MIAMI MAGIC

By PamelaAnn Campbell
Click here for the Miami Treasures Photo Collection by Bridget Azeez

Miami, Fla: Is Miami all about beauty and the beach? Not quite, but they do have bragging rights.

Miami (a.k.a. Greater Miami and the Beaches) is a 2,000-square-mile playground with a lifestyle to match its image.

Good looks are paramount here and the eclectic mix of people says it all. As for the beach, South Beach revels in the glorious title of “America’s Riviera.” Oh yeah!

South Beach is the magnetic charmer of all the city’s 30 neighborhoods, attracting celebrities, socialites, the hippest and fittest. Ocean Drive, the main drag, runs parallel to the 10-mile beach, where along with its many cafes are the best people watching stations.

Art Deco District

Apart from the eye candy, you’ll find yourself staring at some of the most gorgeous creations on earth – 800 architectural masterpieces in the famous Art Deco District. Clustered along Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue and Washington Avenue, between 5^th and 27^th Streets, these colorful treasures appear very much like giant displays in an outdoor museum

Miami had become a resort town in the “Roaring Twenties” with a hundred new buildings added every year until World War II ended the boom. Recognized as the most prolific collection of 1920s and 1930s structures, the South Beach icons are also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

From boom town to ghost town, South Beach faced massive destruction of its aging architectural wonders, until 1976 when The Miami Design Preservation League was launched to protect and restore them to their original splendor.

Today there is an explosion of Art Deco hotels, capriciously bold in flamingo pink, buttercup yellow, seafoam green, aqua blue or original white stucco, some with neon signs still flashing. Rainbow colors aside, it’s easy to spot them by their curved corners, soaring spires, geometric shapes, nautical themes, terrazzo floors and “eyebrow” shaded windows.

Ocean Drive (between 6^th and 15^th Streets) has some of the finest “Tropical Deco” hotels as they are sometimes called - The Tides, Park Central, The Breakwater, The Edison and The Cardozo. It is also on Ocean Drive that the famous fashion designer, Gianni Versace, lived and died. His mansion at No.1114 is said to be the most photographed building in Miami Beach since he was fatally shot on his doorstep in 1997. Continue on Collins Avenue and discover more landmark hotels such as The Delano, The National and Ritz Plaza.

Lincoln Road Mall

If all those sculptured bodies are sending signals to re-invent yourself, go for it and shop ‘til you drop at Lincoln Road Mall, “The Fifth Avenue of the South” in the 50s. The popular, seven-block (from Washington to Alton, between 16^th and 17^th Streets) pedestrian mall moves at an unhurried pace, slow enough to enjoy the palm-lined promenade under sunlit skies. Specialty shops, galleries and restaurants share a delightful presence with the Lincoln Theater for the New World Symphony and the South Florida Art Center.

The small boutiques are ideal for trendy clothing and shoes if that’s what you are looking for.- that’s where we located some great treasures for our summer wardrobe 

Restaurant patrons spill out onto the sidewalk to enjoy their meals as well as watch passersby who may or may not be famous. Doraku, a favorite sushi restaurant with David Caruso, CSI Miami star, has an extensive lunch and dinner menu. The tea house décor and the large selection of sake is as Japanese as you can get in Miami.

Heritage Sites

The Deering Estate at Cutler is the legacy of Charles William Deering, whose father was the founder of the Deering Harvester Machine Company. Originally acquired by the wealthy industrialist as a winter home for his family, the park preserve is now open to the public as South Florida’s best historical, architectural, archaeological and environmental sites.

Guides conduct tours of the grounds and two buildings, the 1896 Richmond Cottage and the 1922 Stone House. The 450-acre park covers a wealth of pine rocklands, hardwood hammocks, mangroves, salt marshes and a Tequesta burial mound.

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is the retreat created by another Deering son, James, to escape the winter months. The 70-room Italian Renaissance mansion and 10 acres of formal gardens overlooking Biscayne Bay was completed in 1916. There are 34 rooms with paintings, sculpture and antique furnishings that encompass 15^th to 19^t century treasures from the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical periods.

Guided tours throughout the day, as well as special programs like Moonlight Magic, are recommended.