Bike Miami Days

Last Sunday was the last Bike Miami day of the season (whatever that means) and for the first time I was actually able to go. After living in Charleston, SC for four years without a car, I am a big advocate of alternative means of transportation, particularly via bicycle.

We parked the car on South Miami Ave, close to Key Biscayne and biked into the city. First of all, South Miami Ave has a nice bike path, but it needs to be longer. But it's a pretty drive, especially on the weekend when traffic is light.

Biking through Brickell and Downtown is cool because you see the city from an entirely different perspective. It was a hot day with a nice breeze which was both cooling and added resistance to the ride. We stopped by displays to sample empanadas and iced tea, saw some bands, and witnessed the dance-off for the free bicycles, proving once again, that people will do anything for something free

One nice little touch was the communication via chalk on the sidewalk, old school style:






Speaking of the river, these are some pics I snapped from the bike. I have never really explored the river area and I liked it.



And in case you haven't seen the video yet, these people pulled a Ford Fiesta with a bike. I bet his legs were hurting later!




And before we biked back to the car, we rode down to the bay to check out the boats by Bayside and relax by the water:




And as tempting as it was, we didn't stop in on our way back... But I never realized how brightly painted the building is...

Golden Brickell

This was taken on Saturday - the golden towers of Brickell from South Miami Avenue:

Christmas Palms

Yeeeah!

Downtown Miami Art

I call this one "Penne Pasta Red," :

A Stop at La Moon

I went back to my favorite Colombian hot dog restaurant (they do serve other delicious dishes as well) the other night and took some pics. The light hitting the table served as an artsy backdrop for our drinks against the grit of Calle Ocho - and you can see the neon blue of the Starlight Motel - East sign behind my friend. I don't know where the Starlight Motel - West is. It was a beautiful night and the food and service was fantastic as always (they even moved a table outside for us because it was that nice outside):

A Photographic Journey of Brickell by the Bay at Night

I snapped these a while ago and have been meaning to put them on here. It was a nice balmy night and the moon was full over Miami...

Stormy Days and Stormy Nights

A storm's a brewin! It was a little green - doesn't that mean tornado? Maybe it's an old wives tale or urban legend or whatever.

And this was the remnants of a spectacular light show over the Bay last night. Ah, the balmy, stormy season is here.

Hot Nights in the Bamboo Garden

These wonderful, delightful neon poles called the Bamboo Garden are in my neighborhood and I think they are my favorite installment of random downtown Miami art. Sometimes it's fun to dance dance dance with the lights. It's a good time. You should try it.

Sunset & Palms - SE 15th Road

This is my neighborhood, down near Biscayne Bay. It's may favorite place to go for walks. And I'm obsessed with taking photographs of palm trees at sunset.

The Cock Series - Part 1

The elusive fireman cock in Brickell. All over Miami, you can find statues of the rooster (aka the cock), especially in Little Havana. You can also find real live versions in backyards, along US-1, Lincoln Road, Key West, Hobie Beach (if they ran away and aren't the guest of honor in a santeria extravaganza)...basically all over the place.

City of Signs - Can't Keep Us Out

It happens everywhere: signs posted and no one pays any attention to them. In Miami, however, there are lots of signs and someone likes to post them where there is really no need. Take the other night for example. We were walking to go get delicious hot dogs and headed down a sidewalk which was in tip top condition when we came across a "sidewalk closed" sign. A few feet away, we came across a giant pit of darkness which had no sign posted to warn us of our impending doom. Is this Miami's way of tricking us into an early grave (literally - you should have seen the hole, could have fit at least five with no one to hear you scream), a joke or just an example of the randomness that is Miami? We documented our blasphemy towards el sign in the photos above and neglected to document the pit of darkness as that is how the city would have wanted it. Nonetheless, we survived and got our hot dogs. Awesomeness 1 Miami 0.

Ripped Downtown Art

This wasn't here the other day. I noticed this last Saturday night (May 10th). I call it "Man and Little Man."