It's Always Conga Time in Miami Beach

While bathing in the sunshine of Southern Florida on a Miami bus, I was woken up by the driver's announcement.

"We are on Ocean Drive. If you would like to enjoy some good time on the beach, this is your stop."

I quickly grabbed my backpack and got off the bus as soon as the driver opened the door, and thus began my very first encounter with Miami Beach. The very first thing I heard in Miami Beach was some upbeat Latin music blasting from somewhere right across the street. So my eyes followed the direction where the music came from and it led to the very first scene I saw in Miami Beach: A gay bar with its "waitresses" dancing passionately to their customers and curious tourists like me. Oh, did I mention that all "waitresses" were actually guys? 

The venue is called Palace Bar. Located on Ocean Drive at 12th Street

 Miami Beach is beyond vibrant. It has top-notch events like international boat shows and food & wine festivals. It has countless restaurants and bars that would fit the tastes of people from all around the world. It has an open air shopping district where you can easily spend an entire day looking for things that aren't available in other parts of the United States. Most of all, it always has an exuberant crowd who are excited for pretty much everything happening around Miami Beach. Don't look elsewhere, because you are likely to be a part of that crowd. 

Buildings and the crowds are two things you can easily spot in the South Beach area

The South Beach neighborhood is home to a large number of Art Deco style buildings. The style originated in France and found its way to Southern Florida when developers in the 1920s foresaw the tremendous potentials Miami Beach has as a premium vacation destination. Today most of the buildings are boutique hotels, some were even featured in Hollywood movies like the 1983 hit Scarface. In fact, while walking in the Art Deco district, I felt like I was in a movie. 

Art Deco style buildings in Miami Beach

The Loews Hotel

The Leslie Hotel

Without the "Beach",  Miami Beach would be no different from the other city which is on the other side of the MacArthur causeway. Because of the beach, Miami Beach became what it is instead of just another city sharing borders with the city of Miami. The beach was very windy on the day I decided to jump into the ocean. To my utmost surprise, the water was very shallow and I could easily walk for meters, considering how dreadful and choppy the waves might look from the shore (disclaimer: I am a very experienced ocean swimmer and have encountered all sorts of situations in my life. The lifeguard actually blew his whistle on me several times when I entered some deeper areas that aren't necessarily safe for others. Please do not try what I was doing as shown in this article if you have no experience in ocean swimming or simply felt unsafe about the practice or the weather conditions. Use your common sense). After playing in the middle of the ocean for a while, I let the ferocious waves washed me to the shore. Even though you could hear the whistle of the wind, I did not feel cold or uncomfortable like I have experienced elsewhere while walking with my wet body. But still, without all the winds and waves, the beach and my swimming experience definitely would  be a lot better.

People relaxing on the beach

The weather turned better later on

 After all the fun in the ocean and on the beach, I had to look for somewhere for a meal. Then I found a restaurant called "Il Sole". The restaurant was in fact, Gianni Versace's old house. He was assassinated at his own doorstep in 1997 by a spree killer. Today the mansion is a restaurant and isn't open for tourist purposes. However, if you are a customer of the restaurant, you can roam free in the place where the great Italian designer once called home.

Restaurants on Espanola Way would be my top choice. Just a bit too far from the beach. So I had to look for somewhere closer, and I found Versace's old mansion

When I tried to enter the restaurant, a man in James Bond suit stopped me. "Sir, we are a restaurant, not a museum".

I told him that I knew that fact perfectly well. He just looked at me with his plain face and said nothing. Suddenly he put his right hand into his inside jacket pocket exactly the same way James Bond or an assassin one would see in a movie. He quickly pulled something out with a speed that was faster than any blackjack dealer I have seen. I became very nervous at that time. I knew Gianni Versace was an Italian from Reggio, but hopefully he didn't leave his house to a certain group of fellas from a place called Sicily which could be seen from Reggio's coast.
 

The "Il Sole" Restaurant, aka Versace's mansion

"Sir, we are a reservation only restaurant" the man said. Then he passed me the thing he pulled out of his inside jacket pocket. "This is our business card, if you want to make a reservation, just call the number on the card". 

Looks like my plan of eating at Versace's old mansion did not go through. In the end I found a Cuban restaurant only one block away from the mansion and still had one heck of an experience there. But the business card Mr. Bond left me just gave me another excuse to go back to Miami Beach so I can make a dinner reservation at Versace's old mansion.

Cuban coffee and Cuban style Mahi-mahi

One of my favorite things about Miami Beach is that you can hear Latin Music almost everywhere. Whenever the music is on, everyone just starts to dance. Nobody would feel embarrassed because they couldn't dance properly - hey, we all came here for vacation, why so serious?

Universal Office in the open air Lincoln Road Mall

 I have learned my mistake in New York City. I am not going to sacrifice the prime location for cost-efficiency when booking a hotel. I still regret that I did not stay in Manhattan while in New York as hotels elsewhere cost less money and are more comfortable. The price I really paid, was that I spent all those time just trying to reach Manhattan on the subway and therefore never spent enough time in interesting places. That's why on this trip I booked a hotel right in Miami Beach so I could fully discover what the city had to offer. What have I missed in New York City? I don't even want to talk about it.

Sunset time on the beach

The next morning, I took a stroll in a residential neighborhood where the locals referred to as the "Millionaires' Row". In the neighborhood I saw people doing all sorts of activities that looked very familiar to me. Some were playing with dogs in public parks, while others were on their way to  the synagogue with family or shopping around at the local Walgreen. The locals were very friendly and many greeted me as they walked by, just like folks back home would do. On the edge of the neighborhood, the Holocaust memorial was erected by the local Jewish community to remind everybody about a horrific crime against humanity which the Jewish community was a victim of as well as their testimony that such tragedy should not happen to any human being or ethnic group ever again. It made me realize that Miami Beach isn't just a lavishing playground for tourists. It's also a place where real people call home.

A typical Millionaires' Row scene. I have to admit that the local residents aren't quite like folks back home: They are just heck a lot more wealthier

The Holocaust Memorial

As I crossed the bridge to the South Beach, I could hear Gloria Estefan's hit song Conga coming from the direction where the beach was. When I looked around, some pedestrians were already dancing to the music. So I switched straight to my Conga mode just like the others, without any hesitations. 

The Public Washroom on 14th Street. The immediate area was the most vibrant dance floor in Miami Beach