The Redland Fish Fry & Seafood Festival returns for its fifth season to Preston B. Bird/Mary Heinlein Fruit & Spice Park, 24801 SW 187 Ave. in Homestead, on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 12 and 13, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Bring family and friends to enjoy delectable local seafood prepared in various styles from around the world, including shrimp, grouper, conch fritters, and crab cakes. There also will be live music and kid’s activities throughout the day.
Admission is $8 for adults and free for children ages 11 and under. For more information, call 305-247-5727.
While you’re there, take in the views of Fruit & Spice Park — the only tropical botanical garden of its kind in the United States. The park, operated by Miami-Dade Parks, grows more than 500 varieties of sub-tropical fruits, herbs, spices, vegetables and nuts from around the world on 39 lush acres in the agricultural Redland. The site includes a walkable garden pond with Japanese koi fish, water lilies and a fountain. Daily botanical tours, fruit tastings and naturalist led workshops are also available.
The park’s gift shop and welcome center, a reconstruction of the 1906 Redland School House, offers visitors a glimpse of southern Miami-Dade’s pioneer days. Here, they can browse historic photos and buy a variety of unique gift items, such as exotic jellies, canned preserves, aromatic teas, unusual seeds, cold fruit juices, and books ranging from cookery to plant propagation.
Visitors also can enjoy a jaunt back in time as they dine at the park’s popular Mango Café, which replicates the Redland’s oldest house, Bauer-Mitchell-Neill House (circa 1902). Open seven-days-a-week, from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., the Café offers a variety of lunch and late afternoon snack options for purchase, such as tasty sandwiches⁄wraps and exotic fruit salads, smoothies/shakes and deserts.
