Miami

Magical Miami

The next day, we drove south to the fabulous coastal city of Miami which seemed to us like a world unto itself. Miami wears many different faces, each designed to suit a distinct venue. Our first stop was Vizcaya (left) , Miami’s most frequently visited sight, and once home to millionaire industrialist James Deering who made his fortune in McCormick Spices—who’d have guessed? Completed in 1916 as his winter retreat, Vizacaya was built in imitation of a Venetian palazzo and indeed when we stood out on the patio outside the ornate East Loggia overlooking the high waters of Biscayne Bay, I could have sworn I was looking across Venice at the Island of Murano. Deering’s architects and designers spared no pains or expense to create a space that was extravagant enough to house his impressive collection of art and artifacts from the Middle Ages down. Meanwhile, his landscape designers created formal gardens so perfectly symmetrical that when viewed from the air they look like an Oriental carpet!

In the hands of one of the best guides I have ever heard, Judith Connors, we took a tour of the interiors, passing through the many rooms on the ground floor that were jam packed with his mighty collection of classical urns and statuary, Medieval and Renaissance chairs, tables and water fountains, formal furnishings and marble bath tubs. The Neo-Classical obsession with symmetry and balance is well evident in the construction of the interiors with their faux doors and secret passages, all superbly embellished with moldings, pilasters, pediments, etc. In this concoction of a home that blended comfort with splendor it was easy enough to see how the other half lived at a time of stupendous money-making and spectacular losses. Vizcaya survived the vagaries of the Great Depression but even Deering wondered if he’d be able to keep up the expenses that the monstrous size of the home demanded. Having stayed unmarried and producing no heirs, his estate passed into the hands of the City Fathers who actually contemplated razing Vizcaya to the ground until better counsel prevailed. The home was saved and opened to the public. Today, it serves as a fantastic receptacle for some of the most apparent grandeur of America’s early entrepreneurs.
Leaving the superbly landscaped environs of Vizacaya behind us and passing by the glass and concrete skyscrapers of Downtown Miami, we made our way towards Little Havana, the area that developed in the 1960s after Cuba fell into the hands of Fidel Castro. The very first Cuban refugees who fled the new Communist regime were wealthy, conservative, right wing entrepreneurs who brought their money and their business acumen across the waters to Miami. Today, they do business in Little Havana, united in their hatred for Castro, their fierce love for their homeland fed by undying nostalgia and their similar politics. Strolling down Calle Oche which is the commercial heart of their ethnic quarter, we saw establishments selling the strong dark Cuban coffee, traditional Cuban sandwiches and Spanish newspapers. At Maximo Gomez Park, we saw old-timers playing dominoes, passing the time of day in peaceful retirement, the walls of their little hang-out sporting murals that featured some of the most notorious leaders of Latin America.
Since our guide book suggested we get a meal at Versailles (rather oddly named for a Cuban hangout, we thought), we had lunch there. The restaurant is an old bastion of Cuban culture and is suitably decorated with etched glass panes, grand mirrors, wait staff clad in olive green outfits who speak not a word of English and couldn’t understand why, with our olive skin and dark hair, we claimed not to speak Spanish ourselves! In a place that was bustling with lunch time patrons, we saw people dressed to the nines in old-world fashion—pearls and strappy sandals for the women, light suits, ties and well-polished shoes for the men—the maitre d’hotel, a true relic of the 1950s, wore a tie-pin on his superbly knotted tie! Settling down to gigantic Cuban sandwiches made with spicy chorizo (Spanish sausages full of paprika), we found ourselves packing most of them to take home. We could not resist ordering the Cuban Flan, though, a delicious caramel custard, and replete with our superb lunch, we were sorry to leave this enclave of Old Havana behind us. Indeed Versailles was the hotbed of political activity at the time of the controversial Elian Gonzalez case of a few years ago and we could see why. In that atmosphere of great food and stuffed wallets, it was easy to play politics and air opinions. Leaving the air-conditioned coolness of the restaurant behind us with its take-out bakery section featuring some irresistible pastries including the famous guava puffs, we drove off to see the famed South Beach.

