We are traveling to West Palm and Miami with our two boys ages 9 and 13. Staying at Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne and The Breakers in PB. We will be going to a Marlins game also. Any other must see attractions and outdoor restaurants on the water in these places. Is South Beach appropriate to take children (in the day)? Restaurant suggestion in South Beach. Anything good on Key Biscayne?

At the farthest tip of Key Biscayne is a state park and in there, there is a restaurant in No Name Harbor that is a nice waterfront place with fresh seafood. Crandon Park on KB is very nice and they have a Marjory Stoneman Douglas Nature Center that has wading tours through the mangroves and other cool nature related activities for all ages. I don't like the beach along the causeway on the way in to KB, however, but they do have water sports rentals. I don't particularly like the Rusty Pelican restaurant, but it has a view that can't be beat and a big brunch buffet. Key people swear by Sir Pizza in a strip mall near the Ritz.

South Beach is fine for children; I would say even in the evening Lincoln Road is fine for dinner and people watching.

We just came back from FL and the Caribbean and flew in/out of West Palm. We visited City Mall, which is a big outdoor mall with lots of restaurants and shopping in West Palm. It is off i-95. We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, which our teenagers really loved. There were horse carriage rides at night. In years past, we have taken our kids to the aquarium, which should be really near Key Biscayne and the Miami Zoo, which is almost in the Keys. In Ft. Lauderdale, Las Olas area is full of neat restaurants & boutiques and there are boat rides. The cheapest boat experience there is the water taxi, which is fun as well. Hope that helps.

Palm Beach:

Go to Singer Island and eat outside at Sailfish Marina.

Walk the Lake Worth Trail on Palm Beach.

Take a water taxi ride around Lake Worth.

Tour and snorkel Peanut Island in Lake Worth.

Visit the Rybovich Spenser mega luxury yacht builder for tours on Thursday.

Just a geographical overview:

West Palm Beach is the Florida mainland city.

Palm Beach and Singer Island are the barrier islands that are surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Lake Worth on the othr.

Lake Worth is the body of water between the mainland of Florida and the barrier islands.

I wrote some stuff on Biscayne Bay and Key Biscayne on your Miami post.

Take a trip to the Everglades. There are two entrances to the national park. The one in Florida City has a boardwalk. The Shark Valley entrance is a 15 mile loop road. You can take a tram or rent bikes and ride it. The bike ride takes 2 to 3 hours to complete. Both places are filled with alligators, birds and other critters. Monty's is an outdoor restaurant on the way to Coconut Grove (near the Key). You could eat there, then park in the center of the Grove, walk around, get ice cream, take a rickshaw ride, etc. Check out the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas website http://www.biscaynenaturecenter.org/programs/ and see if there is a sea grass safari while you are there. You'll scoop up critters from the sea grass and a naturalist will identify them for you. Very cool.

You may also want to check out the Venetian Pool in Coral Gables. It is a former rock quarry and has waterfalls and "caves" to explore. There's also a little sandy beach area. This would be a 20-30 min drive from Key Biscayne.

Since I'm in the early stages of planning a trip to the Keys and Palm Beach and have an interest in seeing wildlife, possibly a mangrove swamp tour (we have no kids with us), would that trip mentioned earlier (at the Douglas Nature Center), be good for us, or are there other tours thru the swamps, which might be better? I love photographing nature.

Lion Country Safari - it is inland from WPB. You stay in your car and ride thru various habitats/continents and animals run free - if you are lucky they approach your vehicle. Small zoo area at end.

Issue with South Beach is that boys might find it boring.

Teadrinker - I think the seagrass adventure is marvelous. I have seen pipefish give birth, played with seahorses and watched starfish. However, most adults would probably not attend without a child. Also it would be tough, in terms of photography, since you are up to your knees or thighs in water. There are nature trails by the nature center that could provide good photo shots. Better, however, would be Shark Valley or the Anhinga Trail in Everglades National Park. Not sure what you mean by mangrove swamps...
gapper - I am not a fan of Lion Country Safari. I think it is geared more to the 3-7 set, especially if you let them sit on your lap and "drive" the car.

we went to everglades safari park when we did the same trip last year(we drove from west palm, to Miami). We chartered our own air boat for a private tour. It was fabulous. Afterwards there is a somewhat cheesey aligator show. The airboating in the everglades was really wonderful, saw tons of birds, and alligators came within 1 foot of the boat.

Try Joes Stone Crab in Miami. Be prepared to wait but the food is great. I have read they renovated parrot jungle in Miami. The King Tut exhibit is also on in Ft. Lauderdale right now, you should check and see if it is still there when you go.

Thank you for your insights! We are definitely staying in Miami... we were going to go to the Keys or Key West, but now we might just go visit someone in Naples, then go to Orlando. The Keys seemed difficult to get a grip on.. I'm still interested in the Everglades, but need to find out where it is in regards to Naples & Miami to see if it is possible to fit an airboat ride in, sounds like a wonderful thing to do... Anhinga Trail too!

If you are heading to Naples, then you should use the Shark Valley entrance of Everglades National Park. Take Tamiami Trail out of town (not Alligator Alley). You'll quickly see signs for airboat tours (like ellene's everglade safari). Shark Valley is in the national park and you can either tram or bike the entire route. You can also walk up the road as far as you like and then turn back. Just be sure to detour around the alligators! Since you enjoy photography, you should also stop at Clyde Butcher's gallery. He's called the Ansel Adams of the Everglades and does really large b&w photos.

News Cafe is a great lunch place in South Beach.

TABOO is a wonderful restaurant on Worth Ave in Palm Beach. Worth Ave is the "Rodeo Dr" of Florida, and great for walking around.

Also, closer to Miami is Bal Harbour, a very swanky shopping/eating district.

Although I haven't been, I've heard that Smith & Wollensky (steak house) in Miami is wonderful, and juts out over the ocean.

City Place in West Palm Beach is great for walking around/ eating & shopping as well.

Definitely hit SailFish Marina as the other posting mentioned. Great spot.

Also, a hidden gem in Palm Beach, right near the Breakers, is "Too Jays". Perfect for breakfast for teen boys.

Good spots for kids--Lion Country Safari outside of WPB, Butterfly World, outside of Ft.Lauderdale, Parrot World-Miami. Vizcaya in Coral Gables is spectacular, as is Fairchild Gardens.

When in South Beach, you must get a reservation to dine in SPIGA, absolutely delicious Italian.

South Beach during the day with kids? Off the beach, normal trendy dress. On the beach, topless is here and there (we found it to be about 20% topless over xmas 2005 there).