Fountainebleau, FL Outdoor Activities

As you stroll across Fruit & Spice Park's grassy fields, an occasional piece of fruit falls from a neighboring tree. But it's not an apple or a berry you can easily find in a local supermarket—rather, it may be a specimen native to the Caribbean or South America, its shape foreign to your teeth, which want so badly to bite into its juicy flesh but aren't sure how. At Fruit & Spice Park, seasoned gardeners grow abundant specimens from tropical areas around the world, including 70 kinds of bamboo, 15 types of jackfruit trees, and edibles such as Fiji longan and jaboticaba across 39 acres.

Visitors meander freely through banana groves and African baobab trees, and they can also follow a guide during tours to learn more about plant species and which fruit seeds bear an uncanny likeness to Abraham Lincoln's silhouette. Throughout strolls, guests may help themselves to any of Mother Nature's home cooking that has naturally fallen to the ground, including mangoes, dragon fruit, and papayas, or venture to the tasting table at the entryway to sample the season's bounty.

Park staffers also gather visitors for a range of events such as stargazing, outdoor festivals, and plant-use tutorials, where they divulge helpful information such as which plants are medicinal and how to play dead during tree attacks. During regular park hours, chefs at the Mango Café pile plates with casual fare, often using the park's own fruit and vegetables, and the gift shop lets guests bring home harvest jams and aromatic teas.

Miami Golf pairs a technologically refined training center and a vast selection of golf gear to help golfers hone their game year-round. Rather than attempting to craft their own wedges by taping doorstops to the end of fishing poles, golfers can visit the retail section, which sells clubs, clothing, and equipment from top brands such as Adidas, Ben Hogan, Momentus Golf, and TaylorMade. Miami Golf's practice studio offers game-grooming lessons and services that enlist swing-tracking technology, video swing analysis, and launch monitors, which use Doppler technology to record variables such as spin, ball speed, and the likelihood of indoor thunderstorms. Students can further enhance their swings with custom club-fitting services, which measure swing profile and body dimensions to pair players with their optimal set of clubs. Club technicians also provide repairs and adjustments for broken shafts or players who need an experimental grip to start putting with their feet.

Back in 1955, Bayside Marketplace was abuzz with fishermen selling the day’s catch to people eager to bring home a fresh dinner to their families. Today, the waterside marketplace still bustles with shoppers, but now both tourists and locals bob in and out of retail shops and restaurants, and stop mid-step to catch street performers in action. It’s in this lively epicenter—which reminds many of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf—that Boat Rental Miami calls home. Here, rental offices try to bring a bit of the past into the future through fishing trips and leisurely bouts at sea.

New and veteran boaters alike can visit the market’s Pier 5 and board a wide range of vessels to experience the Atlantic Ocean or Biscayne Bay. Boat Rental Miami outfits boaters with sports boards with extended swim platforms, kraken deterrent, and wakeboard storage for fishing vessels with extra-quiet four-stroke motors. Frequent boaters can sign up for one of the club’s membership programs and receive regular discounts on rentals, while novices can try their hand at steering during Saturday boating classes.

South Beach Charters LLC’s pair of 32' Silverton Flybridge Cruisers carry a certain swagger as they glide across the waters of South Florida. That’s because the privately chartered boats are often loaded down with partying payloads immersed in VIP style. Nicknamed the “Disco Boat” and “Discotheque”, the vessels were completely customized in 2012 with 10-speaker marine sound systems and spinning disco balls to go along with ample seating for up to 12 passengers. A friendly crew, which includes a captain and for an additional fee bartenders and a private DJ, keeps the party buoyant, looking out for party-crashing icebergs. Ocean adventurers can also opt for add-ons such as snorkeling gear, standup paddleboards, kayaks, and inflatable island rafts to enjoy on their aquatic jaunt.

The Taste of Brickell Food and Wine Festival serves culinary samples from 40 local restaurants with a side of exotic cars and multicultural music. Chefs from such area eateries as LaBoca, Taverna Opa, Piola, and Baru Urbano distribute freshly prepared portions of signature menu items. Wine experts entice visitors to try new vintages by hosting tasting demos and dispensing samples. Beyond gourmet treats and libations, the festival hosts an exotic-car show, a free arts-and-crafts area, continuous free music, and a free kids’ park with activities that keep tykes occupied with hands-on entertainment rather than menacing their siblings or balancing their checkbooks. A portion of all event proceeds help fund the Boys and Girls Club of Miami-Dade.

After changing hands many times between 1882 and 1916, the property that would eventually be known as The Kampong—which means "village" in Malay—was snatched up by David Fairchild and his wife Marian, a daughter of Alexander Graham Bell. Fairchild was one of the most influential horticulturists in the United States, devoting his life to plant exploration and finding new strains of flora suitable for introduction to the states. Though he and his wife spent much of their time in Washington DC until 1928, The Kampong became an "introduction garden" for many of the plants he collected during his travels.

After constructing a house on the garden property in 1928, the Fairchilds made Miami their permanent home, and they were eventually were joined by Marian's sister and her husband on the adjoining property. Today, as part of the National Register of Historic Places, most of the adjoining property has been absorbed to be part of The Kampong, creating more than 11 acres of verdant gardens. Inside the leafy labyrinth, many of the experimental plants still thrive, including an 80-year-old baobab tree, more than 50 mango varieties, and a minotaur made entirely of leaves.