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Miami River
For a taste of a seedy old Florida that reeks of Humphrey Bogart in shirt sleeves and a fedora, come to the lazy, sultry and still kinda spicy Miami River. Just don't be reckless; the aura of seediness isn't artificial, and there are some areas where you don't want to be alone and on foot. Much of the shore feels abandoned, and is lined with makeshift warehouses, where you-can-only-imagine-what is loaded and unloaded onto small tugboats bound for you-can-only-imagine-where.
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Miami Seaquarium
This fine 15-hectare (38-acre) marine life park excels in preserving, protecting and educating us about aquatic creatures. Shows and exhibits include a tropical reef; the Shark Channel, with feeding presentations; and Discovery Bay, a natural mangrove habitat that serves as a refuge for rehabilitating rescued sea turtles.
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Miami-Dade Community College
Though the college itself isn't very exciting, there are two art galleries with rotating exhibitions at the Wolfson Campus of the Miami-Dade Community College. Both the 3rd-floor Centre Gallery and 5th-floor Frances Wolfson Gallery often have photography shows.
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Miracle Theater
This gorgeous, 80-year old theater is one of the best bits of deco anywhere off the Beach. Today, the Actors' Playhouse company puts on productions in one of three performance spaces - the 600-seat main-stage auditorium, a smaller children's theater and a black box for cutting-edge works - although the theater is nice to visit whether you've got tickets or not.
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Moca At Goldman Warehouse
Thank God the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) expanded into this Wynwood satellite; the main exhibit, while worth the drive, is a ways away. In the meantime, the MoCA at Goldman has dibs on this space through 2009; pay a visit, as it's a good, Downtown-adjacent spot to see some of the highlights of the MoCA's excellent collection.
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Monkey Jungle
Two great children's attractions are located in far South Miami: the Miami Metrozoo has exotic elephants, tigers and Komodo dragons, while the Amazon-like Monkey Jungle is like an inside-out zoo, with you enclosed in screened-in trails and the simian species running free.
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Moore Space
The second floor of this huge space consistently shows some of the most cutting-edge exhibitions around. Conceived in response to the first Art Basel Miami Beach, you should definitely check out what's going on here when you're in town; it's usually interesting but can be hit or miss - when we stopped in, one of the pieces was a looped video of a French guy crushing a coke can with his foot. Deep, man.
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Museum of Contemporary Art
Even though it's opened a satellite gallery in Wynwood, you should still hike waaay up to North Miami to see the excellent collection at the main MoCA building. The sharp, geometric grounds are pleasurable enough, but even better are exhibitions from artists such as Jorge Pardo and Robert Moss and pieces on loan from institutions such as the Tate Modern in London.
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National Hurricane Center
Florida and hurricanes go together like peanut butter and destructive jelly, and this fascinating center is the first line of defense against these devastating storms. Free 40-minute tours are available by appointment only, and document both the drama of hurricanes and the intricacies of storm-tracking, one of the main responsibilities of this facility, located on the campus of Florida International University (FIU).
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Normandy Isle
A few years ago Normandy Isle was dubbed Little Argentina, and it's still one of the best places outside Mendoza to people-watch with a cortada before digging into the sort of pasta and steak dishes the gauchos love so well.
But today the Argentines compete with their neighbors, the Uruguayans, their rivals, the Brazilians, and even a big crop of Colombians for first place in the Normandy Isle ethnic enclave stakes.
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Ocean Drive
Yar, here be the belly of the South Beach Beast. It's just a road, right? No, it's America's great cruising strip, an endless parade of classic cars, testosterone-sweating young men, peacock-y young women, those guys who yell unintelligible crap at everyone, celebrities pretending to be tourists, tourists who want to play celebrity, beautiful people, ugly people, people people and the best ribbon of deco preservation on the beach. Say 'Miami.' That image in your head? Probably the Drive.
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Old Us Post Office
Constructed in 1912, this post office and county courthouse served as the first federal building in Miami. The building, with its elaborate doors and carved entryways, was purchased in 1937 to serve as the country's first savings and loan (and ergo, the core of the industry that would fund Miami's skyline). Government prosecutors moved into the adjacent Federal Courthouse and Federal Justice Building.
