All is not gloom and doom in South Florida though. Despite the economy, South Beach appears to be thriving. On our two trips down there, the restaurants were busy, people were out shopping, and the bars had a steady clientele. Though not as busy as it usually is, life still seems to be moving along quite well.
An island off the Miami mainland, South Beach is reached by a causeway lined with massive cruise ships (when they’re in town) and Port of Miami dock structures where gigantic cargo ships are unloaded. Parking is scarce and gets really expensive. Streets are crowded with cars, bicycles, pedestrians, motorcycles, and scooters.
The island is loaded to the creaking point with apartment buildings; huge high-end condo developments stacked on top of each other; hotels; stores; restaurants; shops; and private single-family housing.
South Beach is terminally chic and trendy, with a very heavy Latin American influence affecting everything from clothing to music to restaurants. My oldest son, who was a flight attendant for United for a number of years, called Miami ‘the northernmost outpost of South America’; it’s easy to see that in South Beach.
Outdoor restaurants and bars, one after another, line the streets in many areas – it’s like running a gauntlet trying to get through the restaurant employees (almost exclusively Latin American) who hover on the sidewalks, shoving a menu in the hands of every passerby, with exhortations to come in and eat.
The nightclub scene is internationally famous here, drawing everyone from major sports stars to famous movie actors and musicians to international drug dealers. Movie and sports stars are frequently spotted around the shopping areas, in the hotels, on the beaches, and in the clubs.
Lincoln Mall is one of the more famous areas of South Beach, and it’s always been one of my favorite spots for its sheer entertainment value. It’s a huge outdoor mall, running a number of blocks east and west, with stores, restaurants and nightclubs lining the sides, and restaurants running down the center.
Each restaurant has its own unique flavor to draw attention to itself; the trip down the mall is loaded with sights like fountains, hookahs for rent near a cigar-store Indian, astonishing shop displays, and art deco touches like a large white circular “hand” chair – the back of the round chair is a set of thick white fingers pointing up all around the circle.
It’s a place to see and be seen, and is one of the best places I know to do some great people watching. You’ll see everything you can imagine – a topless six-foot-four-inch, thirty-something black guy sporting a shaved head and an oiled chest like chiseled black marble; gorgeous twenty-something long-haired blonde guys on skateboards; statuesque Latinas in four-inch stiletto heels with form-fitting pants, revealing an astonishing amount of skin; farm-fresh Midwestern families sporting recent sunburns; restaurant workers dressed in the requisite black pants and white shirts on their way to work.
Lincoln Mall claims most of the internationally known high-end shops, but that doesn’t mean it’s out of range for other shopping. I bought my Oakley sunglasses there a few years back and got great service and standard prices; I bought my Silhouette eyeglasses at a shop in the mall, discovering later that I paid over $200 less than several other people I knew who had the same eyeglasses – and I got truly wonderful service at the same time. A year later while shopping online for specialty parts for Alex’s roller blades, I found that a store in Lincoln Mall had the best prices anywhere.
It’s a relaxed lifestyle here in South Beach. People walk or bicycle everywhere; it’s common to see a number of bicycles chained to wrought-iron fences on apartment balconies; scooters and small motorcycles crowd the streets and front yards. Police frequently patrol on bicycles.
Clothing styles are strictly casual, leaning towards t-shirts, shorts and sandals or bathing suits and cover-ups. You won’t see much in the way of business suits – if you see one, it will be the standard Miami business uniform of khaki pants and casual Oxford-style or polo shirt, usually without a tie. South American fashion, easily visible with its tight clothing, stiletto heels, and plenty of skin showing, is everywhere. Much of the fashion in the mall areas and night clubs is trendy/elegant/casual.
An unexpected pleasure in South Beach is its ubiquitous Art Deco architecture – it’s got the nation’s largest Art Deco historic district. A few years ago I went on an Art Deco walk in the beach area with a good friend – we paid perhaps $10 for a set of headphones and written list of locations. The tape on the headphones gave us a complete history of each place, along with the key Art Deco architectural features and the architect’s name; I was astonished at how much I learned about both the Art Deco and about the history of South Beach.
Among the sites we visited were numerous hotels – the Cardozo Hotel, Albion, Beacon and Colony, along with a number of private residences, apartment buildings, the post office, and the local regional library. One of the most famous homes we saw is the former residence of the Italian designer Gianni Versace, who was shot in front of his home a few years ago.
Our most recent trip down to South Beach was entertaining from start to finish.
In heavy rainstorms South Beach floods easily, especially during the extra high tides that coincide with full moons. We had one of those full-moon, high-tide days on our second outing to South Beach. We’d already negotiated a couple of heavy rain squalls on the trip over the causeway; Chelsea had her car window open off and on between rain squalls, taking pictures.
