Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park

Wherever we go on vacation, Chris and I love to visit state and national parks. Actually, a lot of vacations are planned so we can visit parks. Florida was no different. The main goal was to visit the Everglades — one of my life time goals!

But we also squeezed in visits to many other parks, such as Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne, Fla. (I don't know why, but whenever I hear "Bill Baggs" I think "Bilbo Baggins." You know, from "Lord of the Rings"  and "The Hobbit.")

Beach and historic lighthouse at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park./Photos by E.A. Seagraves & Christopher Brooke

Don't use photos without permission.

Anyway, we made a stop in Miami to visit Chris' cousin, Alesia, and her family. She suggested Bill Baggs would be a nice place to spend the day. And it was.

It's basically a beach and has bike rentals, boating and trails. We spent most of the time playing in the water and sand with Kelly and Edward, Alesia's two kiddies.

Pelicans we saw on our bike ride.

I'm assuming since there's a toll to cross the bridge from the main land to Key Biscayne, many people don't venture to the park. As a result, the beach wasn't too crowded.

We ate a late lunch at the Lighthouse Cafe. It was a pretty nice meal (Cuban fare) and I really liked being able to sit outside in sight of the water.

After Alesia took off with the kids to put them down for a nap, Chris and I rented bikes and rode around the park. It was hard to tell exactly where the bike path went, but we rode around nonetheless, using the parking lots, roads and what paths we found.

We also walked along some trails. One took us along areas that featured red mangroves and other plants. Pretty cool.

Red mangroves out in the water.

Pretty flower along the trail. Don't know what it is though.