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Oleta River State Recreation Area
Tequesta Indians were boating this rich estuary (our favorite body of water, by the way) as early as 500 BC, so you're just following in a long tradition if you paddle in a canoe or kayak. At almost 1000 acres, this is the largest urban park in the state and one of the best places in Miami to escape the maddening throng. Boat out to the local mangrove island, watch the eagles fly by, or just chill on the pretension-free beach.
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Pelican Island
On weekends you can take a short tootle over to itsy-bitsy Pelican Island on a free ferry from the JFK Causeway west of North Bay Village, about 2 miles west of 71st St in Miami Beach. It's a pleasant little beach spot to unpack a picnic and peer at dozens of congregating pelicans.
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Plymouth Congregational Church
It looks like Antonio Banderas should emerge from this 1917 coral mission-style church with a guitar case full of explosives and Salma Hayek on his arm. The 11-acre grounds are a popular spot for wedding photos and home to Dade County's first schoolhouse, a one-room wooden building that dates to 1887.
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Promenade
This beach Promenade, a wavy ribbon sandwiched between the beach and Ocean Dr, extends from 5th to 15th Sts. A popular location for photo shoots, especially during crowd-free early mornings, it's also a breezy, palm tree-lined conduit for in-line skaters, bicyclists, volleyball players (there's a net at 11th St), dog walkers, yahoos, locals and tourists.
The beach that it edges, called Lummus Park, sports six floridly colored lifeguard stands. There's a public bathroom at 11th St; heads up, the sinks are a popular place for homeless bathing.
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Purvis Young Gallery
Vagrant, convict and creator, Purvis Young (1943-) is Overtown's favorite native son. Although his work is dubbed 'outsider' or 'folk' art (ie he didn't go to art school), we'd just classify it as good. His paintings, often done on pieces of wood and carpet sample, portray ink-blotty mothers, horses, angels, African idols and people striving for freedom from an ambiguous captivity, a poignant and well-realized message in studio spaces that abut Miami's poorest neighborhoods.
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Rubell Family Art Collection
The Rubell family - specifically, the niece and nephew of the late Steve, better known as Ian Schrager's Studio 54 partner - operates some top-end hotels in Miami Beach, but they've also amassed an impressive contemporary art compilation that spans the last 30 years. The most admirable quality of this collection is its commitment to not just display one or two of its artists' pieces; rather, the aim is to focus on a contributor's entire career.
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Russian & Turkish Baths
The Baths were being overhauled when we visited, but they should be open now, and will (hopefully) still be offering the best sort of spa experience: cleanse, cleanse, cleanse, without the glamour. Spend a few hours among soothing saunas, steam rooms and whirlpools and, for an extra fee, indulge in a massage or exfoliating salt scrub. You'll feel like jelly for the rest of the day.
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South Pointe Park
Closed for an overhaul when we visited, this small park at the southern tip of Sobe is getting a $22.3 million facelift into a kid-friendly promenade, with sand dune paths, arcing fountains, turtle-sensitive lighting that won't scare off nesting sea turtles and, ironically, a sculpture of an iceberg.
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Stiltsville
Out in the middle of Biscayne Bay, seven houses hover on pilings over the shallow waters, the remnants of the historic community of Stiltsville .
It started in the early 1930s, when a fisherman named 'Crawfish' Eddie Walker built an off-shore shack where he could entertain his fishing buddies. At its peak there were 27 offshore structures, but hurricanes have claimed many of the buildings. Slated to be torn down in 1999, the buildings were saved by a petition with 75,000 signatures.
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Temple Emanu El Synagogue
A deco synagogue? Not exactly, but the smooth bubbly dome and sleek, almost aerodynamic profile of this Conservative synagogue, established in 1938, fits right in on Sobe's deco parade of moderne this and streamline that. Sabbath services are on Fridays at and Saturdays at .
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Tower Theater
This recently renovated 1926 landmark theater has a proud deco facade. Plenty of Spanish-language films are shown here, and Latin American art exhibits are often displayed in the lobby. Note the nearby Walk of Fame of Cuban-American celebrity as you stroll by.
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University Of Miami Hurricanes
Catch the beloved college Hurricanes shooting hoops at the BankUnited Center at the University of Miami.
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Viernes Culturales
One of the best times to experience Little Havana is the last Friday of the month during Viernes Culturales, or 'Cultural Fridays', a street fair showcasing Latino artists and musicians.
