Getting Around: South Beach, Miami, Florida
TRANSPORTATION:
Back to the taxi. Rates from the airport to the South Beach (Government Cut to 63 Street) area are a flat rate of $32.00, not including tip. This rate is government mandated and listed on the local government website. Do not get fooled by freelance “town car services” which can be an iffy situation. One of the “freelancers” vehicle was a SUV which may not really have had enough gas to make it to South Beach from the airport. Or else it needed a tune up really bad! Better to go out to the transportation area and hop into a legitimate taxi cab. If you take a taxi anywhere else, rates are:
The rate on Drop/Mileage is $2.50 for the first 1/6 mile; Additional charges are $.40 (forty cents) per 1/6 mile. If you ask the driver to wait it will cost you $24.00 per hour.
One fare pays for all passengers. Fares are approximate and do not include waiting time. Always ask for and get your receipt. Record the vehicle number and chauffer number on your receipt. The Chauffer License Number is located either next to or above the glove compartment. The Vehicle Number is located on the hood, trunk and sides of the exterior of the cab. The air conditioner must be turned on at all times unless you request to the driver that it be turned off. There is a Consumer Hotline (305-375-3677) that you can call if you have a compliment, complaint or if you leave something behind in the taxi and need to recover it.
GETTING AROUND SoBe:
Once you are in South Beach and ready to go to the beach or shop the streets, you want to ride in air-conditioned comfort. There is a bus called the South Beach Local. There are designated bus stops and the buses run at roughly 15 minute intervals and cost only $.25 (25 cents). Monday through Saturday they run every 15 minutes between 7:45 AM and 10:00 AM, every 10 minutes between 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM and every 15 minutes between 6PM and 1:00 AM. On Sunday they run every 15 minutes between 10:00 AM and 12:00 Noon, every 10 minutes between 12:00 Noon and 6:00 PM and every 15 minutes between 6:00 PM and 1:00 Am. For more information you can call the SoBe Local Customer Services at 305-770-3131.
Exercise and sightseeing is, of course, best taken on foot. Walking around SoBe is entertaining as well as good for your legs and heart. The two miles of beach sand, running south to north from 1st to 23rd Streets, is an excellent way to get your feet exfoliated while building strength in your leg muscles. Almost everyone walking or running on the beach do so in their shoes. There can be glass, cans and other objects to avoid. So unless you want to look at the ground and not at the lovely Art Deco buildings, you might want to wear your tennis shoes or running shoes. When you are ready to “go to the beach” to sun yourself, that is when you can walk closer to the water and in the looser sand.
There are many parks scattered through out SoBe. Here is a short list:
Ã?· LUMMUS PARK – Ocean Dr from 5th – 15th St.
Ã?· MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS PARK – 3rd St/Ocean Drive.
Ã?· SOUTH POINTE PARK – 1 Washington Avenue -Phone 305-673-7224. This is a family style park with a 50- yard long “Sunshine Pier”.
�· WASHINGTON PARK
Ã?· FLAMINGO PARK – 11 Street & Jefferson Avenue – Phone 305-673-7730.
Ã?· MIAMI BEACH CULTURAL CAMPUS – The Beach to Park Avenue, between 20th & 22nd street.
Ã?· MIAMI BEACH BOTANICAL GARDEN – 2000 Convention Center Drive (across from Hall D of the Miami Beach Convention Center -Featuring a collection of sub-tropical palms, a first class bromeliad collection, a Japanese Garden and a modest orchid collection. This is the home of the famous “autograph tree”.
Ã?· THE HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL – 1933-1945 Meridian Avenue.
�· BELLE ISLE PARK
Additionally for your walking and viewing pleasure, there are beaches, a boardwalk and fishing piers. There is a Boardwalk from 21st to 46th Streets on the beach. There are 11 public access beaches:
�· South Pointe Park
�· 1st Street Beach
�· 3rd Street Beach
�· Lummus Park
�· 6-14th Street Beaches
�· 21st Street Beach
�· 46th Street Beach
�· 53rd Street Beach
�· 64th Street Beach
�· 72nd Street beach
Ã?· North Beach Recreational Park (79th – 87th Street)
And 2 fishing piers:
�· South Pointe Park
�· 1st Street Beach
There is a paved Beachwalk linked at 21st Street Boardwalk with access both from the public streets as well as private access from each beachfront hotel (requires your room key to exit and enter through the locked gates). The Beach walk ends at Ocean Drive. There you will find a Starbucks ready to serve your favorite latte or other tea or coffee drink. It also has the T-Mobile Hot Spot so you can check your email or surf the web while gazing out over the sand dunes and azure ocean or watching the sailboats and motor boats go by. Dogs are not allowed on the beaches but are allowed on the Beachwalk. You’ll see all types and sizes being walked during the cooler morning and evening hours.
