So What Do You Think Of Miami Beach?

We believe we have documented evidence of what a conscientiously applied program of South Beach and regular solar care will produce:



We would show you ‘before’ pictures but it is best that we think of them in their current incarnation. This picture was actually taken on the mainland in Coconut Grove at the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.

Vizcaya is the former home of James Deering, vice president of International Harvester. For those who might be curious the Deering Harvester company merged with the McCormick Reaper to form International Harvester. There was an eruption of money that resulted in land being purchased in Coconut Grove.

By 1916, and after spending 20 million dollars, Mr. Deering had produced an estate that showcased the Italian Renaissance style with a Miami Beach appreciation.

Here is the Venetian look:



In the background is the Tea House.

To the left is the Great Stone Boat:



Funny, the Empress Dowager of China was also famous for a stone (marble) boat. You would think they would have had a better concept of buoyancy with all their money and all.

As to Vizcaya, itself, let us turn 180 degrees and look at it from its best perspective from Biscayne Bay:



The archway on the second floor above the three blue openings was the private balcony of James Deering. He would surreptitiously gaze at the public who could roam the gardens on the weekends.

Sadly he only lived until 1925. In 1926 a hurricane did tremendous damage to the property. Its history is filled with minimal staff and hurricanes. Finally in 1952 a token amount of 1.3 million was paid by Miami-Dade County and the next year the property was made available to the public.

The gardens were not completed until 1921 due to the outbreak of World War I. They have moonlit tours once a month in the gardens. The original 180 acres have been reduced to 50 but it still remains beautiful:















We were also impressed with the number of celebrities we encountered.

“What Link from yonder window breaks?” Well that would be Chris Link, soon to be Dr. Link in a few short months, taking a break from bedside ministrations to entertain a duet of damsels:



And did we not say that HGTV is ubiquitous? Though he shyly turned from our camera, we encountered David Bromstad (he of the blue shirt) filming an episode for his Color Splash show for the House and Garden TV network. There was appropriate oohing and ahing:



We all know that the Miami area is a mecca for fashion and style. This picture says it all as to the allure of Vizcaya and the world of Elle and Vogue:



Let’s just think of them as the Mamarazzi.

Who Dat Up There Who’s Dat Down There

The super bowl crescendo/whirlwind is ubiquitous and unrelenting. South Beach is not the NFL’s primary focus (Fort Lauderdale is). but they have ‘assumed the position’ Last night was a free concert on the beach featuring Rihanna and Justin Bieber and broadcast on VH1. We had spent a lot of the afternoon on Ocean Ave and the sand so we thought we would capture it in the safety of our own living room on TV. We were watching it for 15 minutes before we realized that, yes, the music had started and that the repetitive sounds and motions were it. Now Rihanna turned out to be a real talent but what is this Justin Bieber thing? He looked like an early version of Peter Noone (Herman’s Hermit’s) – granted with better teeth and skin.

Well – just a little joke. However one must be careful about these little jokes, just ask columnist Dave Barry. (“Dave has also written a total of 30 books, although virtually none of them contain useful information.” – Dave Barry Website)

Dave is a regular contributor to the Miami Herald and South Florida gadfly cum humorist. On a good day when the b.s. (blog stuff) is flowing, his style is Chris’ aspiration. Well Dave exercised the poor judgment of trying to advise those who had come to his fair city for the Super Bowl. His basic premise was that one could feel safe, mobile and fiscally responsible as much as one wanted as long as they did not leave their hotel room.

His reference to maniacal driving practices on I95 and the Palmetto Expressway; his fondness for the serendipitous public transit system and its ability to transport live sharks; the preoccupation with people (read ‘breast’) watching; the Clinton administration being the last time that someone from Miami found a parking space on Miami Beach; and the probability of hailing one of Miami’s 4 cabs seem to have upset some Miamians.

So the next day he retracted everything in an enumerated list of mea culpas which included a solemn desire to reassure everyone about the courteousness of every driver and the wholesomeness of South Beach. However, due to the extremely tight security, anyone holding an umbrella would be taken out by snipers and congregating would be investigated (this would, of course, include huddles).

Well, Dave is still my kind of guy – maybe we are both just drawn that way.

Anyway, Paul, Gini, Jan (Gini’s sister) and Bill (her husband) are sporadically distributed around the pool (group assembly, then, not an issue).

Here is our runway model when she is not slaving in the kitchen:



Our search for the perfect fleur-de-lis continues.

As does Chris’ attempts at night photography:



(Click on pictures for separate viewing)

We do intend to leave our apartment but only for vital supplies (gelato….cappuccino….chocolate martinis….)

Ciao.

Deco Rating

Greetings:

Major flood warnings have been issued. Chris has begged Gini to save herself and just leave him the gin, a smidgeon of vermouth and some olives. (He can be so brave). However Gini will not stand for the gin being left behind and will weather whatever the storm offers.

Flashback to a few days ago…

Our heroes love to walk and one of the reasons is the Miami Beach architecture. Here is just a small sample:







The shelves above the windows are known as ‘eyebrows’. Should they ‘wink’, immediately call a cab.

Chris got a little space-oid with a shot of the Royal Palm Hotel on the beach:



He felt that it was an obvious nexus for aliens and wanted to casually make contact. The rest of the crew thinks maybe they’ll just have brunch there someday.

Meanwhile night photography becomes a challenge from the balcony:



Fast forward to the recent past (don’t hurt yourself)…

Two very wonderful events occurred within moments of each other.

The first was a make your day/month/year variety. Zack Hinchliffe called to announce that he had obtained his GED. Chris was weeping because it was not ‘owed to a fairy tale’ and had finally happened.

Next, Elayne (remember ‘Take Me To The River…’ in High Springs blog?) emailed to let Chris and Gini know that one of her most recent paintings would be on display at a local theater. The painting captured one of the photo experiences during the canoe ride down the Santa Fe River, specifically Blue Springs:



Chris just kept weeping.

Fast forward to the relative present…

Janice and Bill have just arrived. It continues to rain…the force seems to ripple each time new players make the scene. Thank goodness they landed a few hours before the Indianapolis Colts landed at the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood airport. Pro Bowl/Super Bowl weeks are lurking out there.

Eileen (Chris’ sister) left yesterday to drive back to Orlando. She has formulated a sophisticated plan to get a transfer from TDBank (her current employer) to the Miami area as a rich executive. It sounds foolproof.

Val left this morning just two hours before the New Orleans Saints’ team jet landed at the Miami airport. Her plan was a bit more direct. She was going to inform Jan and Bill that their room was no longer available and that it was a real tragedy. We just assume the pedestrian position and hope for the best.

They have resumed flying severely injured Haitian patients to Florida hospitals. This is a good thing.

We give thanks for what we have.