The Gonzalez Family
by Reina Gonzalez
In 1962, when the Cuban Revolution was at its peak, David Gonzalez, age fourteen, embarked on a journey he never could have imagined. He flew to Mexico where someone was assigned to pick him up at the airport. However, no one arrived, and he was left at the airport all night until the next day. He looked up the name and address of the family who was sponsoring him, took a taxi, and arrived at his destination. To their surprise, they found a young boy standing in front of them, not an adult as they had expected. A few days later he was placed on another flight to Costa Rica where extended family members had arrived as well.
Costa Rica became his second home for several years until 1970, when he moved to New York to reunite with his brother. In 1973, he came to Miami where he discovered a brand new sense of belonging and decided to stay.
In 1966, eleven members of the Rojas family, including Reina, her parents and her brother, took the opportunity to flee Cuba via the Freedom Flights, a government-sponsored program for families desperate to flee Communist Cuba. After a few days at La Casa de la Libertad in Miami, they flew to Costa Rica, which was to be their new home. It took them less than a year to realize that they wanted to return to Miami, which was quickly becoming the destination for Cuban exiles fleeing their homeland. This, however, was not without yet another set of challenges.
Staying in the United States without legal status posed serious issues for the young family. Neither Reina nor her brother were able to attend school, and her father had to find work in places that he never imagined like a sugar processing plant, a shrimp farm, and an ice cream truck driver.
Eventually, Reina’s older brother Tony found work at a local supermarket where the owner soon became the hero they were looking for, a sponsor willing to provide them with their much-needed documentation required to establish their citizenship. By 1968, both Reina and Tony were attending public school, and a vision of their future in America finally began to shape up.
In 1974, David met Reina, the parallel threads of immigrant life bringing them together. They were soon married at the Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables and in 1977, they gave birth to their first son, Jose David Gonzalez Jr. Their second son, Daniel, was born in 1980.
As a young family, they lived in Hialeah while David worked for a family-owned company. Then, in 1995, he became the Concessioner at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park which, after being closed for approximately three years because of the devastation caused by Hurricane Andrew, had finally re-opened.
Construction of Lighthouse Café soon began and, in 1997, finally opened its doors. A few years later, in 1999, Boater’s Grill, located on No Name Harbor, was also built.
After many years of unwavering commitment to both of the restaurants, the Gonzalez family has helped place Cape Florida within the top three of the 175 state parks in the State of Florida.
In 2019 they began construction on their latest project, The Cleat. Just as they were prepared to re-open, the country went into lockdown due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. A few months later, they were able to open, and it quickly became a favorite location for locals and visitors alike.
The Gonzalez family has endured many difficult times; however, their resiliency and commitment to the restaurants, to Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, and to the Key Biscayne community have never wavered. After nearly thirty years, their hope is to continue their hard-earned traditions for generations to come.
