Florida 2015, part two

Written by ceddammit

For this week’s ThrowBack Thursday, we resume where we left off in last week‘s ThrowBack Thursday: Florida in January 2015. More specifically, Miami Beach in the late afternoon. This is probably my favorite beach in the world. The water is just the right temperature, and it has a huge area where the depth is just right for just bobbin’ in the swell. On this particular day, I waded what seemed like fifty or more yards out from shore. I’m 5′ 8″ and the water never got more than chest deep; most of the way it was only waist deep. This makes it a great beach for those with Parkinson’s Disease (PD), or anyone else who would like to experience the ocean but is unsure of their swimming ability. And while it doesn’t have big, craggy rock formations like many of the west coast beaches, there’s still stuff to see. (No, I don’t mean bikinis – get your mind out the gutter!)

Gulls in flight at Miami Beach
Gulls in flight at Miami Beach
Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach, Florida
Clouds at sunset; Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach, Florida, USA (photographed January 16, 2015)

During this visit to Miami, I stayed at the Cardozo Hotel, which is a great example of what really brought me here: Art Deco. Check this joint out:

During this visit to Miami Beach, I stayed at the Cardozo Hotel.
Cardozo Hotel
Patio at the Cardozo Hotel
These guys welcome (?) you to the Cardozo Hotel.
Scruffy-looking
My room still had the old-school windows that you crank open.
The bathroom in my hotel room was one glittery shittery!
Cardozo Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida (photographed January 17, 2015)

Lemme tell ya: if you’re a fan of Art Deco architecture, you MUST visit the city of Miami Beach, even if you aren’t a beachgoer. This city has the biggest collection of original Art Deco buildings in the world. But it’s not your typical Gotham-City-style Art Deco. Miami Beach developers took the basic elements of Art Deco and added bright colors, boating motifs, and “eyebrows”. The resulting style has come to be called Tropical Art Deco. Feast your eyes on some of it:

Barbizon Hotel
Cavalier Hotel
Chesterfield Hotel
Heathcote Apartment Building
Majestic Hotel
Netherland Hotel
Park Central Hotel
We interrupt this art deco to bring you…a friggin’ bird!
And now…back to the art deco!
Art deco architecture in Miami Beach
Art deco architecture in Miami Beach
Art deco architecture in Miami Beach
Tropical art deco architecture in Miami Beach
Tropical art deco architecture in Miami Beach
Miami Beach, Florida, USA (photographed January 17, 2015)

I recognize that not all of you are art deco fans. So here are a few other things to look at:

Not art deco, but still pretty cool
Not art deco, but still pretty cool
The city of Miami, as seen from the city of Miami Beach.
Yup, still Miami Beach

All right, you’ve had your respite. Now, back to the art deco!

Sherbrooke Hotel
Stardust Hotel is not art deco. More like Postmodern
Van Ness Hotel
Winter Haven Hotel
Sunset over the Breakwater
Miami Beach, Florida, USA (photographed January 17, 2015)

I received my diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease less than a week before I started this trip. The fatigue and sleep problems that my PD eventually caused had not yet begun. Thus, at the time, it seemed perfectly reasonable to spend an entire day walking, and then get up before dawn the very next day. So, that’s what I did. Basically, I just wanted to get some pictures of the sunrise over the Atlantic…

Leaving Miami Beach behind, I was off to the Florida Keys. But I’ll save that for next week.

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