As a regular traveler to Florida, I’m always on the lookout for offbeat tourist spots. Not Disney or South Beach, but quirky places with Old Florida charm or historical significance. 

Earlier this month, I visited a fascinating example: Nike Missile Site HM-69. It’s a former Nike Hercules missile base in Everglades National Park, and it played a crucial role during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. 

To those of a certain age, that episode represents a searing memory of the Cold War, when nuclear war between the United States and Soviet Union seemed a real possibility. At this remote Everglades site, populated by alligators and ibis, nuclear-armed U.S. Nike Hercules missiles could reach nearby Cuba – a Soviet client state – in just 90 seconds.

Our enthusiastic tour guide, a retired military man, explained the history. A U-2 spy plane had produced evidence that Soviet ballistic missiles were positioned on Cuban soil, presenting a grave threat to millions of Americans. 

President John F. Kennedy opted not to carry out an airstrike on Cuba, instead blocking shipment of nuclear warheads to the island. By keeping the lines of communication open, he and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev were able to resolve the conflict peacefully. 

As Russia threatens the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the lessons of the Cold War have come roaring back. That also applies to U.S.-China relations today, and their lack of “guardrails.” 

At the decommissioned Everglades site, we were able to view actual (unarmed) Nike Hercules missiles, the sheds where they were stored, the dirt-covered missile control rooms, a guard-dog kennel, and other artifacts, including a photo of an old Cheerios box advertising a “plastic model U.S. Army guided missile launcher” – free inside! 

The Everglades missile site was closed in 1979 and turned over to the National Park Service. Today, it stands as a jarring relic of a very dangerous time in world history.

“It is insane that two men, sitting on opposite sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilization,” President Kennedy said at the time. 

Perhaps most meaningful to me was that we visited the Nike missile site with Russian émigré friends who were children in Moscow in the early 1960s. Irina was surprised the Everglades site is open to the public. Such would never be the case in her native Russia.