The state of Florida was made for tourists, from the Everglades to beautiful coastlines, remote Key West to historic St. Augustine. For watersports and golf, scenic drives and wildlife, you can do a lot worse than the state of 18 million people.
Although the capital city is Tallahassee, Miami is the heart and soul of Florida. Home to a metro urban population that ranks behind only New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, the city is a formidable player. Despite the fact Florida was hit hard by the current economic crisis, most notably in the areas of real estate development, construction and foreclosures, Miami still has tremendous growth potential as a tourist destination and commercial hub. From Miami Beach to South Beach, Little Haiti to Little Havana, the city offers so much to explore.
Here are some ways to make the most of magnificent Miami.
The world’s most famous contemporary art festival first came to Miami Beach in December 2002 and soon eclipsed the Swiss original in scope and importance. Although more commercial than Art Basel, the swish Miami incarnation unites the who’s who of the art world with newcomers and admirers alike.
As a premier capital of electronic music, Miami is in select company around the world. The Winter Music Conference has drawn influential producers, musicians, DJs, record labels and industry types to the city for two decades, long before the genre was mainstream. Most importantly, the week-long festival is a dream for fans, who flock to the city’s world class nightclubs by the thousands to hear their idols spin from dusk to dawn.
South Beach Food & Wine Festival
Despite the fact that the Food Network and Food & Wine Magazine now dominate one of the paramount culinary events on the planet, they do team up to throw one hell of a party in Miami every February. With peerless collective influence on the stars of the food world, the juggernaut media outlets bring out the likes of Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain, Ferran Adria, Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse to wow the crowds. From special dinners at Miami restaurants to wine seminars, celebrity chef demos and events, the South Beach Food & Wine Festival is the Super Bowl of the culinary world.
Though South Beach may be familiar to most people today as a mecca of nightclubs, boutique hotels, models and gay culture, before all of those accurate depictions came to pass, the Miami oceanfront enclave was a guinea pig for architects and real estate developers. As a result of a land boom that began in 1920, South Beach became the premier place to appreciate Art Deco architecture. The collection of Art Deco landmarks in the city are on the National Register of Historic Places and a variety of tours, from pedestrian to bicycle, to audio tours on your iPod or mobile device, are available.
Despite the fact that so many tourists concentrate on the coastlines of Miami Beach and South Beach, urban Miami is really a city of neighborhoods and ethnic pockets that create a wonderful sense of diversity and cultural richness. While the vast Cuban population of Miami is now spread out in many areas of South Florida, Little Havana is still the pulsepoint for the vibrant community.
A great neighborhood to visit anytime, March brings the additional attraction of the Calle Ocho Festival. The culmination of Miami’s Carnival celebrations, the festival is one of the biggest street fairs in the world, with more than 1 million people in regular attendance. With representation from dozens of nations in Latin America and abroad, the music, costumes, performances and food up and down Southwest 8th Street are impossible to resist.
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