way out on the water, and you’ll spy six lonesome structures built on stilts. These fishermen’s bungalows are the last of what was once quite a community. Their number has dwindled considerably due to hurricanes and legal squabbles.

Every Thursday at 7pm, in the plush, beautiful lobby of the historic Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, it’s storytelling time around the fireplace. Youngsters may also enjoy a visit to the finches in their elaborate cages, as well as a stroll around the gardens and the fountains within the grounds (see Biltmore Hotel).

Aphrodisiac cuisine in an erotic arena evoke a sense of Indo-Persian culture. Real grass carpets and sensuous sculptures and paintings set the tone. Sublime Middle-Eastern and Indian fusion dishes are served in a somewhat desultory, yet suggestive, fashion in a candlelit ambience where palm fans softly spin.

Try the famous Tropical Popsicle Martini as you watch the people go by. Popular with celebrities, look around, you might be dining side by side with the rich and famous.

This beautiful period building is now a youth hostel, so its modest café is always thronged with international youth (see Clay Hotel and Youth Hostel, SoBe).

This is probably the easiest, fastest route across the Everglades: an Interstate toll-road with two lanes of traffic in each direction. It keeps you at arm’s length from the swampy, teeming mass of it all, but there are several great stops along the way, as you pass through Big Cypress National Preserve and just to the north of Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve.

Highway 41 was the first cut across the Everglades and from its inception has been called the Tamiami Trail, which sounds like a Native American word but simply stands for Tampa-Miami, the cities connected by the road. However, it does take you deep into Seminole country, where you can experience the wonders of the Everglades. As you make your way to the Gulf coast, be sure to stop at Everglades City and Naples (see The Everglades, across the Tamiami Trail (Hwy 41)).

A 70-year institution and a perennial favorite with celebrities such as Madonna and Michael Jordan. There are atmospheric themed rooms, such as the Library, and the overall mood is cozy and romantic. The menu favors old fashioned staples, like steaks and chocolate soufflé, and there’s a formidable wine cellar.

This imposing Neo-Classical edifice, finished in 1931, has hosted a number of high-profile trials, including that of Manuel Noriega, the former Panamanian president, in 1990. The spartan jail cell where he awaited trial on international drug-trafficking charges is also in this building. The main attraction is the secondfloor mural entitled Law Guides Florida’s Progress , designed by Denman Fink, famous for his work in Coral Gables. It depicts Florida’s evolution from a tropical backwater to one of America’s most prosperous states.