If “Miami Vice”-like, Barbie-colored, Art Deco buildings and roller-skating bikinis is your image of Miami, you’re mostly right! And not only is there good reason for that, but there’s good reason to visit even if it doesn’t sound like your kind of fun.
Even if you didn’t watch “Miami Vice” detectives from 1984 to 1989, you likely know the Crockett (played by Don Johnson) and Tubbs (played by Philip Michael Thomas) characters because in the late 80’s you emulated them or dated a version of them with rolled up sleeves on an oversized white blazer that showed off a pastel tee and the absolutely necessary sockless espadrilles!
There are some television shows that shape pop culture – what we wear, how we style our hair, or how we talk (think “as if” from Cher in “Clueless” or Rachel Green’s shaggy bob haircut from “Friends”), but this show went way beyond that. This show not only changed Miami’s shattered image, but some say, the show actually created Miami’s image.
SOUTH BEACH
South Beach is a specific area of Miami. It’s iconic Art Deco buildings were built in the 1930s and this destination was popular with the rich, the famous, and the tourists through the 1960s. The area’s trouble started in the 70s when it simply fell out of favor with travelers who went to Orlando’s Disney or the Caribbean instead. Its chic hotels were turned into retirement communities and by the early 1980s it had hit rock bottom. Cocaine was pouring into the US through Miami; Cubans were seeking asylum at an alarming rate and the city wasn’t prepared for the immigration influx; the crime rate was rising and the city was tagged as the deadliest city in America; and the elderly that could afford to, moved out, leaving the buildings along South Beach’s Ocean Drive to become cheap, drab, dilapidated, flop houses. Miami now had a reputation for being dangerous and uncool or poor and old.
Preservationists kept trying though and when the director of a new show called “Miami Vice” decided to use the area for shooting, the production company repainted the exteriors in the pastel colors that scream Miami today. They decorated beaches and pools and stocked them with bikini clad women, they drove Ferrari’s along the beachside road, and they created fake nightclubs so chic that if you were in you’re 20’s, you wanted to go. Using these facades, their Versace clothing, and MTV video-like music and cinematography, they made Miami sizzle again! Every week, they made Miami seem sexy, cool, diverse, and while a little gritty, a place people wanted to see and be seen!
Over time, these new images of Miami became a reality as restaurants opened in the area, hotels returned, and tourists came back to the beach to drink tropical concoctions and party until dawn in and around these Art Deco wonders.
So should you go? Absolutely. Whether you like the nightlife, you like to boogie or not, going to the world’s largest collection of Art Deco architecture is a real treat! When you’re done taking photos you can enjoy fruity drinks, food trucks, upbeat Latin music or the pristinely white sandy beach. You may even find pirate treasure washed ashore from Miami’s large number of underwater shipwreck sites that are also perfect for scuba enthusiasts.
LITTLE HAVANA
After living your “Miami Vice” dream, spend some time in Little Havana. We took a fantastic food tour in the area (link here and no, we aren’t paid for recommending it). This was a wonderful way to learn about Little Havana’s history, taste magnificent Cuban food, see cigars being hand-rolled, maybe watch dominos being played, and understand why there’s so many loose roosters running around Miami and Florida in general!
Our guide told us that the city has hired police specifically to round up roosters in the area, but he also noted that these cock cops / poultry police haven’t been very successful. Really, they just add to the vibe.
OVERNIGHT IN AN RV
We stayed at Harvest Host church in Miami. The neighborhood church wasn’t near any major highways which was good, but we happened to be there on a Friday night and two adjacent homes seemed to be competing for who could play their music the loudest – one funky electronic and the other Latin. The Latin music buried the electronic music and the birthday party at that house continued until about 3am! One can’t expect “urban camping” to be serene, but we had no idea that the energy level would remain this high for so long. Welcome to Miami!
WYNWOOD
Wynwood is an area of Miami that is undergoing gentrification. This warehouse district is becoming a vibrant, trendy neighborhood filled with new bars and restaurants, craft brews, eclectic shops, clubs, live music venues, and it’s tourist draw – life sized murals and art galleries. Wynwood Walls is a mostly-open-air art gallery. In 2009, 80,000 sq. feet of abandoned warehouses soon became street art canvases for more than 50 artists from over 16 countries. Wynwood Walls is now one of the top museums in Miami. The charge for admission was reasonable as the art was great, but be sure to walk up and down the streets of the surrounding area because there are just as many gorgeous neighborhood pieces as there were gallery pieces and they’re all free.
Doug noticed how the car in the painting below seemed to always be pointing at you as you moved past the painting so he took video below
Inside Wynwood Walls.
I wasn’t initially excited about visiting Miami. I assumed that a big city with a nice beach known for clubbing was a bit of a mismatch for semi-retired / retired people in an RV. I have to admit that the Art Deco of South Beach, complex food and culture of Little Havana, and the talent of the artists gracing Wynwood’s streets, won me over. If your vice is clubbing all night and spending your next day recovering on the beach, Miami can accommodate, but if like us, that’s not your thang, there’s still plenty of wonderful activities in Miami! You definitely can find your own vice there.
