In the land of unlimited possibilities, not everybody is able to make their life a success. The poorer citizens of Miami are largely concentrated in the downtown area. These neighbourhoods look depressive. The beggars and the homeless walk the streets and try to get some handouts of money and food at the traffic lights. This isn’t the image that most people have of the world’s superpower. Some of these neighbourhoods, however, are able to transform themselves miraculously into a place for creative hipsters. Wynwood is such area of the city. Ten years ago, the neighbourhood looked like a rundown industrial area, but due to the high quality and creative graffiti that fills the walls nowadays, Wynwood is the place where young and creative people want to be associated with.

One of the typical American activities that we wanted to do during this visit to Miami, is attending a Major League Baseball game. Miami is the hometown of the Miami Marlins and we are here on the right time to see the game against the Washington Nationals. It’s bloody hot in Miami (35 degrees Celsius and a humidity of nearly 100%) but that doesn’t bother the players and their fans. The stadium is covered with a retractable roof and a highly effective air-conditioning system transforms the place in a huge fridge. Attending the baseball game is great experience. It’s truly a family event where families with young children watch the game and eat tons of fast food and snacks. There is no aggression or hooliganism, but just a very festive atmosphere. People watch the game alongside with fans of the rival team and that doesn’t give any problems. People are supporter of one team, but in the end they are all American. The game starts with the American national anthem. Everybody stands up and many sing along. After the seventh inning, American flags are shown on the huge television screens again. The entire audience stands up to honour and support the military people oversees. They sing: “God Bless America” out loud. Patriotism is something to be proud of in the USA and baseball is clearly a sport that unites the Americans.

After several days in and around Miami city, we move to Homestead; a smaller city at the edge of the southern part of the Everglades National Park. The Everglades is the most important wetland of the United States and is famous because of its large amount of Alligators. The National park is organised in a typical American way. That means that you can explore the park easily with your car. By car you can drive to several short and easy boardwalks, on which you only have to walk a maximum of a kilometre to arrive at a beautiful viewpoint or an interesting natural phenomenon. National parks in the United States are developed in such a way that everybody can enjoy them, whether you are fit or you have walking problems. For the adventurous nature lovers, there are also off the beaten track hiking trails and canoeing waterways. You can camp inside the national park on designated camping places and it looks as if it is all well organised. Unfortunately, during this visit, we lack the time to use all these options. When we go back to the USA for a longer period, we certainly want to test out the extensive infrastructure within the national parks of this country. When looking at the map of the USA it seems amazing how much wilderness there is still left in such a developed country. For now, however, we are glad that it is possible to get a good first impression of the Everglades by just a day of driving and making short walks. The drive from Homestead to the national park office in Flamingo is beautiful. Sandhill Cranes cross the street and white ibises, roseate spoonbills and wood storks are easily seen. The Everglades are probably not as spectacular as the national parks in the western part of the USA, but creeks full of grinning alligators will turn a smile on every nature lover’s face.