Recreation

BEST URBAN BIKE RIDE
Granada Boulevard
BEST URBAN BIKE RIDE Granada Boulevard Coral Gables You know those low-to-the-ground, white stone street signs that make Coral Gables so troublesome for unfamiliar drivers? Well, they work just fine for bike riders. To truly enjoy all of the...

BEST PLACE TO ROLLERBLADE
Old Cutler Road from Cocoplum/Le Jeune Circle to Ludlam Road
BEST PLACE TO ROLLERBLADE Old Cutler Road from Cocoplum/Le Jeune Circle to Ludlam Road Coral Gables, Pinecrest Huge oaks canopy most of this stretch, on which you'll pass Matheson Hammock Park, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Gulliver...

BEST PLACE TO TRACK BIKE
The Velodrome at Brian Piccolo Park
BEST PLACE TO TRACK BIKE The Velodrome at Brian Piccolo Park 9501 Sheridan Street Cooper City 954-437-2626 www.broward.org/parks/velodrome.htm Ever watched the riders at the Olympics as they circled a velodrome -- each trying...

BEST PEDESTRIAN EXPERIENCE
Miami Springs
BEST PEDESTRIAN EXPERIENCE Miami Springs Glenn H. Curtiss Memorial Circle and Westward Drive Demure, lovely Miami Springs is the kind of town you rely on for comfort after other South Florida neighborhoods have drained your wallet and soul....

BEST PLACE TO ROAD BIKE
Key Biscayne
BEST PLACE TO ROAD BIKE Key Biscayne If you live in South Florida, you won't find climbs to help in your quest for the yellow jersey, but if you crave a challenge, ride toward Key Biscayne. The closest thing you'll find to Alpe d'Huez in Miami...

BEST PLACE TO DITCH THE KIDS FOR A FEW HOURS
Miami-Dade Public Library System
BEST PLACE TO DITCH THE KIDS FOR A FEW HOURS Miami-Dade Public Library System South Miami Branch Anime Addicts Club 6000 Sunset Drive South Miami 305-667-6121 It's hard to keep anything anime out of the hands of young people....

BEST FAMILY OUTING
Larry and Penny Thompson Park
BEST FAMILY OUTING Larry and Penny Thompson Park 12451 SW 184th Street South Miami-Dade 305-232-1049 Two words: water slides. Six Flags Atlantis has been gone for more than a decade, and it's a long haul from Miami to West Palm Beach...

BEST TENNIS COURTS
Fisher Island Tennis Center
BEST TENNIS COURTS Fisher Island Tennis Center 7 Fisher Island Drive Miami 305-535-6000 Boris Becker lived and played here; so did Jim Courier. Andy Roddick and Mark Philippoussis drop by to hit a few as well. And when Andre Agassi...

BEST PLACE TO MOUNTAIN BIKE
Markham Park
BEST PLACE TO MOUNTAIN BIKE Markham Park 16001 W. State Road 84 Sunrise 954-389-2000 The words mountain and Florida rarely come up in the same sentence -- unless you're an upwardly mobile biker who has found the next best thing to...

BEST HOLE AT A GOLF COURSE
Seventeenth
1802 NW 37th Avenue Miami 305-633-4583 Challenging in every sense of the word, 17 is a 602-yard, par 5 dogleg sandwiched between an impressive lake guarding the left and a tee-side waste bunker and sand traps, looming the length of the...

BEST POWERBOAT RENTAL
Ablaze Boat Rental
BEST POWERBOAT RENTAL Ablaze Boat Rental 24th Street and Collins Avenue Miami Beach 305-674-9300 This business (formerly Beach Boat Rental) has occupied the same spot for 40 years. From the little roadside stand near the pedestrian...

BEST TOPLESS BEACH
Haulover Beach
BEST TOPLESS BEACH Haulover Beach 10800 Collins Avenue North Miami-Dade 305-944-3040 Wandering around South Beach, the average tourist might think it's the place to go au naturel. The drunk women who parade along Ocean Drive while...

BEST DOG PARK
Amelia Earhart Park
BEST DOG PARK Amelia Earhart Park 401 E. 65th Street Hialeah 305-769-2693 and The City of Miami Beach There are a lot of good dog parks in the area, which, given the population density, may be surprising. Nonetheless, in a...

BEST PLACE TO JOG
Key Biscayne from lighthouse to Bear Cut
BEST PLACE TO JOG Key Biscayne from lighthouse to Bear Cut Here are the ideal conditions: early morning, clear skies, low tide. Obviously we´re recommending the shoreline route, which offers a sublime experience of light playing on water,...

BEST BOWLING ALLEY
Strike Miami
BEST BOWLING ALLEY Strike Miami 11401 NW Twelfth Street West Miami-Dade 305-594-0200 www.strikemiami.com Let's face it, with the countless ways this city has to tempt the masses into unbridled debauchery, bowling ranks pretty low...

