Like NYC, Miami is one of the few large cities that looks just as exciting – if not more so – at night as it does during daylight hours. Take, for example, my hotel, the Albion. Its gleaming white facade with Art Deco curves and porthole windows greeted me with a pleasant glow set amidst a few well-placed palm trees.
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| Albion Hotel at the corner of James Avenue & Lincoln Rd. |
The lobby featured an interesting blue and orange color scheme, with some of the original details intact (note the decorative plaster at the base of the pillars).
I thought the framed tribal art and modern light fixture were cool, too.
Most likely due to the smaller number of travelers, the hotel upgraded me to a room on the 6th floor with a King bed overlooking the pool. This was nice because I could look out my window to see if the pool was crowded – it never was during my stay. The room was clean, including the bathroom, which had a streamlined nautical look.
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| Preserve a life. |
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| I'll save you, save you... |
To take a break from poolside lounging in the 84-degree sunshine, I decided to get into tourist mode, and booked a Miami double-decker bus tour.
Directly outside the visitors building on Lincoln Road, I saw this warrior god wall sculpture, so I took a pic from the top level of the bus.
Don't look down...
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| Is Miami tall? Well, I gotta look up. |
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| These "gills" make it look like it's breathing. |
The tour did include a stop in Little Havana, another area of Miami I had never visited before. No surprise, it was very colorful with plenty of quirky architecture, restaurants, shops, and interesting locals (and locos).
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| Estas aquí, Havana Pequeña. |
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| Big Cock in Little Havana. |
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| Dos chicas en Calle Ocho. |
With donuts and good beer across the street...
Even the dentists' office looked kind of quaint, if a tad sketchy...
Adios, Havana Pequeña!
🔸🔸╦╦🔸🔸╤╤🔸🔸╤╤🔸🔸╤╤🔸🔸╤╤🔸🔸╤╤🔸🔸╤╤🔸🔸╤╤🔸🔸╤╤🔸🔸
Within walking distance of my hotel, Lincoln Road beckoned with its wide sidewalks, restaurants and shops. Over the years, it has lost some of its unique character, and now features mostly mall shops you can find in any other American city. The only shop I really like there is "Books & Books," which also has a pretty decent al fresco restaurant, where I savored shrimp tacos for dinner one night. In any case, the Art Deco and mid-century-style architecture were still prominent – really my favorite features of this still-fabulous city.
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| Art Deco splendor characterized by stepped geometrics, likely from 1930s. The end panels are referred to as "frozen waterfall" designs. |
Check out the cutout outer frame on this building. It definitely has a mid-century modern look...
I also cruised Collins Avenue one night...
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| Walgreens in cool mid-century modern building. Aliens landed a flying saucer atop the right hand part. |
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| Cool nifty 1950s car in cherry red with wide whitewall tires. |
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| BACON BITCH, a new concept in beach nightlife. |
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| Because you can never be too thirsty. |
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| Pride at 12th Street. |
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| Dinner at the Pink Taco. I had a yummy barbacoa burrito & 2 sangrias rojas. |
If there's one thing I will always remember about Miami...
