I got to Miami late last night, and had a good part of the day free to go check out the city. My original thought was to head to the beach, but after the smallest amount of research, I found out that the good beaches are a pretty long taxi ride from the airport, so I decided to stay closer in to downtown. A search of "things to do in Miami" quickly turned up a short list that included an old mansion on the water called Vizcaya House. There was also a mention of extensive gardens with native plant and tree collections, as well as a small mangrove forest. This all sounded interesting to me, so I headed over, and I'm glad I did. The mansion itself is completely remarkable; built in the early 20th century and inspired by the Italian Renaissance. It was beautiful and extravagant, and set in the middle of insanely lush, tropical gardens divided into outdoor rooms and filled with sculptures and arches and stairways. Here are a few photos!