My husband, son and I will be visiting some friends for a week next month who will be staying in Miami during June. None of us is terribly familiar with the area. We will have three kids, all 11 years old, and 4 adults. We will be staying at the Residence Inn in Coconut Grove the first night in Miami, then planning to go to Key West (and other Keys) for 3-4 days, then back to Miami for 2 1/2 days before we leave.

I've looked at a few posts and raves and rants for ideas, but would still appreciate suggestions for places to go, eat, stay and check out - both in Miami and in the Keys.

We are not looking for anything posh, but want some comforts and charm in a hotel, good eats, atmosphere (but not too much atmosphere that takes explaining to the kids) and scenic views. We also love outdoors and nature spots and historic places.

Just want to add that we have taken our kids to Provincetown, Mass., New Orleans, New York, etc. before, so we are not concerned with the gay/lesbian atmosphere of Key West, but we would like to minimize time spent near or at places where there is major partying, debauchery, etc.

Desi,
I will throw my two cents in on Key West. We were very happy staying at the Island City House with our son. It has a great Key West feel, but is also welcoming to children (at least when we went)It is in the Old Town section, so you can walk Duval and get to the sunset festival. They had a ghosts of Key West tour that we went on and my son liked that. Have fun. Blue Heaven is great for eating, by the way.

a great place for families is Hawk's Cay Resort on Duck Key, which is halfway between Key Largo and Key West. check out their website at hawkscay.com
we really enjoyed our week there in February.

I'm a big fan of Key West. It has all the water sports available in other keys and lots of other tourist attractions and great restaurants, too. The Island City House is one of several places in Key West that are very child-friendly. Ambrosia gets good reviews for families, too.

In Coconut Grove, a good choice for dinner with kids is TuTuTango. It's tapas style but also has a kids menu. It's at Cocowalk, not far from your hotel. Check out the rickshaws for a fun ride for the kids. I would also suggest a stop in the Everglades (Anhingua Trail) and milk shakes at Robert is Here fruit stand. It's on the way to the Keys (adds about 2 1/2 hours to the trip).