Beach & Salsa

I woke up early and didn't waste too much time getting out of the hotel room. 

I got a Citibike again and decided to bike all the way down to the southern part of the island. 

It was such a pleasant bike ride with the sun still rising on the east. 

This bike coastal path runs along the whole island and the palm trees just add more beauty to the scenery.

SOUTH POINTE PARK

FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pointe_Park

The Federal Government donated the land to Miami Beach in 1979, which used it as a home to police horse stables, a police intelligence unit and the Port of Miami's harbor pilots until all buildings remaining at the site were razed in 1984 to begin conversion a park. The federal government paid half the construction cost.

Opening on October 25, 1985, it became the nineteenth public park in Miami Beach, built at a cost of $3.6 million (1984). Initial features included an amphitheater, two wooden observation towers, picnic pavilions, fitness courses and a 522-foot (159 m) wooden boardwalk over Miami Beach's last natural sand dune. During planning phases, city officials worried it would become a home to vagrants, and to discourage that they planned the park to be a home to frequent festivals and other events. The park became part of a larger plan in the 1980s to renovate the city's run down South Pointe area.

Renovation plans were first drawn up in the city's 1995 master plan, but the 20-month, $22.5 million renovation wasn't completed until March 2009. Features added in the renovation included 20-foot (6.1 m)-wide walkways lined with Florida limestone and an ocean-themed children's playground.

The park underwent a major renovation effort, completed in 2009. The Hargreaves Associates, of New York City, were hired to redesign the park at a cost of around $22 million (2008).

Me and my companion bike.

MIAMI BEACH

Miami Beach is a south Florida island city, connected by bridges to mainland Miami. Wide beaches stretch from North Shore Open Space Park, past palm-lined Lummus Park to South Pointe Park. The southern end, South Beach, is known for its international cachet with models and celebrities, and its early-20th-century architecture in the Art Deco Historic district with pastel-colored buildings, especially on Ocean Drive.

LUMMUS PARK

The tour guide told us the other day that the Lummus brother really had a more social vision for  South Beach. They refused to accept offers from other developers to build hotels and other business along their land close to the beach. Instead, they wanted this area to remain opened to the public. 

And Lummus Park was created. 

The park is on the eastern side of Ocean Drive, from 5th to 15th Streets. When redesigned and improved in the mid-1980s, it became part of the project for the redevelopment of what is now the Miami Beach Architectural District of South Beach. Along Ocean Drive, the park shows grassy areas and palm trees, alongside volleyball courts and pull up bars. A wavy pedestrian walk, called the Promenade, separates the grass of the park and the beach up to 21st St, where it turns into boardwalk. The sidewalk is inspired by Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx's oceanfront walk along Copacabana Beach near Rio de Janeiro.

The park is a great backdrop for photo shoots, which happen frequently, and it initially became the location for many scenes from the television series "Miami Vice". The Miami Beach park and the Deco streetscape along Ocean Drive continue to be featured in "Miami" location shots for television and movies, and can be seen in episodes of the USA Network's Burn Notice.

South Beach

FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Beach

South Beach, also nicknamed SoBe, is a neighborhood in the city of Miami Beach, Florida, United States, located due east of Miami city proper between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south of Dade Boulevard.

This area was the first section of Miami Beach to be developed, starting in the 1910s, due to the development efforts of Carl G. Fisher, the Lummus Brothers, and John S. Collins, the latter of whose construction of the Collins Bridge provided the first vital land link between mainland Miami and the beaches.

The area has gone through numerous artificial and natural changes over the years, including a booming regional economy, increased tourism, and the 1926 hurricane, which destroyed much of the area. As of 2010, 39,186 people lived in South Beach.

The rescue time was busy whistling to people in the water to come closer. 

And their post was always busy with tourists getting that classic photo.

I even went for a swim. 

The water was a bit cold and the ocean was rough, but it was refreshing. 

LITTLE HAVANA

Little Havana is a must go neighbourhood in Miami. 

It's about 15-20 minutes by car from Miami Beach.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Havana

Little Havana (Spanish: Pequeña Habana) is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. Home to many Cuban exiles, as well as many immigrants from Central and South America, Little Havana is named after Havana, the capital and largest city in Cuba.