Finding parking was the most challenging part of our afternoon and we were pleased to finally see a municipal lot that offered reasonable rates. The streets were packed with vacationers, most of whom were rowdy students letting their hair down during Spring Break. We walked on the sands of the famous beach, taking in the large groups of volley ball players who attracted many onlookers. Though the sands were packed to capacity with sunbathers, the water was still too chilly for a dip.

When we’d lingered long enough on the beach, we began our exploration of South Beach’s well-known Art Deco buildings that line the promenade creating a very unique environment indeed (right). Designed and built during the 1920s and 30s, these low buildings, each no more than three storeys tall, make a uniform row of structures with distinctive decorative features. The overhangs or ‘eyebrows’ that separate one floor from the next, the portholes that scream of Miami’s nautical history, the etched glass swing doors featuring pelicans and flamingoes, the Moorish style Mediterranean arches that adorn doorways and windows, gives these buildings a decidedly turn-of-the-century look. Each one bears a classy name such as the Carlyle, the Edison, the Cavalier, the Colony, the Breakwater, the Leslie, the Cardozo, the Adrian, etc. and carries interesting friezes on its façade. As design and decorating trends change, the colors of the buildings reflect them.  The fashion today for soft, quiet tones is seen in the pale shades chosen for front facades.

One of the most frequented of the buildings is the one outside which Italian designer Gianni Versace was murdered a few years ago by a deranged admirer. Scores of tourists posed for pictures on the infamous steps upon which his lifeless body sprawled (left). Today, the building has been turned into an exclusive private club and the guard has a hard time keeping onlookers at bay. The ground floor of each building plays host to a trendy restaurant today, most of which were packed to capacity at dinner time, offering excellent rates on cocktails during early happy hours and a selection of mouthwatering seafood for dinner. Deciding to postpone our own meal to a later hour, we hopped back in our car to explore America’s wealthiest suburb arriving at the famed Coral Gables, a short drive later.

If St. Augustine reflects the handiwork of Henry Flagler and Palm Beach the genius of Addison Mizner, then Coral Gables is the show piece of George Merrick who designed it to accommodate the most prosperous businessmen of the south. A drive around the suburb takes the visitor into an insulated world of more Old Money seen in the immaculate Spanish haciendas hidden behind sprucely trimmed hedges. Driving around was one of the most frustrating parts of our vacation experiences as the suburb follows no grid but meanders its way in a woefully arbitrary fashion. What’s worse is that street signs are concealed at inexplicable angles  in the grass of well-manicured lawns making visual access almost impossible. After stumbling our way through the same streets repeatedly, we gave up, and decided instead to look for the famous hotel called The Biltmore (above) whose tower was designed in imitation of Seville’s La Giralda in Spain. Immense on the outside, we were advised not to miss the interiors and decided to have a drink at one of its bars. We discovered, however, that having seen The Breakers, the Biltmore’s lobby really paled into insignificance. A quick wander later, we were back in our car, heading towards the Miracle Mile where some of the best-known names in the retail business have their enticing showrooms. Indeed, on exploring this street, it seemed as it if we had reached Bridal Central for every second store featured bridal gowns and dresses for the wedding party! Restaurants featuring exotic ethnic cuisine also made their frequent appearance in the midst of large chain stores such as Starbucks and Barnes and Noble.
Hungry by this point in time and eager for sustenance, we decided to have dinner at Miami’s most famous restaurant, Joe’s, where the attraction is the stone crab. Unique crustaceans these, stone crabs are fished out of the waters around Miami; but it is only their claws that are consumed. Once fishermen twist the two front pincers out, they toss the crab back into the water as this species has the ingenious ability to regenerate itself and create new claws. Upon arrival at Joe’s, we found the restaurant overflowing with patrons. Since it accepts no reservations, we were forced to wait for over an hour and decided instead to enjoy Cuba’s most famous cocktail, the Mojito, at the bar where we perched on tall stools to wait.  That was when we discovered we could have smaller portions of the restaurant’s dinner menu while seated at the bar. Over excellent Stone Crab Claws served with spicy mustard sauce and Crab Cakes served with Tartar Sauce, we had ourselves a delicious meal and eliminated the wait. A short while later, we inched our way back to South Beach to see the Art Deco buildings in their late night avatar when the neon lighting on the facades gave them an altogether magical air. Then, we were back on the road nosing towards Dania Beach for the night.

Bon Voyage!