As we sat at a stoplight just entering Miami Beach, about to make our way across a flooded intersection, Chelsea exchanged smiles and nods through her open window with the driver of a city minibus next to her. As the light changed to green, we accelerated slowly though the flooded area. To our horror, the mini-bus accelerated rapidly right next to us, causing a flood of water to rise up from its tires and wheel wells and pour in through Chelsea’s window, over her lap and the camera she was holding.
Chelsea moved as fast as she could to roll up the window, but we were so shocked and laughing so hard it was pretty difficult. We caught up with the bus at the next intersection. As Chelsea glanced over at the driver, he mouthed “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” It’s a good thing Chelsea was wearing her quick-dry Patagonia shorts and that we had our waterproof camera that day!
After drying out at our buddy Wayne’s house, we drove over to the local Publix grocery store to get some sandwiches for lunch. Parking is such a problem here that Publix has its own parking garage.
We wound our way up a level or two, and after parking, took the moving ramps down to the entry of the store. Chelsea loved the idea that a grocery store would have to have its own parking garage, complete with moving ramps and elevators for the shopping carts. As we arrived she snapped several photos of a guy moving up the ramps slowly with his full shopping cart, and caught several photos of Wayne and me on our way up the ramps after our shopping.
Parking dominated our day – we couldn’t park on the street, so we had to find a place that wouldn’t break our budget. Wayne knew of a large shopping area under construction. Since the building wasn’t open yet we were able to get a spot for free for the rest of the day.
We headed out for a walk to the yacht club marina in the South Pointe area, circling around the newly re-developed beach area beyond the marina. There’s a lot of money here in South Beach – one look at the marina tells the story – these boats were impressive by any standards.
Keeping a cautious eye on the approaching heavy, black rain clouds, we settled in to eat our Publix sandwiches at a stone bench and table near a restaurant and swimming pool, overlooking the marina. The table and benches were wet from a recent squall, and the heat and humidity were truly intense; as we ate we boat-watched and people-watched to take our minds off our temporary misery.
It felt good to be up walking again after lunch, catching some offshore breezes on the way. Glancing up at the still-approaching clouds, we spotted an impressive black waterspout out in the bay near the mainland. Chelsea got some good photos of it; we watched till it gradually faded away.
Wayne and I have birthdays only a few days apart; we’d agreed that we’d have a small celebration together since we were each celebrating a “decade birthday”, and we’d each had a very quiet birthday. We found a small gelato store on a quiet side street that was perfect for our celebration and would give us a short break from the weather; we stepped inside the main doors just seconds before the black rain clouds finally opened. The streets were flooded in minutes with the torrential downpour.
Wayne ordered cake for all of us; we each ordered a dish of gelato separately. Our gelato and cake were great, but I was hit by sticker shock. Two small dishes of gelato alone set us back over thirteen dollars!
After our break we slowly wandered through the newly redeveloped area with its park, elevated observation area with art deco lounge chairs, picnic areas with art deco tables and benches, the tall structural-art misters rotating in synchronized rhythm, and the observation platform at the edge of the water. We gradually worked our way down to the beach.
The wide, flat, white-sand beaches and gorgeous blue-green water are two of South Beach’s most obvious assets. The three of us walked quite a ways on the beach right at the water line, watching the beach-goers, the birds, the boats, and the lifeguards in their Art Deco-inspired lifeguard shacks. The water was truly inviting – I couldn’t resist going in the water up to my knees – it was a heavenly temperature, making me wish I’d brought my swim suit.
While the skyline is dominated by huge condo developments and high-end hotels, the white-sand beach stretches out toward the ocean. Driving on the beach is allowed. Several areas have beach chair rentals, giving those sections a resort feel.
Thoroughly cooked by the sun and heat and humidity after an hour or more walking the beach, we headed off through the sand to the main streets, winding our way through the gauntlet of restaurants, side-stepping the menus being thrust at us.
We took a short pause at a local bar well-known for its music evenings – part of the attraction is a stage built out over a swimming pool. Some nights feature a DJ, alternating on other nights with live bands. We loved the outdoor misters blowing a steady stream of refreshing mist over the bar patrons settled in at tall bar stools outside.
Walking back through residential districts to Wayne’s apartment, we looked forward to a comfy chair and a short break in air conditioning after many hours on our feet. Leaving Wayne’s in South Beach at about 7 p.m., with an hour and half drive home, and a stop at Whole Foods on the way, we finally collapsed at home after 9:30 p.m.
We got some great photos from our two trips to South Beach – be sure to check out our photo gallery.