What I Miss About Miami

After a year of living in South Beach, I decided to trade my Michigan Avenue digs for a comparatively simpler life in Central Florida.  A couple of weeks back, I wrote about why I decided to make the move—leading some to wonder why a site dedicated to the joys of all things Miami would dare publish an article that would find fault with the city.  The way I see it, though, it’s not necessary to ignore a city’s weaknesses in order to enjoy its strengths.

I’m actually able to still enjoy Miami while finding fault with it.  This is because, like most things in life, what’s a curse can also be a blessing.  Take for example its transience: the same factors that can make it harder to build up relationships of trust in Miami also infuse it with a certain spontaneity and innovativeness lacking in other cities; you have more opportunities to be yourself and to escape the scrutiny of the neighbors.  The freedom to be unique and eccentric brings along with it the ability to be creative.  Likewise, lots of traffic on the freeway means that there are a lot of people who want to live there.  The local obsession with surface image creates scores of health-conscious venues, such as gyms and juice bars—and dramatic architecture abounds.  Superficiality can be visually stunning! Flowers, after all, only look so luscious because they’re trying to impress the bees.

So, as I began to think about it, many things came to mind that I miss about this billion dollar sandbar.  Here are a few of them:

THE COLORS

Sometimes it seems as if someone turned up the saturation button on the local surroundings.  The ocean is a glowing Miami CSI-turquoise, the foliage an intense, vibrant green.  The pastel colors of the deco buildings catch the afternoon sun and the entire experience feels like some kind of heat-induced mirage.  As the sun slowly sinks behind the neon of Ocean Drive, the sky becomes an entrancing display of burning orange, grey and red.  You just don’t see this electric, Oz-like display of color further north…it starts to kick in around Palm Beach, I think, and you don’t realize how radiant it all is until you’ve forsaken it once more for the muted world beyond its borders.

THE GILLIGAN EFFECT

I grew up watching reruns of Gilligan’s Island, fantasizing about what it would be like to be stranded on a beautiful, tropical island abounding in coconut trees, bamboo, and brightly-colored flowers.  Now, when I see the palms blowing in the balmy breezes on South Beach or Key Biscayne, it stirs the imagination of that inner child and makes me feel like the dream came true, and I’ve been pleasantly shipwrecked in paradise.

PRODUCTIVE WALKING

Walking is something I enjoy doing—it saves gas, relieves stress, and keeps the pounds off.  I’ve always preferred to be able to do my daily errands and get my exercise at the same time.  However, in most places, you get your walking in at the neighborhood park or along residential streets and rely on the car for everything else.  Not so in South Beach, where you can hit the bank, the post office, and pick up a few papayas at the neighborhood market, all on your morning constitutional.

THE LOCAL WILDLIFE

Regular neighborhoods might impress you with the occasional squirrel, but Miami is a living version of Animal Planet! Raccoons boldly comb the area parks, iguanas belly flop into city canals, and prehistoric-sized Cuban anoles hide in the landscaping.  In the evening hours, especially after a good rain, geckos appear on your windows, while flocks of parrots take refuge in the treetops.

SEX APPEAL

While the rest of the world hides itself in ever baggier clothes, forgetting the shape of their bodies beneath, Miami stubbornly refuses to adopt the neutered lifestyles of mainstream America.  While they cloister themselves in their bedrooms watching Internet porn, in Miami, you can find it in real life right outside your door! South Beach’s consciousness of its sexuality imbues it with a certain freedom and excitement, helping us to regard our fellow humans less as obstacles and more as….dinner! While some may brand these indulgences as base and predatory, it’s often when we embrace ourselves as the sexual creatures we are that we feel most alive.

IT’S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL

Few places in the world possess the kind of global village feel that South Beach so effortlessly achieves.  As you stroll along the sidewalks, it’s not uncommon to hear conversations in four or five different languages.  Most assume that Miami owes its exotic charms exclusively to the Cuban community, and I’m sure that it was once very true.  However, in recent years, Argentines, Brazilians, Italians, Venezuelans and Caribbean islanders have added spice to the mix, and if those accustomed to more waspy culture feel a bit out of their element, they can find solace in the fact that everyone else is, too—which can be a great conversation starter…

AN EPICUREAN FEAST

All this world culture means a cornucopia of good food, all mere blocks from your apartment.  Whereas in the regular world if I want to grab a quick lunch, my choices are McDonalds, Taco Bell and Subway, in South Beach you could just as easily grab a Cuban sandwich, some Iron sushi, Haitian cuisine, or an Argentine steak with chimichurri sauce—all for about the same price as your neighborhood diner.

HIGH 5s TO THE 5-0

Normally, I don’t think of the police force when I wax fondly over a favorite town, but I was really impressed by the quality and professionalism of the Miami Beach Police Department.  They tend to avoid the pettiness of some jurisdictions—if they didn’t, half the town would be in jail for one thing or another, Miami Beach being the uninhibited adult playground that it is—but when you need their assistance with the things that matter, their response time is fast and their manner, generally polite.  When my mentally-disabled friend wandered off and became lost one evening, their familiarity and ability to deal with such situations really impressed me.  I wish I could get so excited about things up here in Central Florida!

NOT ALL WHO WANDER ARE LOST

So, even though I left this fantasy world in the tropics, there is still much here that draws me back on a regular basis.  The idea of leaving one place for another needn’t imply that the first place didn’t live up to its promise.  Sometimes, the best way to cherish what something is, is to experience it beside what it is not, as part of a tapestry of life adventures which feel the richest when enjoyed as unique elements of a diverse whole.

Related Links: • Miami: America’s Most Transient City Related Categories: Miami: Local News, Douglas Eames is a freelance writer, homespun philosopher and budget bon vivant who divides his time between Southern California and South Beach. See more articles by Doug. See more articles by Doug Was This Post Helpful? Please Share It With Others! Tweet

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"What I Miss About Miami"

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