A Walking Man Walks, Doral, Florida, USA

The place we're staying for our second week has a great pool area. By midday, the shadows slowly start to cover the pool. Keeps the direct sun to a minimum. The air temperature is 82 degrees F. The water temperature is 85 degrees F. No ice nor snow nor cold in sight.

As the afternoon progresses, the sky picks up a soft glow filled with the warmth of the Miami air.



As night closes in, it was time for the kids staying here to roast some marshmallows to make s'mores!

I've been to Florida many times over my lifetime. Short visits but to only a few different locations - it is a big state. I always went home feeling some vague discontent. This visit to Miami Beach, however, has really clicked in a positive way. A lot has to do with the perfect winter weather - sunny, daily 75-85 degrees F, blue sky, breezes, no bugs, no rain - one could not script a finer physical climate. Add to that all the cultural and natural features and it is a complete destination experience.

Floridians, I have read, are almost all from somewhere else and tend to enjoy and appreciate the positive elements of this part of the world. Some refer to the Miami area as the capital of Latin America. I hear more different languages spoken here than anywhere I've ever been except perhaps New York City.

While staying in SOFI in South Beach, I walked a lot - just one more block, just one more block - each is beautiful and interesting - some old, some new. A flock of parrots raucously flew by overhead - I don't see or hear that at home in Manomet!

My daily step count for the first ten days is 149,583 or an average over the period of almost 15,000 steps/day. About 75 miles total. My daily target is 10,000. Not bad at all.

I am a walking man - and a walking man walks - especially in the warmth of a Miami winter.

Lunch and Lighthouse, Key Biscayne, Florida, USA

It was time to move from our lodging in South Miami Beach to our next destination so we stopped for lunch at the Rusty Pelican on Key Biscayne before heading inland (that's the downtown Miami skyline in the distance).



After lunch, we drove to the tip of the Key Biscayne island to visit the Cape Florida Lighthouse.



It may be mid-February, the middle of winter but - it's a great tourist season here in South Florida - daytime temperatures have been in the high 70's and low 80's F. Perfect.



Lots of people on the beach but no sense of being too crowded.



Of course I couldn't resist climbing the 95-feet-high lighthouse for the view. Access is provided as part of your park entrance fee ($8 USD per vehicle) but, you must climb the circular iron staircase to get to the top. And oh, what a view it was!



This retro perspective, on the other hand, I made in black and white and grainy intending to re-create the general feeling for beach-goers that might have existed when the lighthouse was first constructed in 1825.

I am liking the Miami Beach area more and more...........no passport required, many people speak my native language, no international flight required to get here, and it's pleasantly warm and dry in winter! Hmmmmmm.

Ocean Drive Street Scenes, Miami Beach, Florida, USA

The prime section of Ocean Drive stretches almost a mile with a succession of open air restaurants all clamoring for your business. They are not bashful as you walk by. They aggressively attempt to entice you with their pleas to sit down and eat.



A just before sunset view from a second story deck on Ocean Drive. This is Lummus Park - basically the front yard for everyone in South Beach. The Atlantic Ocean is visible peeking through the trees.



As evening closed in, the game was on to find a dinner spot. The presence of live acoustic music is usually my first choice.



The Avalon had a wonderful acoustic trio playing by the tables in a prominent spot on the veranda but the menu didn't grab us (nothing wrong with it but, it's not always easy to find vegan selections in much variety at many restaurants).



We preferred the ambiance (more light) and menu at the nearby Majestic.......



....which also had wonderful live music: in this case Tony Cruz. Delightful fingers on the strings.

Ocean Drive seems to be the heart of Miami's South Beach Area. It is all-in-one: the main restaurant area, hotel area, park, beach, promenade, freak show, tourist show, whatever you're looking for it seems to be here. Vibrant and alive.

I like this piece of the world - a lot.  This is my last blog post from South Beach but, stay tuned for more observations around other parts of Miami.

More Beautiful Weather in South Beach, Miami Beach, Florida, USA

I think of Florida as a place that enjoys thunderstorms for much of the year.  Those wash-the-world-completely downpours that leave everything crisp and clean. Even outside the main storm season, the above billowing clouds have that tropical rain-on-me-soon-look. It's early February and the air temperature is 82 degrees F, no rain expected.



The clouds certainly don't keep people off the beach nor out of the water.



And many New Englanders on vacation from a cold winter can be found in the warm waters. Here's Amy sporting a new swim suit.



And always the palm trees - have I mentioned I really like palm trees? - looking up at and listening to their rustling fronds as they whisper in the breeze.



I'm not sure what this is but it caught my eye riding by: a guy with a three-wheeled motorcycle with lots of lights including a nearly complete illumination of his face mask. Good safety features - no one is going to fail to see him coming. He posed willingly for the picture but, I don't know what his hand sign means; I think I am neither hip enough nor young enough to get it.

Out and About in South Beach, Miami Beach, Florida, USA

Art or artifice, form or function? The chair above is actual lawn furniture in "SOFI," the area south of fifth street where we stayed during this visit. The chair appears to be made of some type of plastic or resin but, I couldn't get close enough to touch. Looks pretty cool to me though - I'd be happy to have two of them to sit in (one for Amy) and watch the world go by if I lived here.



