The Deering Estate is a 450-acre historic preserve just south of Miami that should not be missed. A diverse ecosystem including coastal mangroves, exotic plants, rare butterflies, turtles, and snakes. Oh, and it also houses a converted hotel from 1896, and a stone mansion built in 1922 to house industrialist Charles Deering, his family, and his collection of fine art and furnishings. Hey look! Education below!

Charles Deering

Charles Deering was born into a wealthy family. He joined the U.S. Navy after graduating from the United States Naval Academy. Between the navy and his family business, Deering spent a lot of time in Europe and Asia. This is where he found his love of Spanish Arts. After his stint in the Navy, he went to work for his father’s company. His father was William Deering, founder of the Deering Harvester company, which later turned into International Harvester. His brother was James Deering who built his own mansion just north of the Deering Estate in Coconut Grove, Villa Vizcaya Estate, which is now also a museum.

The Richmond House

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Charles Deering was visiting south Florida and saw the potential for growth. At the time there wasn’t much development in the area. He bought the Richmond Cottage in 1916 as a winter house for himself and his wife. The Richmond Cottage was originally built as a residence for S. Howard Richmond, and in 1900 was converted into the only hotel between Coral Gables and Key West.

The Deering Estate was soon built out with a carriage house, pump house, and power house, along with a concrete and limestone wall surrounding the property. The Great Chicago Fire spooked Charles so much that he specified 18″ concrete walls for his new residence.

As long as you’re in the area check out where all the cool kids put their kayaks in on Biscayne Bay.

The Stone House

The Stone House was designed by well known Coral Gables architect Phineas Paist. The Mediterranean -Revival style home was built with the aforementioned 18″ concrete walls, oolitic limestone, brass encased doors, and no stove to alleviate Charles Deering’s fear of fire. All cooking was done in the Richmond Cottage. The Stone House kitchen only had refrigeration and storage cabinets.

What The Deering Estate Stone House lacked in cooking facilities, it made up for in modern conveniences. Included in the house was an Otis Elevator and in true “rich guy in the prohibition era” fashion, a hidden wine cellar. The wine cellar was behind a false wall and a bank vault door. The room was big enough to hold hundreds of bottles of wine and other liquors. The vault door was so formidable that in 1945 a hurricane flooded the room and apparently blew away the key to the door, because it was not opened again until 1985, by a safecracker no less. Unfortunately, by that time all the liquor was ruined, but they kept the bottles and now display them.

In 1992 Hurricane Andrew came ashore and deposited 16 feet of storm surge after pummeling the house with 170 MPH winds. After seven years and $7.2 million the Stone house and the Richmond house were renovated into what you see today.

The house was built to accommodate Charles’ extensive art (and evidently liquor) collection as he was an avid collector. He moved all the artwork that he accumulated in his travels and had staged in his residences in Spain to the Stone House. Deering always intended for the house to showcase his books and art collection, but currently there are only a few pieces on display and most of the rooms are empty.

The Grounds at Deering Estate

Turns out that you can fit a lot of stuff in 450 acres. About 111 acres of it is a tropical hardwood hammock that you can tour on the Nature Preserves Tour. There are also so many birds flying through it’s part of the Important Birding Area (they missed the boat to add very to the name and make it the VIB-Area). Anyway, you can find out about the guided bird walks here.

There’s actually a fossil record that dates back to 10,000 B.C.. Bringing things a little bit closer in time, there is also a burial mound from the Tequesta Tribe. There are estimated to be about 12-18 burials there from around 1600 A.D.. You can visit the site but the only way to get there is to take the tour. Find out more information here.

At some point they decided that the boat basin wasn’t big enough for them and it was made bigger. Luckily for you, it worked out alright…

Bring a picnic lunch and a blanket or use one of the convenient tables. As you’re eating, you can gaze across the bay or maybe a manatee will pop out in the basin for you. Wait, is that Miami across the way? Why, yes, it is, you’ve forgotten you were even near the city it’s been so quiet since you got there.

Keep track of all your vacation memories with one of our tropical writing journals. Perfect for capturing all your thoughts about the places that you’ve been. Each interior page has a lightly superimposed image of the cover.

Perfect for planning your travels. Buy one today, just click here! Or check out our Planners and Journals page for more options.

The Fun Stuff at Deering Estate

While taking a tour of the house and grounds is interesting, Deering Estate also offers cruises, kayak tours, camps, and concerts. To match up your free dates with their schedule of events, mouse over here and press the button.

They have summer camps that cover a variety of educational aspect of nature, so rip that phone from your kid’s hand and kick them out into nature.

Photography buffs will want to look into their moonrise and sunrise photography events. Just a word of advice…DO NOT FORGET THE MOSQUITO SPRAY. If you do, just leave your contact information with the attendant because you’re not coming back.

Kayak tours are great on Biscayne Bay, keep your eyes peeled for manatees, sea turtles, and sting rays. Plus they offer both regular kayaks and clear kayaks.

If you want to go all in on your wedding, they also rent out the grounds for weddings and other events.

