"Government Cut" Port of Miami by grandmaR

After you have read about the Port of Miami, you can go back to the 2004 trip up the ICW.

Looking into Government Cut

By boat, the Port of Miami is entered through Government Cut. Looking west at Government Cut, Fisher Island is on the left, and Miami Beach is on the right. (Miami itself is straight ahead.)

After one goes through Government Cut, one can proceed to the right toward the Miami Beach Marina which is right inside of the cut, or one can go to the left on the south side of Dodge Island. Cargo ships load on the south side of Dodge Island, and cruise ships dock on the north side.

The Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami-Dade is the Cruise Capital of the World but it is also called the Cargo Gateway of the Americas.

The primary cargo markets are Latin America and the Caribbean, accounting for 54.9% of the Port's cargo in 2003.

Cargo ship loading at Dodge Island

I never heard of Dante B. Fascell before I went to the Port of Miami webpage. I was only able to find his official biography on line.

"Dante B. Fascell born in Bridgehampton, Long Island, Suffolk County, N.Y., March 9, 1917; moved with his parents to Miami, Fla., in 1925; graduated from Ponce de Leon High School, Coral Gables, Fla., in 1933; from the law school of the University of Miami, J.D., 1938; was admitted to the bar in 1938 and commenced the practice of law in Miami; during the Second World War entered the Federal service with the Florida National Guard on January 6, 1941; commissioned a second lieutenant May 23, 1942; served in the African, Sicilian, and Italian campaigns, and separated from the service as a captain January 20, 1946; legal attach? to the State legislative delegation from Dade County 1947-1950; member of the State house of representatives 1950-1954; appointed by the President to represent the United States at the Twenty-fourth General Assembly of the United Nations, 1969; elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-fourth and to the eighteen succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1955-January 3, 1993); chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs (Ninety-eighth through One Hundred Second Congresses); was not a candidate for renomination in 1992 to the One Hundred Third Congress; practiced law in Miami, presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President William Jefferson Clinton.." in October 1998. The event at which he received the medal was the launch for the 2nd time of John Glenn into space.

In addition to the Port of Miami, the other things named for Dante B. Fascell are:

* University of Miami's Dante B. Fascell North-South Center.
* Dante B. Fascell Elementary School.

The elementary school website adds the information that : "He married the former Jeanne-Marie Pelot in 1941. They had three children:
Sandra-Jeanne Diamond (Mrs. Frank),
Toni Francesca Strother, and
Dante Jon Fascell (deceased February, 1984).
Dante B. Fascell passed away on November 28, 1998."

It wasn't until I got to a public radio speech by Olin C. Robison that I found out why he had been so honored. If you want to see what was reported, go to the travelogue

• Pros:Class A Inlet - good in any weather
• Cons:9-11 Restrictions When Large Ships are Transiting the Port
• In a nutshell:Cruise Ship Mecca