First up was laundry at the hotel, and then we could sightsee.
Richard’s Relive video for the day: https://www.relive.com/view/vxOQ5K1PyMO
90 degrees, 66% humidity, about 5 miles walking for the day.
We could ride our hotel shuttle to the airport, take the mover to the bus station and take bus 150, the South Beach AirPort Express for only $2.50 per person. It beats an Uber!
We wanted to see the center of Art Deco so we started at the Welcome Center.
Barbara Baer Capitman and Leonard Horowitz cofounded the Miami Design Preservation League in 1976, the oldest Art Deco society in the world. Leonard Horowitz had a palette of 40 colors that he used to paint homes, figuring that the colorful exteriors would draw attention to the Art Deco features.
Need I say it was hot?
The Beach Patrol Headquarters were directly behind the Art Deco Welcome Center, and face the ocean. As in the case of many of the Art Deco buildings, the nautical theme is obvious.
There is a walking tour available highlighting many of the buildings now being preserved, but we did not have time to take a formal walk.
One of the earliest Art Deco forms was Medieval Revival (1910-1920) that continued the Old Europe setting. This building seemed to have the arched windows and balconies, and had a wonderful restaurant below where we ate lunch.
The Chesterfield exemplifies a simple Art Deco style from 1920 to 1940. It was typical in the building boom with symmetrical styles and rather sober (Streamline Moderne) during the Depression.
By the 1940’s to 1960’s, post-war architecture moved into Miami Modern (MIMO). Materials and forms were introduced, and eyebrows as sunshades and metal louvers were common as were tiled mosaic walls and balconies.
Rounded corners were inspired by aerodynamic trains, autos, and ocean liners. Often there were projecting vertical elements. There were often also flat roofs and parapets.
In the latest styles, Art Deco moves away from symmetry to often highlighting street corners. It streamlines eyebrow coverings across the facade to the outer edges, and wraps around the corners. The axis is not at the center.
Henry Hohauser designed more than 300 buildings in Miami Beach. Now there are restaurants, bars, and stores on the ground floor, but valet parking is available in front, part of the “see and be seen” even for autos.
Colorful and playful ocean rescue lifeguard stands were designed by William Lane in 1992 as part of the revival of Miami Beach architecture.
Cruise ports were nearby, with ships heading out.
Rotating advertising displays on boats were also plentiful.
The beachgoers were in all types of costumes. We were definitely overdressed.
We walked all the way to the southern end of the island. There were no longer older architectural structures, but even newer buildings blended with color and style. The supposed lighthouse, the Obstinate Lighthouse, is simply art.
The geckos were enjoying sunning on the rocks.
The Akoya Condos are modern but continued an interesting color scheme that blends in the neighborhood.
After the heat and walking, we stopped for a drink at “Call Me Gaby.” We were the only customers at the outside lounge when a kitty came running through. I was afraid the staff would try to shoo it away, but it turned out that they all loved kitties and just wanted to make sure it was okay. We had a wonderful time exchanging pictures of our kitties and sharing stories.
Our last stop was at the Versailles Restaurant in Little Havana, recommended by my cousin and her husband who are familiar with the area.
We chose from specials on the menu and checked with our server for advice. Richard had the classic Cuban sampler with white rice, black beans, Piccadilly ground beef, roast pork, sweet plantains, ham croquette, Cuban tamale, and cassava with Cuban mojo. Jan had “Ajiaco”, a tropical soup made with vegetables and various kinds of meat.
8 Responses
We enjoyed Richard’s videos. It looks hot there. Now you are probably in Europe. Thank you for sharing your trip with us.
Lois and Elwiin
PS: We are enjoying beautiful weather. Saturday, we had 30 to 40 people turn out for church work day!
Richard does great Relive videos! It was hot, but not so bad as Raleigh. What else can we expect in summer?
Feel like we just had a professional tour of Miami. Sorry about the heat and humidity. Dan
We learned a lot at the Art Deco Welcome Center, but it didn’t seem right to just show pictures of signs. It is not a professional job, but we just tried to apply our new knowledge. That’s part of the fun of seeing something new.
Most enjoyable, your RELIVE videos, Rich. (I guess I should learn how to make one, so I can get kudos, too (!)
–keep ’em comin’
I totally agree—Richard’s ReLives are the best!
Excellent pictures and really cool relive video. My favorite picture was of the vintage car. The South Beach advertisements have gotten much more creative since Jorge & I last visited. Glad that you got to visit Little Havana and Versailles. Jorge has been going there since the 1960’s and it hasn’t changed much. Versailles was featured in the movie, Chef.
Good to hear that the restaurant has made the movies. We really appreciated the restaurant recommendation and are really happy we went.