BEST PLACE TO GO FLY A KITE
Skyward Kites
BEST PLACE TO GO FLY A KITE Skyward Kites Haulover Park 10800 Collins Avenue North Miami-Dade 305-893-0906 You know the place. Just north of Haulover Cut on the west side of Collins. What you may not know is that by arrangement...

BEST PLACE TO PLAY SHUFFLEBOARD
North Shore Park and Youth Center
BEST PLACE TO PLAY SHUFFLEBOARD North Shore Park and Youth Center 501 72nd Street Miami Beach 305-861-3616 Hey, we thought shuffleboard was going the way of lawn darts and horseshoes, but new courts are still being built in the area....

BEST PICNIC SPOT
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
BEST PICNIC SPOT Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden 10901 Old Cutler Road Coral Gables 305-667-1651 www.fairchildgarden.org If the kindly volunteers who take your admission tickets see your picnic gear and suggest that you enjoy...

BEST DRIVING RANGE
Miccosukee Golf and Country Club
BEST DRIVING RANGE Miccosukee Golf and Country Club 6401 Kendale Lakes Drive Kendale Lakes 305-382-3930 Planted deep in the suburban sprawl known as Kendale Lakes, somewhere between stucco housing development A and stucco housing...

BEST PLACE TO BIRDWATCH
Anhinga Trail
BEST PLACE TO BIRDWATCH Anhinga Trail Royal Palm Visitor Center Everglades National Park South Miami-Dade 305-242-7700 There are other trails where you're likely to see the full variety of South Florida's wading bird...

BEST PUBLIC PARK
Tropical Park
BEST PUBLIC PARK Tropical Park 7900 Bird Road West Miami-Dade 305-223-8710 No place else in Miami-Dade County offers an array of activities and amenities to compete with 275-acre Tropical Park. Among them: baseball/softball fields...

BEST RURAL BIKE RIDE
Shark Valley
BEST RURAL BIKE RIDE Shark Valley Everglades National Park Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41) approximately 35 miles west of downtown Miami 305-221-8776 www.nps.gov/ever/visit/tramroad If you've never biked the fifteen-mile loop road at...

BEST SNORKELING SPOT
Biscayne National Park
BEST SNORKELING SPOT Biscayne National Park 9700 SW 328th Street South Miami-Dade 305-230-1144 Perennial winner and favorite of locals who want to avoid the famously crowded place next door, Biscayne National Park isn't the easiest...

PERSONAL BEST
Samantha Haber of the South Miami Branch Library
Personal Best Programming librarian Samantha Haber hosts a weekly club for anime enthusiasts thirteen and older to watch films, discuss graphic novels, and practice drawing in the Japanese style at the South Miami Branch Library. (The downtown...

BEST PLACE TO KAYAK
Virginia Key Marine Sanctuary
BEST PLACE TO KAYAK Virginia Key Marine Sanctuary Put in either at Crandon Marina on Key Biscayne or from the Virginia Key beach. Your destination is the northwest quadrant of Virginia Key's offshore waters, an area from which all powered...

BEST BEACH
Virginia Key Beach
BEST BEACH Virginia Key Beach Once the playground of the unwanted, Virginia Key has been a refuge for nudists and, during segregation, African-American bathers. The island is also home to a landfill and a big, stinky water-treatment plant. It...

BEST PLACE TO HIKE
Big Cypress National Preserve
BEST PLACE TO HIKE Big Cypress National Preserve Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41) approximately 54 miles west of downtown Miami 239-695-1201 www.nps.gov/bicy/sandytrail Why drive more than an hour just to find a place to hike? Because the...

BEST NATURAL HIGH
Rollerblading toward a sunset
BEST NATURAL HIGH Rollerblading toward a sunset For those who live in Miami, developing a chemical dependency comes as naturally as developing a taste for black beans and rice. Overindulging in such pleasures can be seriously detrimental to...

BEST PUBLIC SWIMMING POOL
Miller J. Dawkins Olympic Pool Complex
BEST PUBLIC SWIMMING POOL Miller J. Dawkins Olympic Pool Complex Charles Hadley Park 1300 NW 50th Street Miami 305-634-5791 When you are looking for a public pool, you want it to be clean -- clean water, clean deck, and especially...

BEST BASKETBALL COURT
Flamingo Park
BEST BASKETBALL COURT Flamingo Park Fourteenth Street and Meridian Avenue Miami Beach 305-673-7760 Kendall and Pinecrest; Hialeah and Overtown; West, North, and South Miami. Wonderful basketball courts can be found all over, but...

BEST SAILBOAT RENTAL
Shake-a-Leg Miami
BEST SAILBOAT RENTAL Shake-a-Leg Miami 2620 S. Bayshore Drive Coconut Grove 305-858-5550 www.shakealegmiami.org You'd rather be sailing, but you don't own a boat, so you must either suck up to someone who does or rent. You can...