Fort Lauderdale Area - Jan 24-27

On our way down to the Florida Keys, we decided to spend some time in the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area. We had some errands to run and thought we would have an easier time of it in a metropolitan area. It has been our tradition to not make many campground reservations ahead of time which allows us freedom to adjust where we are going and how long we are going to be there. It has always been a successful approach….until this trip. The snowbirds did us in.

As we drove down to Fort Lauderdale, I started calling campgrounds to make a 3 day reservation. It took NINE calls before I found a campground that wasn’t totally booked. That is a first for us. And it turns out that the campground, while adequate, is situated in what I would call the “garage” of the metropolitan area. Across the street is the company that apparently takes care of all the porta-potties used for city events. Next to it is the company that provides all the underground cables for the area. And around the corner, are a very large car smushing operation and a truck stop.  Lots of truck noise in the morning, but we adapted.

The only real touring we did at this stop was an architectural audio walking tour of South Beach.  There are lots and lots of art deco hotels and buildings built during the 1930s. In the 1970s, a preservation group started the huge task of saving these buildings. Of course, today, everyone knows South Beach as a trendy happening place where the young like to party. The day we toured was warm and beautiful and the area was not too crowded. From the audio tour, we got a good feel for pre-World War II Miami.

Headed down to the Keys for about two weeks.  So excited that Chris is going to be able to join us for a few days! Definitely am going to need to spend some time getting campground bookings for the west coast of Florida – I image the snowbirds are also nesting in Ft. Myers, Sarasota and Tampa.



Miami from one of the many bridges that cross over to offshore islands.



While in South Beach, we enjoyed a nice lunch at one of the sidewalk restaurants.  Splurged on fried bread pudding with cinnamon ice cream for dessert.

A view down Ocean Drive. I imagine this gets pretty packed on a warm weekend evening.



The audio tour only mentioned that this building had once been the private home of a prominent clothing designer who died. I remembered that Versace was murdered outside the front steps of his Miami home in the 1990s.  Sure enough, this was his home. It is not Art Deco style, rather it is Italianate.  But absolutely beautiful.  Nowadays, the building is a boutique hotel.




This is considered an excellent example of the Art Deco style popular in Miami. Strong horizontal lines with some (usually 3) vertical lines to break up the plane.



These horizontal lines over windows are called eyebrows.



The Art Deco style came about as a celebration of all the new technology that was revolutionizing the world in the 1930s, including ships and trains. This Walgreen store looks very much like a cargo ship.



I learned something new; the original diners like this were actually repurposed Pullman train cars.

Another prime example of the Art Deco architecture: strong horizontal lines and narrow vertical windows. Over 400 such buildings were built in the 1930s by developers from the North. It is a myth that it was all financed by crime lords, although there was some of that going on. The buildings were cheap to build and went up very quickly. Then the folks from the cold, frigid North would come for a couple weeks of sun and sand, and Miami was launched.



Not very busy on Miami Beach - a little too cool because of the wind.