There’s flashy and there’s friendly

Whenever I find myself in a place such as Miami, with palm trees, white-sand beaches, sun-glinting water, blue sky and puffy clouds, I look for a certain kind of establishment that I have come to think of — in my own way — as a classique tropique. My quintessential classique tropique — CT for short — features the following: a table with a view of the aforementioned palm trees, white-sand beaches etc.; a simple menu of seasonal specialties; something cool to drink; and a convivial local crowd. That’s it. Give me these and I’m in paradise.

An old favorite

So, when I was in Miami recently, I immediately set out for a CT I’ve been visiting for the last decade: the News Café on Ocean Drive in South Beach. The first time I stumbled on the News Café, it was off-season, and I was among a tranquil handful of coffee-sippers reading the newspaper, listening to the palms rustle and watching the sun shower a scattering of beach-volleyball players, dog-walkers and sunbathers.

Stop the presses

On my last visit, the News Café presented a very different scene. The sun-showered palms and players were still there, but it was the height of spring break, and every table was full to overflowing with a mongrel mix of frazzled families, tattooed twentysomethings and sultry South American starlets in 6-inch heels and string bikinis. The view was highly illuminating, but it didn’t offer the CT ambience I sought.

Turn here

A friend recommended the Boater’s Grill, a glorified gray shack of a restaurant on Key Biscayne, a barrier island a short drive from Miami. If you’re a fellow CT devotee, you shouldn’t miss it. To get here, I drove to the end of the road in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, which dead-ended in a dusty parking lot near the peaceful — and aptly named — No Name Harbor. Next thing I knew, I was sitting on a raised wooden platform surrounded by about two dozen weathered faux-marble plastic tables, some covered with checked nautical red-and-white plastic tablecloths.

Local color

From my platform perch, I looked right onto the harbor, a placid blue-green rectangle of water with a teardrop tip, flanked on one side by mangroves and on the other by a variety of native South Florida lime-green and lemon-yellow trees and shrubs that were replanted after Hurricane Andrew stormed through in 1992. About 20 yachts, sparkling white like the clouds, turned idly at anchor.

‘One of the best places’

A grizzled, white-whiskered man dropped into the chair opposite me. “You writing about this place?” he asked, glancing at the journal in which I was scribbling. “Say that this is one of the best places on the planet — and I go everywhere, so I know,” he said, looking at the water. “I live on my boat, and this is my family.” He raised a glass of white wine to the half-dozen waiters at the counter.

There’s music too

“There’s live music at night,” my new friend continued, “pretty much all Cuban stuff — it’s really great.” A man cradling a to-go carton of seafood casserole walked by and nodded at my companion, stepped into his rowboat and stroked into the harbor.

Other island options

Key Biscayne is also a hangout for other connoisseurs of the outdoors. Peregrine falcons, loggerhead turtles and Florida manatees are among the exotic wildlife that often seek refuge around the island. At Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, you may see more than 30 species of butterflies and 170 species of birds, depending on the season. There are trails off the beaten path for nature lovers.

An outdoor health club

Joggers, cyclists and in-line skaters will find plenty of venues on Key Biscayne as well. In the state park, at the island’s southern tip, there are miles of paths for running or riding. The beach offers 1.2 miles of shoreline (no pets allowed). Learn to windsurf at — where else? — Windsurfer Beach, where the rental outfit there guarantees that you can learn in a couple of hours, https://www.sailboardsmiami.com . Single and double kayaks are also available for rent. For information on other outdoor activities and Baggs state park, see https://www.keybiscaynechamber.org . For more information on the area’s wildlife and sights, see https://www.key-biscayne.com .

See the light

Cape Florida Lighthouse rises on the southernmost tip of Key Biscayne overlooking the rest of the more than 500-acre park. Built in 1825, it is the oldest building in South Florida. It was the site of bloody encounters between settlers and Seminole Indians, and in 1836, it was attacked and damaged by fire. Free tours of the rebuilt landmark are offered at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays.

Dolphin sighting

Back at the Boater’s Grill, my friend left for his boat, and conversations floated from table to table — weather, weekend plans, conditions at sea. A plate of grilled langostinos (crawfish) were tender and sweet-salty-smoky, and I was marveling at it and at the beatific boats with names such as Sea-Clusion, L’Esprit, Bimini and Good2Go when a boy at the table next to mine suddenly shouted: “Look! A dolphin!”

A fellow CT fan

And yes, there in the inner harbor a dolphin surfaced magically, swimming a sleek circle, slicing periodically through the wind-rippled waves — a pelagic travel writer, I think, scoping out the next great CT.

Where to eat

The Boater’s Grill, of course: 1200 S. Grandon Blvd., Key Biscayne; (305) 361-0080; lunch entrees $10-$14, dinner entrees $18-$22. News Café, 800 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach; (305) 538-6397; https://www.newscafe.com ; lunches about $10, dinners about $20. And if you’re in town during stone-crab season, make a pilgrimage to Joe’s Stone Crab, deservedly famous since 1913: 11 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; (305) 673-0365, https://www.joesstonecrab.com ; entrees about $30.

Getting there

American offers nonstop flights from LAX to Miami International. Continental, Northwest, United, Delta, Airtran, America West all offer connecting flights (change of plane). Restricted round-trip fares begin at $368.