They have a lot of activities covered so be sure to check out their schedule.

Hours and Admission to Deering Estate

Deering Estate is open everyday except for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hours are 10 AM to 5 PM. Just a warning, don’t think that you’re going to roll up at 4 PM and get in, the entrance gate closes at 4.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, veterans and active duty, and 7 for children aged 4-14. Better yet, become a foundation member and get in for free!

On your way to Key West? Well, we’ve got the ultimate guide for you right here.

The post Deering Estate: A Unique Florida Historical Site appeared first on Get Out and Adventure.

Chapman Field Park is located at 13601 Deering Bay Dr, Coral Gables, FL 33158, it’s about 30 miles south of Miami, Florida. Checking in at almost 500 acres, Chapman Field Park features a baseball/softball field, a huge, split, dog park, a kayak launch, and a couple of small hiking trails. There are rumors and signs warning about crocodiles, so keep a look out if you go. A great feature to the park is that the admission is free.

Chapman Field Park: Pest Friendly

Before you go, you need to understand that the first rule of Chapman Field Park is: you do not forget the bug spray. The second rule of Chapman Field Park is: you do not forget the bug spray. The park is mostly a mangrove forest, and it borders on Biscayne Bay, with two lakes, and saltwater estuaries to boot. So yes, there is a fair share of mosquitoes and no-see-ums.

Dog Friendly

There is only one road into and out of the park. Driving to the end will put you at the two dog parks. One for big dogs and one for small dogs. Both are fenced and have a collection of trees in them with plenty of room for Rusty to roam. There are big banyan trees with park benches under them to relax on as Rusty and the other dogs plot their escape. It’s a really nice place to take the dogs, just don’t forget to take water with you. For some inexplicable reason, when they remodeled the park in 2021, they didn’t put water in the dog parks.

Hiking Friendly

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There is an asphalt hiking trail that’s about a mile long, from the baseball fields to the dog parks and ends at a gated fence. Presumably to keep the crocodiles out. Actually, if you go through the gate, you can access two short hiking trails to the bay. It’s best to walk them at low tide, as high tide partly covers them. Also wear some type of water shoe because you’re going to get wet and or mucky.

Enter the gate and the “road” will lead you to the first trail that goes to the bay. It twists around to the left and dead ends after a short hike through mangroves and palm trees. There’s a newer looking bridge that’s been twisted and deposited on the other side of a pool of water, most likely by one of the recent storms. At some point it must’ve connected the two trails together.

Staying on the road past the first trail entrance, almost to the end, is where the second trail starts. This one is only about 500 feet and pretty much just ends in a mixture of water and trees. A word of caution though, some of the muck can be thigh deep. Unless you’ve been wanting to see if the movies are right about getting caught in quicksand, it’s best to stay on the trail.

Find out about other places to kayak in South Florida. Just click here.

Kayak Friendly

Even though Florida is literally surrounded by water, it’s still hard to find a place to launch a kayak south of Miami. Outside of traipsing through someone’s yard to get to Biscayne Bay, there are only a handful of spots to launch. Fortunately, Chapman Field Park has a great kayak launch and fantastic kayaking trails.

About halfway between the park entrance and the dog parks is the kayak launch. There is a parking lot with plenty of parking for cars and vehicles with trailers.

The kayak launch is a dock and has a slot with rollers for kayaks to sit in and launch. From the launch, if you turn right, you’ll do a short paddle through the mangroves to a small tranquil lake. The clear lake is ringed by trees and the occasional condo building.

Going straight off of the launch will take you through a tree lined canal and under an arched bridge made of fossilized coral blocks. After the bridge, there’s a mangrove tunnel that leads to another lake. This one is bigger and has an island in the middle of it. Paddling along the shore you will see plenty of birds and the occasional jumping fish.

Kayaking to the back of the lake leads you to another mangrove tunnel. This one is a little more technical because you’ll most likely be dodging branches and downed trees. There are a few offshoot tunnels, but they dead end so you can’t really get lost. During high tide the water is really clear, and you can spot barracuda and other fish closer to the bay.

After about a 30-minute paddle from the kayak launch, you’ll come to the end of the mangrove tunnel and you’ll find yourself in Biscayne Bay. Once you’re out in the bay, there’s a chance to see manatees, stingrays, and other tropical fish. The great thing about this kayak trail is that if it’s windy, you can stay in the protected tunnels and lakes and not be affected by the wind.

Heading to the Keys next? Read about John Pennekamp State Park here.

Chapman Field Park: Softball Friendly

During the renovations the baseball/softball field was completely redone (there were elevated levels of arsenic, the land was remediated) and is now open. Slow pitch softball leagues are starting again. For information click here.

Chapman Field Park is conveniently located just 40 minutes south of Miami if you’re looking for someplace to take the dogs, or kayak, or take the dogs kayaking.

Looking for a park that you can camp at? Read about Bahia Honda State Park, just click here.

The post Chapman Field Park: Kayaking, Dogs, and Softball, in Miami appeared first on Get Out and Adventure.