Almost Havana (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780692378885)

F.W. Belland and Chris Belland are brothers born in Miami, Florida, in 1944 and 1948 respectively. The brothers grew up in Miami when it was much different from the Miami of today. There was much more of a rural influence and, in fact, the home in which they grew up was on the very edge of what was the Everglades but is now a developed part of West Kendall. The neighbors around where they grew up were early pioneers of Miami and, in fact, their closest friends were the founders of Lemon City which eventually became the City of Miami. The grandfather was Captain Bob, one of the storied barefoot mailmen. After high school, the brothers took a divergent path. Fred went off to school and eventually graduated from Florida State University. He then did a stint with the Marine Corps in Vietnam. Chris went to the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, and moved back to Miami. In 1973, both brothers moved to the island city of Key West, Florida, where they were instrumental in restoring the center part of the downtown area on Duval Street, which is today a vibrant tourist destination in the state of Florida. All of the stories contained herein resonate from the rich history of early Florida and its close contacts with Central and South America. Today, Chris still lives in Key West with his wife, Piper, and Fred lives on the rim of a volcanic lake in Granada, Nicaragua, with his wife Nica and their two children.