Miami, Florida (1)

We're here at the southern point of Florida for a few days before we start our Caribbean cruise.

Oh, the bliss of being in a warm place! It's been a cold winter in Melbourne and I am thrilled to be in a sundress. The temperature is 32 °C and it's humid and sunny with thunderstorms. It's monsoon season and Miami is prone to hurricanes --- Tropical Storm Debby hit last week, and Hurricane Ernesto is threatening as I write.

We're staying in downtown Miami, close to Bayside and Biscayne Bay. Miami is a city that has water everywhere --- as well as being on the bay, rivers and water channels divide the streets downtown.

A major hurricane in 1935 destroyed much of Miami, so there are relatively few old buildings amongst the super modern skyscrapers. Freedom Tower, the yellowish brown building (2nd picture), is one of the oldest. Originally built as a newspaper HQ, it fell out of use and was then resurrected as the building where Cuban exiles came to be processed on arriving in the US. It's been restored as a memorial to that time and is now used as an art gallery and museum. The apartment building with the bulbous base (3rd picture) is the One Thousand Building, a swanky new apartment building designed by Zaha Hadid. Apparently the Beckhams own a penthouse here; wherever we went in Miami, guides always mentioned the homes of the rich and famous.

Okay, that's all on the mainland. There are a number of islands in Biscayne Bay, all very desirable locations. The most well known is Miami Beach, an island city connected by causeways to the mainland. Driving across the causeway is a very windy affair.

Miami Beach is divided into three parts: South Beach, Mid Beach and North Beach. South Beach is the trendy part, with lots of clubs and hip stores. We were on (the actual) South Beach at about 10 am on a Friday morning. It was quiet. Copacabana it is not.

South Beach is also famous for its Art Deco Historic District from the 1930s. When developers moved in to Miami Beach in the 1970s, a group of local activists worked to save the old buildings. In 1979 one square mile was designated as the Miami Beach Architectural District and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. I assume you know the characteristics of Art Deco architecture? My Art Deco vocabulary now includes 'eyebrows' on buildings.

The history of Miami is a true 20th century boom. In 1900, Miami consisted of citrus farms and a population of fewer than 2000 people. Today Greater Miami has a population of more than 6 million.

A few events drove the growth.

• During WW2 the Army and Navy moved to Miami to train troops, and around 500,000 troops moved here. Miami (with the Florida Keys being the southernmost point of the US) is still a major strategic military area.

• The 1959 Cuban revolution saw a large exodus of Cuban middle-class to Miami. The many subsequent Cuban political upheavals resulted in even more Cubans moving to Miami. Today more than 50% of Miami residents are Cuban. Miami is the city with most Cuban-Americans and the second-largest US city with a Spanish-speaking majority (after El Paso, Texas). And I will say Miami is very Spanish. I have had to tell people 'no hablo español' a number of times. Our waitress this morning at a bayside restaurant did not speak English.

• Immigrants have arrived from other (troubled) nations such as Haiti. We hear a lot about people coming into the US from Mexico, but Miami is close to many Caribbean islands where times are tough and turbulent. I'm not suggesting for a minute that all arrivals are illegal --- but when they are, they make the news, like the Cuban dude who windsurfed 90 km from Cuba recently and landed on Key West. More on Key West in another post.

• Miami exploded with cocaine in the early 1980s. Remember Miami Vice? In the '70s and '80s, Miami became a major entry point for cocaine smuggled from Colombia via the Bahamas and other Caribbean islands. Gang violence led to Miami becoming the murder capital of the USA; our guide told us rather proudly that the morgues ran out of space and refrigerated vans had to be brought in to store the bodies.

Despite (or because of?) the crime and the massive amounts of cocaine money, the beautiful people moved in. Once a slightly daggy low-cost retirement option and a haven for struggling immigrants, Miami Beach became The Place To Be.

Today the cocaine trade has been cleaned up (apparently) and the morgues are back to usual capacity. We've walked in city streets in early morning and at night with no sense of danger. The hotel staff tell us it's very safe and send us off with a map and a cheery wave.

For us ordinary tourists, Miami's public transport seems to work really well. There are trains, trolleys and a wonderful system of travel downtown: the Metro Mover. It's driver-less, runs on elevated tracks above the streets, and is free to use. We loved it and used it daily to move around the city.

Below the elevated rails, the Underline (get it?) is a walking and cycling track that runs the length of the tracks. We used it to walk to our MetroMover station from our hotel, a 5 to 10 minute walk.

While we're on the subject of transport, I'll end this post with this: I am completely entranced by these little food delivery robots. Like a mobile Esky, they bustle along the street, stopping courteously if someone steps in front of them. They stop at traffic lights. They stop when puzzled dogs sniff at them. They are delightful. Sadly my photo and video are not great, because these little fellas move briskly along --- and whipping out my phone or camera was delayed each time by my excitement.

Next time: Little Havana, Wynwood Walls, more homes of the rich and famous.