Biscayne Park Offers Scenic Sites for Picnickers

By NANCY OBEN
School of Communication
University of Miami

HOMESTEAD, Fla.--- Looking to explore something out of the ordinary? Biscayne National Park is a great day trip for South Florida locals and tourists alike. So pack your picnic basket and head down south to Homestead, Fla. for an enjoyable picnic lunch.

Less than a one hour drive from the heart of Miami, Biscayne National Park’s Convoy Point is perfect for a picnic by the water. The park offers many picnic tables and charcoal grills for visitors to use. The tables are first-come, first-serve meaning no reservations can be made for either. These tables are located around Convoy Point, with the heaviest concentration by the Dante Fascell Visitor Center.

“We’ve never been here before,” said Julie Grabette, a Boynton Beach, Fla. resident, who came to the park with her sister and her golden retriever. “We just decided to check it out”

Many who visit the park use the grills and have a cookout with family and friends. There are numerous grills scattered all around Convoy Point. You can use the grills for an early morning meal before you explore the grounds or a late lunch after a day of water activities. Keep in mind that Convoy Point closes at 5:30 p.m.

Overlooking this water, this is just one of the many picnic tables available at Convoy Point. Next, this wildflower is just a sampling of what you can see on the one-quarter mile nature trail (Photos by Nancy Oben).

Another thing to consider is that you do have to be careful with party decorations. Since Biscayne National Park is federally protected wildlife and historical preserve, balloons, streamers and hammocks are not allowed, to protect the natural landscape. The party can have music but it just cannot disturb the other guests’ experience at the park. Also if you’re going to have a large gathering, more than 20 people, then you will have to obtain a permit.

A great way to work off a lunch feast is to explore the grounds around the visitor center. Since the park is 95 percent water, there is shoreline everywhere in Convoy Point. If you want to explore the shore, take the small one-quarter mile walking trail that skirts the coast near the visitor center. The trail meanders around the harbor and has many informational signs to educate visitors about the park.

If you want to be more active on your day trip, the park has a variety of water activities, with fishing being one of the most popular.

“Not much is caught here, because it’s an estuary,” said Astrid Rybeck, a Biscayne National Park ranger. “Fish are too small [to be legally kept] but people fish anyway.

Fishing is permitted in many areas of Convoy Point, but it is not allowed everywhere. There is no fishing in the harbor and there is also no fishing by the picnic tables and the visitor center, due to the high concentration of visitors by these areas.

In order to fish you need to have a current Florida saltwater fishing license as well as follow all current Florida fishing regulations, including those on the size of the catch and the methods in which it was caught.

There is also a small, non-vehicle accessible, boat ramp near the main parking lot that is used mainly to drag small crafts into the water. The park offers two and four person paddle boats to rent as well as single and double canoes and kayaks.

The ramp is also used for many other small water craft like small sailboats and catamarans and even as a water entrance for windsurfers.

“I came here because I heard that this was a good place to windsurf,” said Caleb Brown, a Sarasota, Fla. resident. “As a first time visitor, I love this park; it’s great for a full day of windsurfing, and has ample spots to relax and have lunch.”

Windsurfing is an adventurous way to make the most out of your visit to Biscayne National Park. Below, nestled on the second floor of the visitor center, rocking chairs have a gorgeous view of the small harbor.


Before you leave the park after a long day of enjoying the outdoors, be sure to visit the visitor center. The center is great to take a break from the elements and is filled with some interesting history about the park. There is a variety of exhibits, including one about the wildlife in the park, as well as a theater, and a gallery.

After the last of your picnic is packed up and ready for transport, make one last trip to the visitor center. The National Park Service offers cancellation stamps at each of the national parks and, whether it’s your first stamp or your 300th , the stamp is a great souvenir to end a beautiful day trip.



If You Go:

Biscayne National Park, 9700 SW 328 Street, Homestead, Fla. 33033.

Visitor information: 305-230-727

Biscayne National Park can be accessed from both the Turnpike and U.S. 1.

From the Florida Turnpike: Take the Florida Turnpike south, to Exit 6 (Speedway Blvd.). Turn left from exit ramp and continue south to S.W. 328th Street (North Canal Drive). Turn left and continue to the end of the road. It is approximately five miles, and the entrance is on the left.

From U.S. 1: Drive south to Homestead. Turn left on SW 328th Street (North Canal Drive), and continue to the end of the road. It is approximately nine miles, and the entrance is on the left.

Website, http://www.nps.gov/bisc

Convoy Point opens its grounds at 7 a.m. and the gates close precisely at 5:30 p.m.

The Dante Fascell Visitor Center is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily

Canoes and Kayaks can be rented at the park: $16 for singles and $25 for doubles. Paddleboats are $30 for two passengers and $40 for four passengers. All fees are charged per hour and a half.