A scene along the stretch of Collins Avenue where some of the grand old style art deco hotels live on.



A photograph of Amy the photographer in the grand curtained lobby of the Delano. Wrong era but, those gently billowing floor to ceiling curtains made me expect to see Scarlett O'Hara waltz by.



A lunchtime pause in the garden of palm trunks.



Walking along the pedestrian-only Lincoln Road Mall shows off a few more of the art deco style buildings........with modern tenants......



.....and many people of all sizes, shapes, genders, and cultures, seeing and being seen and enjoying the picture-perfect, chamber-of-commerce weather.



Great light and lines and shadows in this view of a section of pedestrian walkway turned askew.



And of course, the ubiquitous palm trees, waving and rustling in the breeze. But no day can last forever....the light begins to fade.....



.... people make plans for the evening........

.....the first customers sit down for their dinners al fresco and........



......... in South Pointe Park, the jazzy lilt of a smoothly played trumpet arpeggio complements the setting sun over the downtown Miami skyline. Life is good in Miami Beach today - and probably nearly every day if I had to guess.

Late Afternoon in South Beach, Miami Beach, Florida, USA

Most of the beach goers have gone home now that the sun has set. Only the towel family remain in their lounge chairs refusing to call an end to the day. They must not get out very much.



It's disorienting for me to experience such warmth in February - back home they recently had a raging blizzard.



The people may be mostly gone but, the gulls are everywhere looking for a few dropped morsels of food - and fighting viciously when one of their own finds something that might be edible.



And speaking of eating although it is still early, it is time to start thinking about dinner. Maybe the nearby "Big Pink" restaurant/bar? Of course, it's warm enough to sit out and dine al fresco anywhere. More than likely though for tonight, dinner will be leftovers heated in the microwave - old habits die hard and we do tend to be frugal. (We did have a great vegan burger here once). Many of the restaurants along Ocean Drive offer "2 for 1" lunch and/or drink specials - we are there. Another pair of thrifty retirees enjoying South Florida!

Out and About in South Beach, Miami Beach, Florida, USA

If there is one thing that distinguishes this area from New England, it would be the exterior colors used on structures (and of course, the palm trees and warm climate).



In the "SOFI" area of town (south of fifth street), there are many older two or three-story dwellings where the regular folks call home. Some of the streets are beautifully tree-lined like the one above. This former Canadian enjoys the climate and cruising about on his trusty Vespa motor scooter. If I lived here, I'd have one too - but it would be fire-engine red!



A very cool, artsy sliding gate protects this private parking lot. If one has to have a gate, I like fancy ones instead of the prison bars variety.



From Miami Beach, a view of Highway A1A stretches across Biscayne Bay leading to downtown Miami in the distance.



Out and about, midday, lunch, Miami Beach, Ocean Drive, loud music, alive, vibrant, multi-cultural, warm, sunny, beautiful, friendly, fancy cars, more loud music, tight clothes, few clothes, WARM in winter! I take great pleasure in al fresco dining on the sidewalk and watching the adjacent stream of humanity flow by - people watching here is hard to beat.



Palm fronds glowing brightly in the warm sunshine. This whole area of SOFI has it all and is a very pleasant walking neighborhood, too.



Reflections in a modern sculpture.



This tropical resort-looking hotel pool area (The Hilton Bentley) enjoys an ideal location - the beach is just beyond the tree line. A great place for lunch and a quiet sit - which is just what we did. I could get used to this. Blizzard - what blizzard?

A Walk in South Pointe Park, Miami Beach, Florida, USA

The southern tip of Miami Beach (South Beach) has just a very few huge residential highrises shown above adjacent to South Pointe Park. This 17-acre parkland wonder opened in 1985 and preserves a special spot on the planet for all to enjoy forever. I looked into a realtor's office window as I walked away and saw advertised for sale, condos costing between $2-$8 million USD. WOW! But if you'd rather rent, there was a 4BR, 5BA unit on an upper floor available to rent for $40,000 a month. Yes, you read that correctly - $40,000 USD a month! Whew! Way out of my economic league.



Have I mentioned I like palm trees?

Sometimes he walks, and sometimes he sits, and sometimes he thinks a bit.



"Sol" meaning the Sun - that pretty much says it all to capture the essence of Miami Beach.

Kitesurfer at Sunset, Miami Beach, Florida, USA

This man had just gotten off work and headed to the beach to get in an hour or so of kitesurfing. He has just launched it off the sand and will head for the water.



He wades out into the surf holding the kite in one hand and his board in the other and.....



.....voila! - he is off and running at breakneck speed in the brisk breeze.



Reversing direction, he makes a pass by my location. Yes, that little speck is he - he stayed offshore a ways.



This man just doesn't want to give up on the day yet - he has to go home tomorrow - where it is NOT sunny and warm.



Leaving the beach, I headed over to Ocean Drive, THE hot spot of South Miami Beach. As the blue hour deepens, the neon lights on the art deco buildings are turned on....



....and another evening of al fresco dining begins. Did I mention there is a blizzard at home today?