SHOPPING & DINING:
LINCOLN ROAD MALL – The Lincoln Road Shopping District runs east-west from Collins Avenue to Bay Road between 16th and 17th Streets. It is located one block south of the Miami Beach Convention Center. At one time this Mall was famous as one of the hottest shopping streets in the country. It lost the title some years back, but is now known for being the place to “see and be seen”, especially at lunch and late afternoon and evening. During its rebirth as a retail center, several hundred businesses have settled into this commercial area. It is a 7 block pedestrian mall on a street stretching from the beach on the Atlantic Ocean to Biscayne Bay. An added attraction on Sundays (year round) is a farmers market. Not only will you find fresh veggies, juices, home-made breads and flowers, but also a swap meet kind of fair that includes art work, jewelry, pawn shop items, antiques and junk all side-by-side in a street fair kind of feeling. The market is open from 9 AM to 6PM every Sunday, year round.
You will also find international restaurants, shops and theatres in the mall. Having sampled some of the restaurants, I can say that “Spris” (Spris Pizzeria – 731 Lincoln Rd, Miami Beach, FL , PH.305-673-2020) has the best thin crust pizza I have ever tasted. The “Cafeteria” (Cafeteria MB – 546 Lincoln Rd, Miami Beach, FL , PH. 305-672-3448) is an excellent buy for breakfast, priced reasonably and very good eggs, potatoes and toast. There are many ‘casual attire’ clothing stores that are priced for the average person to afford. SurfStyle and Wings are two of the most commonly shopped stores on the mall and closest to the beach. There is also a Walgreens and a CVS Pharmacy for any OTC medical needs, prescriptions, soft drinks, water, sunglasses, sun screen or other sundries. At the CVS Pharmacy they have a “frequent shoppers” card. Even if there is not one in your home town, pickup one on your first visit and save on the sundries you buy while you are in SoBe. Further towards the Biscayne Bay side of Lincoln Road Mall are the more commonly seen “chain” stores: Banana Republic, Swatch, Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Ann Taylor Loft, to name a few. If you want to take your own choice of alcoholic libation back to your hotel room, Volpe Liquor, (Volpe Liquor, 1631 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL) is one-half block off the Lincoln Road Mall and has all the selection you can ask for.
At the south end of Ocean Drive is a restaurant/bar named Nikki Beach Bar (Nikki Beach, 1 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach FL, PH – 305-538-1231, www.nikkibeach.com/). It is a very interesting dÃ?©cor with private cabanas, showers, hammocks, mattresses with tons of pillows, several stages and entertainment areas as well as a small dance floor inside. From the talk, Sunday is the day to see and be seen at Nikki’s. It is available for special events, corporate or private, other nights of the week. They had exotic dancers and gymnastic acts performing as well as drum beating and music during the private event I attended. They served a scallop wrapped in bacon that was the tastiest I have ever had.
HOTELS & ARCHITECTURE:
The Art Deco District, the area from 5th to 15th Streets and compass points north, south and west, houses some of the best of Art Deco hotels and architecture to be found. The 1930’s architects built with the intent of bringing tourists to Miami Beach and giving them everything they could want. World War II however caused a state of decline for the Art Deco district even as another area of Miami Beach began a boom. Built in a style of MiMo (Miami Modernism) there are several hotels of the time built with a “space-age” look. The Art Deco District was in a state of disrepair until the mid- 1970s when a group of artists and entrepreneurs saw the future of saving these wonderful old buildings as a means of bringing life back to Miami Beach. Thanks to a few forward thinking people, you can see Art Deco structures with window “eyebrows”, portholes, pastel colors and geometric shapes. Having stayed at three of the hotels, favorites include Loews Miami Beach & the Royal Palm. The Betsy Ross on Ocean Drive looks interesting and there are many apartment/hotels as well. The colors and textures of the architecture are sheer eye candy for photographers and artists.
WRAPUP:
Get out early in the morning and enjoy the sunrise, the fresh air and the early risers is recommended. Mid day, stop in to a restaurant to see and be seen. Take a 2 hour nap in the heat of the afternoon, either pool or beach side or in your air conditioned hotel room so you can be ready for the evening entertainment on Ocean Drive. And at night you simply have to choose how hedonistic you want to be with your entertainment. There are bars, restaurants and lounges that will serve almost any kind of food you can imagine, make drinks as exotic as Mai Tais and Chi-chis or concoct a SoBe special for you.
For a complete experience. arrive on Saturday, go to the farmers market early on Sunday, trek down to Nikki’s in the afternoon and evening. Walk back to your hotel along Ocean Drive and visit the various bars, restaurants and dance scenes. Sleep late on Monday and have a casual coffee or lunch along with a little sunbathing (remember the 30+ sun screen) and maybe a Margarita or two (on the rocks- not frozen) while you adjust to the time zone change. You can even relax Monday night without the bar and party scene. By Tuesday you will be ready to shop, lunch and siesta so that you can party-hearty every evening. Follow that routine until you are ready to pack your bags and head back to the airport. I think you will agree with me, South Beach is a wonderful vacation!