Parking is free and there are restrooms on the first floor of the visitor center, close to the picnic tables.

Visiting Biscayne National Park (by Nancy Oben) from Our National Parks on Vimeo.

Click on the video to view an audio slide show about picknicking at Biscayne National Park photographed and narrated by writer Nancy Oben.

Frost student Tori Tullier brings a “Little Bit of Home” to UM

Walking confidently in her wedges to stage right in the Gusman Concert Hall, senior Tori Tullier was ready to sit down at the piano and perform her song “Little Bit of Home” for the audience at the Bruce Hornsby Songwriting Competition, part of Festival Miami, on Oct. 27.

“When she started playing, I got tears in my eyes,” said senior Meghan Gunning, a fellow Frost School of Music student. “It was just really cool to see my best friend up there doing what she loves.”

Singing second to last out of the 12 performers, Tullier waited at the side of the theater with her fellow competitors to hear the results. The contest was judged by songwriters Bruce Hornby, Lamont Dozier and music industry executive Chris Palmer, and a portion of the final score was determined by an audience text message vote.

Fortunately for her, 10 was her lucky number that night. Tullier won first place in the songwriting competition, granting her the opportunity to open for the Dozier concert the following night.

“I honestly wasn’t even nervous because I didn’t think I had a shot at winning,” Tullier said. “Once they called my name it kind of took me a second to stand up and think ‘Oh I am supposed to go on stage now.’ However once I got up there, I just couldn’t stop smiling.”

Tullier was just one of more than 60 students that entered the annual competition run by Category 5 Music Publishing. Her composition entry, “Little Bit of Home,” was written this past summer, when she was an A&R intern for Warner Music Nashville in Tennessee.

“Her song was a mix between country and pop,” audience member Jessica Weiss said. “It sounded like something that should already be on the radio.”

“It’s about going home to Maryland,” Tullier said. “And kind of missing some of those summers that I had in high school when life was more carefree. It was important for me to touch on every aspect, such as the smell of salt in the Chesapeake Bay and also bushels of blue crabs; both of those images immediately bring me back to Annapolis.”

Here at UM, Tullier is honing her songwriting skills as a media writing and productions major in the Frost School of Music. This major involves a combination of songwriting as well as writing music for more commercial genres, like advertising and film scores.

Some of her influences include Carole King, James Taylor and Simon & Garfunkel. This past summer she also became enamored with country musicians Alison Krauss & Union Station.
According to her good friend and fellow contestant Ben Goldsmith, one of Tullier’s strongest songwriting qualities is her ability to write great hooks, both melodically and lyrically, that can easily get stuck in a listener’s head.

“Her lyrics are very visual,” Goldsmith said. “I often feel like I am seeing a music video in my head while Tori is playing. Her lyrics have an incredible amount of detail pertaining to the senses, so the listener truly feels like they actually experiencing what the song is about.”

Tullier has been busy this year composing songs for “Lanza” a musical in collaboration by the Frost Music School and veteran music producer Phil Ramone that chronicles Mario Lanza’s life. She has also been performing at showcases, including one earlier this semester at the Wesley Coffee House, an event on campus.

“There is nothing I love more than the feeling of writing a song that you know is the best one yet,” Tullier said. “Something that is important to remember about being a songwriter is that you are the communicator; you have to write and be the voice for the people who can’t…in my opinion there is no greater satisfaction.”

This article was written for the entertainment section of The Miami Hurricane, the University of Miami student newspaper. It was published on November 17, 2010.

Hurricane bookshelf: “College Cooking”

Midterms are in full swing this semester. You’ve had your third night of frozen pizza for dinner and you say to yourself, ‘I’m only doing this because they were on sale’, but you know the real reason- you have no idea what you’re doing in the kitchen.

The cookbook “College Cooking: Feed Yourself and Your Friends” was written to solve this sort of problem and to help clueless college students learn how to cook. Sisters Megan and Jill Carle wrote this cookbook, intending it to be user friendly with over 60 familiar recipes like tuna noodle casserole and chicken tetrazzini.

The Carle Sisters are not new to the cookbook scene, but this is their first foray into college cooking. They have two other cookbooks, “Teen Cooks” and “Teen Cooks Dessert.” The sisters wrote this cookbook while they were undergrads at the University of Arizona, Tucson and now they continue their studies in the University’s graduate program.

Since this is their third cookbook, they definitely have figured out how to create a user-friendly format. The recipes are simple, clear and include lots of pictures. Most recipes include at least a small picture inset into the page but there are also some full page photos.

The recipes are great staples to add to your culinary repertoire. The baked penne pasta with Italian sausage is a great recipe for anyone who is new to cooking. These dishes aren’t gourmet but they are tasty, the directions are easy to follow and the sidebar about making your own sausage is very informative. The chicken tetrazzini was not a quick meal but very delicious. There was also a sidebar about making the dish vegetarian which is perfect if you’re having a dinner party and inviting vegetarian friends.

