DK Travel : Miami : Places of interest

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Gay and Lesbian Community Center, Key West

Set on an appealing square, the center offers a library, a lounge, and all the information you might need. Pluses include a monthly calendar of special events, such as wine-and-cheese parties, discussion groups, and a film series. Free anonymous HIV testing is available, or just stop by for a chat.
Georgie’s Alibi, Fort Lauderdale

This is a video bar, café, and sports bar, located in Fort Lah-Dee-Dah’s unique gay shopping center, in its unique gay town – Wilton Manors – which even has its own gay mayor. The Alibi opened in April of 1997 in a then rundown area, but Wilton Manors has since blossomed into a thriving gay community, and this bar has flourished with it. In fact, the Alibi is one of South Florida’s best gay venues, and always worth checking out.
Gesu Church

This Mediterranean-Revival building in the Spanish Colonial style (built 1922) is the oldest Catholic church in Miami. Dozens of masses are held every week, in English and Spanish. The church is noted for its stained-glass windows, which were made in Munich, Germany. The ceiling mural was restored in its entirety by a lone Nicaraguan refugee in the late 1980s.

Mosaic on dome of Gesu Church
Gold Coast Railroad Museum

The museum was started in 1957, by a group of Miamians who were trying to save threatened pieces of Florida history. Some of the earliest items in the collection are the “Ferdinand Magellan,” a private railroad car built for President Franklin Roosevelt; the FEC engine that pulled a rescue train out from Marathon after the 1935 hurricane; and the 113 locomotive built in 1913. The Edwin Link is a smallgauge children’s railroad.
Goombay Celebration

A celebration of Island culture and life, with the emphasis on great music. Held in mid-October, it usually merges with the Fantasy Fest (below).
Green Street Café

Coconut Grove’s numero uno for people-watching, happy hour, and creative meals.
Greynolds Park

An oak-shaded haven for runners, golfers, and other outdoor enthusiasts, Greynolds Park is landscaped with native and exotic plants, including mangrove, royal palm, palmetto, pampas grass, sea grape, and gumbo limbo. You’ll also find beach volleyball courts, a children’s playground, and plenty of picnic tables.
Gulfstream Park

Thoroughbreds race here on two tracks between January and April, and the park is also home of the prestigious million-dollar Florida Derby, which takes place in March every year. During the racing season, concerts are held here on weekends, with national and international performers.
Gusman Center for the Performing Arts

Built in 1926, this theater has a fabulously ornate Moorish interior and is housed in the similarly colorful and festooned Olympia Building. It began as a vaudeville theater, where Rudy Vallee used to perform, and Elvis Presley also gigged here. Inside, the hall looks like an Arabian Nights palace, with turrets, towers, intricate columns, and a crescent moon and stars in the ceiling. Buy a ticket to anything just to see it.
Harbor Drive

Winding along the western shore, this is the heart of Key Biscayne’s upscale residential district. The lucky ones with houses on the outer side of the road have magnificent views of Downtown Miami from their back gardens. Although the area has its share of mansions, most of the houses are more modestly proportioned. Still, it’s a rarefied neighborhood where flocks of ibis can be found picking away on someone’s lawn.