South Point Park

I realize that I am late in the game with this post, as everyone else in the blogosphere posted about the opening of South Point Park in South Beach, but I just went for the first time since the grand opening and I'm throwing my $.02 in.
Since I moved off South Beach, almost three years ago, I haven't been back to that area, but before I used to go walking at least three times a week down to the southernmost tip of South Beach, sit on the rocks and relax. Only a few times did I ever wander up towards the park, and I remember it being picnic tables and grills, sort of a smaller version of Crandon Park in Key Biscayne.
On Sunday, El Hombre and I went on a mission to get me out of my irritable, cooped-up mood that I had been in all day, and on the spur of the moment, we elected to explore South Point Park.
I love it. I think it's so cool. I like the windy paths through the trees:
complete with benches to occasionally rest on.

I like the combination of tall buildings and the views of Fisher Island through the palms:



And I love that the path becomes elevated so you can catch a view of the water:


There's also a pretty cool playground for kids:


With funky benches for parents who want to relax and watch their kids play:


There's also the path that borders the water, with these things that light up at night:

and a view of downtown, through the port authority:


As we wandered down the hill, and towards the beach, I also caught some cool pictures:



We wandered out onto the rocks that jut out into the water where we saw many groups of friend camped out, enjoying the last few rays of the late afternoon sun, people fishing and taking pictures.


We also found a hidden cutey face!


South Point Park is awesome. The whole vibe was very laid back and fun, with kids running and shrieking the way they do when they are having the time of their lives, couples of all ages strolling, holding hands and laying on their backs in the grass, and families gathered around tables and benches. It's cool to find such a chilled out and happy environment in South Beach.

The under-appreciated boardwalk

For a variety of reasons, my holidays were really rather stressful. I think they are stressful for most people, but this time was a little more than usual. So New Years Day, I finally convinced El Hombre to go with me walking on the upper part of the Miami Beach Boardwalk. When I lived on 23rd street, I used to walk this boardwalk all the time to relax, get some exercise and just enjoy the scenery.

In my opinion, this is an under-appreciated part of the beach. The boardwalk spans from 47th down to 5th street, where you can then transition to the beach and walk down to SouthPoint. But most people only walk from 15th street to 5th. In my opinion, the best part of the walk is from 23rd street (from 20th-22nd is closed off for construction) to 47th. It's a wooden boardwalk, where biking and rollerblading is restricted, and most of the people abide by this rule. You actually see the water and you get much more of a mix of locals who use the boardwalk to run, walk or just to get out and enjoy the scenery.

Here are a few pictures of our walk:


(ok, this wasn't on the boardwalk obviously, but right before we crossed Collins. Definitely an 'only in Miami' moment for me)


The kite surfers were all up-and-down the beach. You have to love an area where you can get in the ocean all year 'round! We actually sat on the beach and watched them for awhile.


There is much more foliage on the dunes, including large succulents and small trees. This was my favorite shot.

The Reclamation Project - South Beach

The other night I was wandering around Lincoln Road and was amazed in a good way at the Reclamation Project. In all of the Starbuck's that line the Road and in some other storefronts such as the Lincoln Theatre, there were these little cups with mangrove seedlings which are part of the Reclamation Project to show what Miami Beach was like before all of the building and concrete took over. This project is really neat and it's good to see that someone is taking the initiative to take on a project of this magnitude. Hopefully this project will be successful and this will be the beginning of a real movement in Miami. The seedlings will be planted along Biscayne Bay once they're ready. Here are a few photos:

Scenes from a South Beach Halloween

Halloween has long been one of my favorite holidays, but ironically, for the two years that I've lived here, I've missed Halloween on Lincoln Road (from which I lived half a block away, BTW.)

Last year was my first experience on Lincoln Road and it was crazy packed, worse than the grove. But it's hilarious. This year el hombre and I dressed as ninjas and hit South Beach to scope the freaks, geeks, ghosties and ghouls. Ironically, the place that took Pacific Time's spot aptly describes Lincoln Road Halloween festivities:


You see all sorts of costumes, we all know that. The most prominant was the slutty pirate and the drag queens:




Speaking of being political, this is a strange sign outside the Wolfsonian:


Española Way was more quiet and pretty:


And of course, what's SoBe without people ridin' dirty?


Or a random sumo wrestler looking for a worthy foe (he didn't see me because of my ninja-like skills!)

Welcome back, el capitan!

Here's an addition to El Capitan's mannequin photo collection, taken on Washington Ave, South Beach, on Halloween:

Bassnectar...

This past Saturday we went to go see Bassnectar, dj at 305 Lounge. I haven't been there before, but it's a really cool venue. It's behind Buck 15/Miss Yip between Lincoln Road and 17th Street on Miami Beach. It's a small dive bar with graffiti art on the walls:




a DJ booth towards the back, in the middle of the floor:




and a longish bar, with two flat-screen TVs. We got there a little early, and hung out on the couches (though after my brief stint working at Nikki Beach, I am hesitant to sit on any couches in bars or clubs... and that's all I will say about that.)

It was a good show, Bassnectar rocked. He played some Beats Antique remixes, some NIN, some Nirvana and a bunch of other really really cool stuff. I definitely recommend seeing him when he comes 'round again.



And as we were walking out, I snapped this picture, because it's so South Beach (and no, while Buck 15 is cool, I would never wait in line to get in.)

A Day at the Beach

These were taken a couple of weekends ago as a storm rolled in on South Beach. The crazy kiteboarders were out in full force up and down the beach:

Vacation Holiday

So I am finally recovered (well, as much as possible) from my trip to Tampa this weekend. I tend to go to our neighbor to the northwest once a year for karate-related purposes, and on the way back, El Hombre and I stopped in Clearwater for the afternoon, my first time there, in fact.

There are some marked differences between Tampa and Miami. Gas is cheaper, for one. There is also an abundance of pirate references, which thrills me (and I am dying to go to Gasparilla this year.)



But I have to say, while I still love Miami beaches, Clearwater beach is very family friendly and the sand is really really soft, not ground up cement and coral like in SoBe.





Although you can definitely go swimming in mid-October in both Miami and Tampa.



The turtles that decorate every block of the beach boardwalk are adorable!



Who doesn't love a random Elvis cooler outside of a bait and tackle shop, right off the highway?



A sign that I still love living in Miami more (and not just because we get less hurricanes).... rainbow on the way home, over Alligator Alley.

Signs - South Beach

I've always been drawn to really neat signs and advertising (especially if it's in neon). I was really happy to have stumbled upon these two on a fence south of 5th on the Beach. It looks like a small community garden.

Scenes from South Beach

It was such a nice day yesterday that it was a perfect evening to go to the beach. Here are some photos from the area:

South Beach nonsense

Of course this would happen on South Beach.

What else do you expect from an area promoted as a den of clubs, sex and drugs. Really

Miami Beach foliage

It amazes me how you can walk north from South Beach a few blocks and you go from crazy party central to extreme foliage, like this thing, which I refer to as the huge spikey death plant.