Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.A.

In March, 1998, we took a trip to Miami (I'm Glenn, in case you just arrived) and stayed at Miami Beach. You may not know, as I didn't, that Miami Beach is not a beach area of the city of Miami at all, but rather an island off the shore of the mainland that must be accessed by one of several causeways.

Although all of the island is quite developed, the most famous part, where the following pictures were taken, is the South Beach area, on the Atlantic side, where I've drawn the arrow. It's here that you'll find the art deco hotel area that many people associate with the words "Miami Beach."

Since my digital video camera stopped functioning in Key West, this is the "shortest and sweetest" of my web pages. I'm a lot more conservative with snapshots than with digital tape!

	In these pictures, we're starting at the south end of the art deco strip and heading north. Of course the hotels all face the ocean, so you can imagine the ocean at your back as you view these pictures. Perhaps the hotel that caught my eye the most was the Colony Hotel. Looking at postcard racks later, I noticed that I wasn't the only guy with a camera who found that the Colony and Boulevard made for a nice shot.
A few of the hotels have vintage cars parked in front of them, like this Olds "Rocket 88." They might lose a prime parking space by leaving them there, but they gain a lot of atmosphere.
	I swear that my being a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and therefore a Clevelander myself had absolutely nothing to do with my taking and/or including this picture! The Clevelander didn't seem to have many people in front at its sidewalk cafe at this time, but all up and down the strip are "beautiful people" seeing and being seen at sidewalk cafes. Others are roller blading the sidewalks with Walkman stereos and sunglasses perched fashionably up on their heads. Interesting enough to tour through, but the self-consciousness of the whole place is not really my cup of tea.
Who wouldn't recognize the Versace mansion after all the pictures that were run in the summer of 1997? I had know that it was a converted hotel, but I hadn't realized that it was hotel, hotel, restaurant, the Versace mansion, hotel, hotel, etc. The man literally had the only home on the strip. Well, he relished the atmosphere and had the wherewithal, so to each his element. Terrible what happened on those steps. By the way, that's my little family posing in front of it.

This last one is a panorama picture I took from near the water. You can see that the strip is set quite a distance back from the waterfront, with plenty of space for beach volleyball, etc.
So that's it for my little walk in Miami Beach. I hope it gave you some idea of what at least the art deco historical area is like.