The only problem with the recipes is that there are no estimates for how long it will take to complete a dish. The main problem with college cooking is that students are always in a time crunch. They need to know if the dish will take 10 minutes to prepare or 110. For example, since there is no time estimate for the chicken tetrazzini it ended up taking a lot longer than originally planned and was finished in around an hour, which is an eternity for a busy college student.

The book also has menus for some popular college parties like Cinco de Mayo and a toga party. The menus are great ideas but that is it — ideas. No one in college has themed dinner parties; if students have any type of dinner party at all it will probably be pasta or some sort of potluck, not an extravagant Mexican fiesta complete with tres leches cake.

Aside from the menus, the book is organized in categories, like avoiding the freshman 15, cheap eats and impressing your date. Normally one uses a cookbook recipe for a special occasion or a special dinner. The impress-your-date section, with recipes like crab cakes with roasted red pepper sauce and shrimp in coconut milk, is a great alternative to a fancy dinner on South Beach. The recipes sound fancy but they are actually a lot easier than they sound. Both your date and you will be impressed with what you accomplished.

After you’ve milled over the recipes and their fun themed sections go back to the introduction you might have skipped. The kitchen basics section is more helpful than you think. The Carle sisters go over basic kitchen techniques and pantry staples. They also talk about price, like buying the store brand cooking spray because it works just as well as the name brands. The price aspect is great for anyone, not just college students. The fact that dried herbs are cheaper than fresh and just as flavorful maybe common sense to some but to a college student that has never cooked before that realization will save them a ton of money in the long run.

The sisters also talk about kitchen techniques including breaking asparagus instead of cutting and other techniques that your mom does but never thought to tell you, so it’s no wonder your pasta sauce doesn’t taste the same.

This book is definitely worth the money if you’re living off-campus. It’s pretty inexpensive and is packed full of useful information for a student living on their own for the first time. If you’re still in the dorms this is not the best book for you, most recipes require a real kitchen, not just a microwave and mini-fridge. Besides, we all know the only reason most people go into the Mahoney/Pearson kitchens is to make chocolate chip cookies anyway.

So grab your spatula and the casserole dish that still has the price sticker on it, put down the party pizza and start cooking. Your taste buds and your waistline will thank you.

This article was written for the entertainment section of The Miami Hurricane, the University of Miami student newspaper. It was published on November 10, 2010.

Uncle Kracker cranks beats Thursday

Heading for yet another Thursday night at ‘Cudas and Tavern? Then try something a little out of the ordinary this week. Uncle Kracker is coming to South Florida this Thursday for an intimate concert at Round Up Country Western Nightclub, which will be sure to “make you smile.”

Uncle Kracker is touring to promote his new album “Happy Hour- The South River Road Sessions.” This CD is a six-song follow-up to his 2009 CD “Happy Hour.”

On this album Uncle Kracker reinterprets some of the songs on “Happy Hour,” including the country version of “Smile,” a top-five country hit, and his new single “Good to be Me,” featuring his good friend Kid Rock.

“I would describe Uncle Kracker’s music as pop-rock, [more] than anything else,” junior Asha Agrawal said. “I like that it is laid back, but still upbeat.”

“Happy Hour” and his new follow-up album both feature country-influenced pop-rock ballads and showcase his talents as a songwriter. These are perfect songs to sway to with a drink in your hand when he performs on the Round Up stage, a private setting that holds a maximum of 1,000 people.

“I have never been to a concert at Round Up before,” junior Genevieve Stack said. “But I think that Uncle Kracker would be a great first act to see.”

If you haven’t heard of Uncle Kracker’s new material, he has definitely changed from his eight-year stint as Kid Rock’s DJ in his Twisted Brown Trucker Band. “Happy Hour” is his second solo album and the first he has put out in five years. The songwriter waited to find just the right sound for his sophomore album.

Round Up night club likes to bring up-and-coming artists to their stage and most of their shows are from September to March or April.

Paul Gumus, a manager at the club, said that it is all about timing and hopes that Uncle Kracker will bring in some new patrons to the country-western entertainment venue.

“So far we’ve had a good response,” Gumus said. “And we will have a good show on Thursday.”

If you Go:

WHAT: Uncle Kracker, performing at Round Up Country Western Nightclub

WHEN: Nov. 11. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the concert begins at 9 p.m.

WHERE: 9020 W. State Road 84, Davie (SW Corner of Pine Island Road and Interstate 595)

COST: Tickets are $20 in advance (Roundupcountry.com) and $25 at the door

This article was written for the entertainment section of The Miami Hurricane, the University of Miami student newspaper. It was published on November 7, 2010.