A LITTLE JEWISH WHINE

There was this joke years back that went something like this . . .  "Would you care for a Jewish whine (wine)?                    'I want to go to Miamiiiiiiiiiiiii'".

Yesterday we took sister-in-law Ann Marie for a tour of Miami. We only live about an hour and a half away but really don't know anything about this beautiful city. In fact, I didn't even know it was beautiful.  We have taken several cruises out of the Port of Miami but other than that I know nothing. Oh yea, I did see the movie "The Bird Cage" so I know there is a South Beach.

Yesterday was not a good beach day, cloudy and very very windy with cool temps in the 70's so it was the perfect day to head south and see what Miami was all about. A friend had been there about a month ago on a conference and part of the program included a guided bus tour of the city. She told us it was wonderful fun and she really enjoyed it. Thus this idea stuck in my head and yesterday we went to check it out on our own. With the exception of not being able to find the main stop for the tour bus the BIG RED BUS company did a fine job of filling us in on all the sights and history of Miami.

South Beach

We started with a ninety minute tour of the Beach Loop. Going across the causeway to Miami Beach and touring South Beach and all the art deco buildings. FANTASTIC !  Miami really has quite an interesting history and it hasn't been until the late 70's that it started to come up in the world of places you might want to go. Before that it was pretty much hot swamp with alligators and crocodiles. We LOVED it!  I now understand why our youngest child wants to live there.  As we rode through the beach area of the city we saw one hotel after another that we could never afford to stay in.  There is BIG money in this city.
After returning from the Beach tour we took a break and had lunch in the market place before getting on bus #2 for the city part of the tour. This bus took us through Coral Gables and Little Havana. I would like to tell you that there is way too much money in Coral Gables and way too many fabulous looking restaurants and cigar shops in Little Havana. Both areas were fascinating and a total new experience for us.  We returned through down town Miami to our starting point and loved every minute of the entire day. The tour guides were EXCELLENT and we really got to see this city with different eyes. I have always thought of Miami as a "Cuban" city because of all you hear about the Spanish population that has migrated there from Cuba. It is that but so very much more. The city is so tropical, modern and old at the same time and just sparkles in the sun.
It is a must see !

On the bus going to South Beach

Miami Beach

Holocaust Memorial

Fresh water public pool in Coral Gables