I am very familiar with Vizcaya from some years back being a "semi-native" of South Florida. It is essentially a large historic (1920's, which is old for Miami) house in an incredibly beautiful setting, in many ways like a smaller version of Hearst Castle out in California, with wonderful views of Biscayne Bay. I know little of their programs as the only ones I participated in were guided tours. The focus of the tours was not only the house and its owners, but the theories from the Italian Renaissance that the owners used in creating the house. Viscaya is designed to represent an Italian villa that has been occupied by the same family for generations. They also did garden tours and garden-related programming. Vizcaya is also a premier spot for weddings, outdoor events, and quinceanero photo shoots. While I lived there it was one of my favorite places to go, even better than Fairchild Gardens. At the time, their biggest maintenance headache was the tiled pool/fountain. Miami, however, is a very large city with all the very large city problems, except snow. These include traffic, crime, crowds and high cost of living. It is an excellent idea to be able to speak Spanish, German (tourists) and/or French (Haitian and Canadian visitors & residents). It is also, however, a wonderful place for folks who like the ocean, boats, exotic cultures and foods, the Caribbean, and bright colors. I loved Miami but lived on a cruising sailboat so I could get away from the crowds. I know of the Ringling Museum in Sarasota but have not seen it. Jane E. Deisler-Seno Corpus Christi Museum of Science & History 1900 North CHaparral Corpus Christi, TX 78401 361-883-2862 Scanned for viruses by McAfee WebShield ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).