MIAMI BEACH, FL - "I'm in Miami, bitch!"

I’ll be honest; I had low expectations for Miami. Miami’s reputation for being a shallow, materialistic, over-populated, over-augmented, over-tanned, and under-dressed “LA of the East Coast,’ never appealed to me. After living in Tampa, FL for 3 years, I had but fleeting momentary regrets of never driving 4 hours south to visit. However, being the idealist I am, I wanted to give Miami, and particularly South Beach (SoBe) a chance to prove me wrong. Okay, perhaps my decision to take a trip down to Miami may have been influenced by the fact that it was November and DC was dipping into the low 60s during the day, while Miamians were basking in the mid-80s and sunshine. Either way, I set out to see what Miami is all about.

I spent most of my trip in the swankilicious art deco area of Miami Beach known as South Beach or “SoBe.” Ocean Drive is “la piece de la resistance” of renovated art deco hotels just a coconut-throw away from the white sands of the beach and the Atlantic Ocean. Each neon illuminated hotel stands perched upon its own restaurant/bar that spills shaded bistro tables and tourists drinking $20 tropical drinks onto the sidewalk. Despite the pomp & circumstance of Ocean Drive, the endless shopping & dining options for the well-heeled along nearby Lincoln Road, and the three blocks of cutesy (yet completely uninteresting) restaurants down Espanola Way, I found myself orbiting four places in South Beach. 

Ocean Boulevard

Las Olas Café, at the corner of 6th and Euclid, is a small corner café that offers steaming fresh Cuban comfort food, as well as sliced & pressed to order Cuban sandwiches. The buttery crisp flaky pressed Cuban bread provides a perfect vessel to deliver the balanced warm center of roasted pork, salty cured ham, rich Swiss cheese, a crisp mix of lettuce & pickle, and harmoniously blended yellow mustard & mayonnaise. The only way to improve the experience is to order the smoky bittersweet amphetamine-twitch-inducing Colada (Large Cuban Espresso); usually meant to be shared or consumed over time, but wonderfully stimulating to shotgun on your own and keep you moving all day! 

Colado and Cuban Sandwich

Miami is the mother of one of the largest DJ scenes in the world, giving birth to the annual Ultra Music Festival every March. However, the local music scene goes deeper than pyrotechnics, thumping beats, and the latest and greatest synth & sampler programming. Jazid is a live music venue that offers daily servings of local music fusing Afro-Cuban beats with hip-hop, reggae, and funk…FOR FREE! That’s right folks, if you act now, or even later; there’s no cover! If you want to see what it was like when people actually played their instruments, sang without autotune, and didn’t have a dorky long-haired producer write songs for them, this is the joint. (Hopefully, Kayne West won’t show up…) 

What makes SoBe a destination for photographing newlyweds, ethnically ambiguous young women in bikinis, sports cars, and pasty white tourists posing in their bathing suits, is of course: The Beach! A lengthy strip of white sand supporting a buffet of European visitors in banana hammocks, mid-westerners in cut-off jean shorts, and locals in not much at all. After listening to the pathetic lapping sounds of the Gulf of Mexico for 3 years, I found it refreshing to hear the surf ramp up past the sandbars and finally submit itself to the beach with a climatic crash.

SoBe

Last, but certainly not least; the place that I feel can satisfy even the most discerning voyeur of human behavior is none other than the one, the only: The Deuce. To some it’s a SoBe dive bar. To others it’s an institution. To me, it’s a microcosm of the diversity and character that dwells just below the surgery-enhanced art deco exterior of SoBe. It’s within the smoky womb of The Deuce that the hip & tragically unhip; rich & poor; pretty & ugly; young & old; gay & straight; domestic & import; and everyone else in between, can find common ground. It’s as if all the animals in the SoBe kingdom that live separate lives during the day, gather at a common watering hole as a single collective creature. No judgment, no fighting, no bullshit; just a good jukebox, quarter pool table, good conversations, good times, as well as relatively cheap (and strong) fermented and distilled beverages. As I sat at The Deuce observing the wonders of the human condition, thinking about SoBe, and getting shitfaced with a Frenchman, it was timely that Bob Marley started to sing on the jukebox: “…everything’s gonna be all right…”

Miami and SoBe made me a believer. Yes, I found a certain segment of the population to be void of cognitive and selfless ambitions. However, this is a special place. I can’t place my finger on it, but you can feel it as sure as the ocean breeze. Underneath its leathered tan and silicone plastic exterior lies a much richer and deeper cultural experience surging below the surface. There’s an amazing fusion of Caribbean, Latin, and European culture in the food, music, and people that does not get enough attention. Perhaps, it was I who was guilty of being shallow and judgmental as to what Miami had to offer? Either way, I’m glad I had the opportunity to be proven wrong and shown the error of my ways. 

-Don

Sunset from Mondian's Sunset Lounge