A Local's Weekend in Coconut Grove: The Bayfront, the Village and the Parks

Photo: Anthony Quintano from Mount Laurel, United States, CC BY 2.0

The best way to understand a neighborhood is to spend a weekend in it the way the people who live there do. In Coconut Grove that means the bay in the morning, the village on foot in the afternoon, and the old trees overhead the whole time. When a client tells us they are considering the Grove, this is the weekend we suggest before they look at a single house.

Saturday morning: the bayfront

Start early on South Bayshore Drive, when the bay is calm and the light is soft. The stretch from David T. Kennedy Park to Peacock Park is the Grove's front porch: open lawns, shade trees, a fitness trail and a path along the water. It is busy with runners, walkers and cyclists from first light, and the views reach across Biscayne Bay toward Key Biscayne.

Keep walking toward Dinner Key. The marina is full of sailboats and cruisers, and the Art Deco building beside it, now Miami City Hall, was once the terminal for Pan Am's seaplanes. Sailing has been part of Grove life for more than a century, and on most weekends you will see small boats and regattas out on the bay.

Late morning: the farmers market and the village

From the bay, head up into the village center. The Grove has a long-running Saturday farmers market, a good place for coffee, fruit and a slow start. From there, the heart of the Grove is a few walkable blocks around Main Highway, Grand Avenue and Commodore Plaza, with CocoWalk at the center.

This is what makes the Grove different from most of Miami: you can park once and spend the day on foot. Restaurants, cafes, shops, a cinema, galleries and bars are all within a short walk, and many of the side streets are shaded by large trees. On a weekend afternoon, the village is lively without feeling rushed.

If you are seriously considering the Grove, do part of this day without a car. Walk from the bay to the village, then into the residential streets a few blocks away. How far you are happy to walk on a warm afternoon tells you a lot about which part of the Grove will suit you.

Afternoon: history and gardens

The Grove is the oldest settled part of Miami, and its history is easy to visit.

• The Barnacle Historic State Park. Built in 1891 by Ralph Munroe, one of the Grove's early settlers and a yacht designer, the house is the oldest home in Miami-Dade County still standing on its original site. The grounds include a stretch of native hardwood hammock that runs down to the bay.
• Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. At the Grove's northern edge, James Deering's early twentieth-century bayfront estate has formal gardens, fountains and rooms that are worth an afternoon on their own.
• The Kampong. The former home of the botanist David Fairchild, now part of the National Tropical Botanical Garden, holds tropical plants collected from around the world. Visits are by schedule, so check before you go.

Saturday evening: dinner in the village

Evenings in the Grove are a large part of the appeal. Book dinner in the village center or along the waterfront near Dinner Key, where several restaurants sit right on the marina. Afterward, a walk under the trees on Main Highway is part of the routine. The Grove is more casual than Brickell and livelier than Coral Gables after dark, and on weekends it can be busy, so plan parking or use a rideshare.

Sunday: on the water or under the trees

Sunday is for the bay or the streets. A few ideas:

• Get on the water. Rent a kayak or paddleboard, join a sailing lesson, or take a boat out from Dinner Key.
• Ride the bay paths. Bike lanes and paths along South Bayshore Drive and Main Highway connect the parks, the village and the leafy streets of the South Grove.
• Drive the South Grove. A deep tree canopy, winding roads and homes tucked behind tropical landscaping give you a sense of how varied Grove housing is.
• Time it with a festival. The Coconut Grove Arts Festival fills the bayfront every February, and the village hosts smaller events through the year.

What the weekend tells you about living here

By Sunday night, most people know whether the Grove fits them. The weekend shows you the things that shape daily life:

• Walkability. Few Miami neighborhoods let you walk to dinner, the bay and the grocery store from home.
• The canopy. The Grove protects its trees, which keeps the streets shaded but also limits how much of a lot can be built on.
• Housing variety. Bayshore condominiums with water views, townhomes near the village, older cottages and large estates in the South Grove.
• Access. US-1 and the Metrorail station connect the Grove to Brickell, downtown and Coral Gables in a short ride.
• Activity. The village is lively on weekends. If you want calm evenings, the residential streets a few blocks away are very different from the blocks around CocoWalk.

How we help in Coconut Grove

We know the Grove street by street, from the bayfront towers to the leafy lanes of the South Grove, and we can show you which parts fit the way you want to live. Read our Coconut Grove guide, see every home currently for sale in the Grove, and when you are ready, tell us what you are looking for.