Little Havana is noted as a center of social, cultural, and political activity in Miami. Its festivals, including the Calle Ocho Festival, Viernes Culturales/Cultural Fridays, the Three Kings Parade and others, have been televised to millions of people every year on different continents. It is also known for its landmarks, including Calle Ocho (SW 8th Street/Tamiami Trail), and its Walk of Fame (for famous artists and Latin personalities, including Celia Cruz, Willy Chirino, and Gloria Estefan), the Cuban Memorial Boulevard, Plaza de la Cubanidad, Domino Park, the Tower Theater, José Martí Park, the Firestone/Walgreens Building, St. John Bosco Catholic Church, Municipio de Santiago de Cuba and others.

Little Havana is the best known neighborhood for Cuban exiles in the world. It is characterized by its street life, restaurants, music and other cultural activities, mom and pop enterprises, political passion, and great warmth amongst its residents.

In 2015, Little Havana was included in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s annual list of 11 Most Endangered Places. In 2017, the Trust declared it a national treasure.

You can find souvenirs and Cuban products like coffee and cigars in the Little Havana's gift shops.

 

It's a very colourful and vibrant neighbourhood. 

The Calle Ocho (8th Street) is the neighbourhood's main street, and really the only place worth visiting as a tourist. It's where the bars, stores and restaurants are.

Cuban cigars.

As of 2000, Little Havana had a population of 49,206 residents, with 19,341 households, and 11,266 families residing in the neighborhood. The median household income was $15,213.16. The ethnic makeup of the neighborhood was 85.08% Hispanic or Latino of any race (mainly Cubans, but also many Nicaraguans and Hondurans, as well as other Latinos), 3.79% Black or African American (not including Afro-Cubans, Afro-Nicaraguans, Afro-Hondurans, and other Afro-Latinos), 10.14% Non-Hispanic White, and 0.96% of other races.

This is suppose to be an authentic and popular Cuban ice cream, but I didn't try it.

Cubans love to play dominos outdoors at parks and squares. Here is no different. The tables at the Domino Park are packed with older Cubans looking so serious and focused.

This man was super friendly. 

Please buy his coconut water if you visit Little Havana. 

As you walk along the Calle Ocho, you can constantly hear live music coming out of the bars and restaurants. 

The Ball and Chain is a famous restaurant, recommended to tourists.

The space is big with live music and local characters.   

FROM https://www.miaminewtimes.com/location/ball-and-chain-6423016

The neon sign for the "World Famous Ball & Chain Bar and Lounge" sits above a green-and-white striped awning, illuminating SW Eighth Street, much like it did nearly 80 years ago. Originally opened in 1935, the Calle Ocho bar had several owners during its 22-year run. But the most notorious of them all were Henry Schechtman and Ray Miller. Schechtman, a business man and owner of the nearby Tower Hotel, was arrested twice in the span of two months, once for B&E at a Lincoln Road bar, and the second time for attempting to break into the trunk of a jeweler's car. Miller, Schechtman's business partner, was a Teamsters Local 320 union organizer who was tied to multiple counts of vandalism, including the slashing of 70 car tires. The two took ownership of Ball & Chain in the early '50s, only to be shut down several years later in 1957 after being slammed with a $5,000 lawsuit from Count Basie. The bandleader accused the shady owners of only paying him $5,000 of the $13,000 that he was promised. Although much has changed since the days of the ol' Ball & Chain, current owners Bill Fuller and Zack and Ben Bush have kept its history alive. In fact, the high-beamed Dade County pine ceiling is the same structure that's supported the building since the mid '30s.

I loved the colours and the rustic decor of the place. 

I had the most popular Cuban dish at the menu: Ropa Vieja, which is shredded meat, rice, beans and fried plantains. To drink? Mojito, por favor.

The Ball and Chain has two ambience with music. 

Visitors can appreciate a live band at the front, and a DJ entertains a younger crowd in a big patio in the back. Just seat on one of the comfortable sofas and enjoy a piece of Cuba, right in Miami.