South Beach, Miami: Pics

This may come as a complete shock to most of you, but I happen to have about the same level of appreciation for architecture as that of a 2-year old...meaning that unless the building is either really, really tall or really, really sparkly, I get bored in about 2 minutes.

So it was somewhat of a surprise to me that Miami's South Beach art deco district absolutely fascinated me, starting with all of those funky lifeguard towers lined up along the beach.

I had to limit our photos to our top five favorites since all of them (dozens) were so cool.

I was also fascinated by both the new and original art deco designed buildings.

Because we were in the heart of South Beach we walked around each night just so we could take in all the neon lights and walk along the boardwalk. It was all very, very relaxing and made me want to live in South Beach, that is, until I woke up the next morning and began sweating and whining simultaneously.

And finally, the last picture is of Roy in our hotel lobby. I really wanted to be in the picture, but Roy had to patiently explain to me that only a white man could be in the Whitelaw Hotel's white lobby (aww...shucks).

Overall, we liked it. It had just the right amount of retro funk, free stiff drinks during happy hour each night, and a very ethnically diverse staff. On our third night there, however, we suddenly found ourselves staying next door to what we called 'the goddamn Spanish football team' (about 6 young, rowdy obnoxious drunks from Spain). At one point, they were running up and down the halls, howling and body slamming each other into the walls.

It took Great Aunt Jo all of about 10 minutes before she decided to ruin all their fun and complain to the Front Desk. If you've never heard a lone Romanian front desk clerk with limited English try to quiet down a rowdy, drunken Spanish football team, well- you're missing out. We listened to the brief, somewhat terrifying exchange (we feared for the footballers lives, for we all know exactly how dissent is handled in countries like Romania and North Korea) but were pleased that not only was he able to shut them up instantly, but also for the rest of our entire stay. Rock on hardline socialist/communist regimes!

We also drove down to the beautiful, crystal clear waters off the Florida Keys and up to the Everglades, but between you and me, it's Miami's South Beach that really shines. Between the architecture, the white sandy beaches, the laid back atmosphere, open-air dining each night, incredible hotels (the Delano and Hotel Victor made me drool), delicious Cuban fare and the boardwalk...well, I can see why so many choose to call it home.