Last week, I wrote about spending some time
in Key Largo over the Christmas holidays. Before coming home, we spent a couple of nights in Miami, which meant we had time to see the two districts I was most
interested in – Little Havana and the Art Deco district.
Little Havana was first established by
Cuban immigrants, many of whom settled in Miami because of its proximity to their homeland. More recently, it has welcomed
other Central and Southern American immigrants, but the Cuban influence remains
strong.
Calle Ocho (8th Street) is the
hub of Little Havana. We began our walk at the Brigade 2506 Memorial. This
statue was erected in honour of the Cuban exiles who were killed attempting to
overthrow Fidel Castro in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.
Calle Ocho is rich with Latin influences.
We ate Cuban ice cream, and saw art galleries, a cigar factory, and the Cuban Walk
of Fame. Of note, one of the recipients of a star on the Walk of Fame is singer
Gloria Estefan. Her father was involved in the Bay of Pigs invasion, and was
captured and given a 30-year prison sentence. Two years later, he and the other
American prisoners were returned to Miami after $62 million in ransom money was
paid.
We couldn’t leave Little Havana without
having lunch at its most famous restaurant, Versailles. Even at noon, the line
to get in was formidable. It was worth the wait. The menu was huge, but I had to try the traditional Cuban ropa vieja (shredded beef). It was terrific.
Our hotel was located in the Art Deco
district, and a neighbourhood walk was on my must-do list. The Hotel of South
Beach has retained its beautiful Tiffany tower from when it was a hotel of the
same name. The original Tiffany Hotel
was designed by L. Murray Dixon, a leading architect who designed many other
buildings in the district (including the Tides, the Raleigh and the Regent hotels).
Walking north on Ocean Drive and back along
Collins and Washington Avenues, we had our cameras out full-time. Most of the
buildings were, of course, in Art Deco design. The Breakwater Hotel (pictured
at the top of the blog) pays homage to a Mayan Temple, while other buildings
were built in Streamline Moderne or Mediterranean Revival styles.
Here are some of the beautiful buildings,
and one interior, that impressed us.
We loved this gorgeous
antique car parked on Ocean Drive:
Sunrise at South Beach:
