miami beach photo tour

[lazygood4nothinbum]

just in case anyone wanted to know what i did all day...

and away we go! (jackie gleason theater)

side note: Jackie Gleason's Mausoleum, Miami, Florida

the approach to south beach from miami


lots of little deco & streamline jewels for sale:











here's lincoln road, a pedestrian mall just south of jackie gleason theater:











the beach at south beach:



this boardwalk runs between the hotels and the beach, offering excellent public access to the beach:



it actually goes for a few miles, when i finally got off the boardwalk there was much more to go yet i was already past the eden roc, about 45 blocks north of south beach.



lawn outside the bass museum of art (i think these are the trees from the wizard of oz):



and of course ocean drive at sobe:

[haha]

Great photos! Those dogs are perfect.

Ha

[JB]

nice pictures. Thanks for posting. Is there any sign of the real estate market turning around?

[donheff]

DW and I spent a few days in South Beach a couple of years ago and loved it. We have considered going down for a couple of weeks with the dogs. Great restaurants, great ambiance. It always amazes me how many people speak Spanish down there -- it feels like a foreign country.

[Purron]

I like the picture of the guy with the hat and microphone. Is he a street performer?

[TromboneAl]

Originally Posted by Purron

I like the picture of the guy with the hat and microphone. Is he a street performer?

I think that's a self-portrait. Better ride your bike more, Lazy.

[HFWR]

No topless beach bunnies?

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Originally Posted by haha

Great photos! Those dogs are perfect.

thanx ha. trying to get used to the new digital. i was worried that it didn't have a view finder but i got it anyway because i thought i wanted the 28mm lense, which i'm now really glad i have. my research indicated that the viewing screen wouldn't be a problem in sunlight. i stupidly believed my research because it turns out this is as big a problem as i thought it might be. also the viewing screen is a problem because i don't keep reading glasses with me when i'm shooting pictures.

fortunately, as it is all digital, if i frame a shot too badly i can edit later if i want (haven't bothered so far). takes away from the art of picture taking but adds art to "developing," i suppose.

i'd been following the little dressed doggie trying to get a good shot and then the other dog came along. they tried to greet each other but the owners kept walking in opposite direction. so i asked them if they wouldn't mind letting the dogs play for a minute so i could take their picture.

Originally Posted by JB

nice pictures. Thanks for posting. Is there any sign of the real estate market turning around?

yes, in miami it is turning around and around and around in a whirlpool of a downward spiral. i don't see recovery (read: flat prices) there for a few years yet. though i would imagine miami beach recovering before miami and the rest of miami-dade county. it is, after all, miami beach and still very desirable. but even just riding along the boardwalk, i was astonished not so much by all the empty buildings but by all the new ones still under construction.

north of that in fort lauderdale where i am you don't see many empty buildings like miami has but we do have more than our fair share of foreclosures. the bottom very much depends on the area here. i think my area has bottomed out as there isn't much for sale. other areas nearby have the residents worried that 2008 will continue to see declining prices.

north of us in palm beach county, though year over year is still down--and of course will be for at least another year--the last two consecutive months have shown slight gains. a false bottom? hope not. tourist season? perhaps. only time will tell.

Originally Posted by donheff

DW and I spent a few days in South Beach a couple of years ago and loved it. We have considered going down for a couple of weeks with the dogs. Great restaurants, great ambiance. It always amazes me how many people speak Spanish down there -- it feels like a foreign country.

wolfpuppy was a frequent patron of the News Cafe - Restaurant Cafe - Miami Beach - Open 24hs on ocean drive where the waiters brought him his own plastic dish of water. it is certainly like a foreign country there. though mostly spanish, really, all sorts of languages. though now that i'm taking conversational spanish classes, i find myself listening more closely to the spanish speakers and i try to make sense of what they are saying. in the past it just sounded more like a white noise that put me to sleep.

Originally Posted by Purron

I like the picture of the guy with the hat and microphone. Is he a street performer?

yes, a sit-down rap singer who agreed to pose for the camera. there were three other people i wanted to photograph but couldn't get myself to do it. one was a very old shopping cart lady sleeping in the shade of the wizard of oz trees at the bass museum. her cart was as full & colorful as her face was empty and pale. like all the things from the street that she collected, she'd been thrown away onto those same streets. i could not look at her long enough to frame a picture without breaking into tears. i don't handle sadness well, as my last few wounds have yet to scab me over.

another lady had this rawhide face that you might find in a leather-bound book of classic caricatures. she was headed down lincoln road, coming from the direction of the beach where she has spent decades tanning. i could not determine her age. she was either in her 60s or her 90s. nor could i tell if the sun aged her too fast or preserved her too long. she seemed so alone in her world that i could not take her picture without intrusion upon the intimacy between her & her tan.

just a block later i came across a painter of colorful abstracts of geometric design. the paintings reminded me a little of my Retroland | Spirograph only painted rather than inked. the artist was in converstation with another street vendor. his facial expressions were "slow" and it did not make sense to my eye on first sight that this "slow" person could create these intricate designs.

on further inspection in considering interrupting their conversation to ask permission to take a picture, i noticed him working on a current piece, painting with his feet. hanging out from his short sleeved shirt were just stubs of arms with no hands. so much joy in his paintings yet my heart sank. he deals better with pain than i. but then, he's had more practice.

Originally Posted by TromboneAl

I think that's a self-portrait. Better ride your bike more, Lazy.

bitch! (actually this miami beach trip was me getting myself to bike more but there's so much to look at along the way that i didn't do much biking.)

Originally Posted by HFWR

No topless beach bunnies?

sorry hfwr, while i aim to please, the new digital camera doesn't orient that way. some say it is the programming but i suspect genetics.

[Martha]

I love the colors in South Beach. Oh for a light blue home with peach accents! But nothing but gray and iron ore red look good here.

[Moemg]

Super pictures , you make me want to pull out my camera . I also liked the aqua house . How much does that kind of house run ?

[BunsGettingFirm]

OK, Lazy, you have convinced me. Thanks for posting those real estate photos with big EASY-TO-READ PHONE NUMBERS!

[TromboneAl]

a sit-down rap singer who agreed to pose for the camera.

I took some pictures years ago of this clown. The clown got very bent out of shape because I didn't pay to take his picture. You can see his attitude from the photo.

AngryClown.jpg

I might have given him something, but I didn't like his feeling of entitlement. Besides, it made a better story picture: the disgruntled clown.

Is this common that street performers will want you to pay them if you take a picture?

[bbbamI]

...more scary clowns!

[TromboneAl]

YouTube - E-Trade Superbowl Ad w/ baby and clown

Though I prefer the ad in which the kid pukes:

YouTube - E-Trade Superbowl Commercial w/ baby

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Originally Posted by Martha

I love the colors in South Beach. Oh for a light blue home with peach accents! But nothing but gray and iron ore red look good here.

i understand that originally the art deco buildings were whitewashed or painted white & grey with maybe some trim color in black which makes sense as it would have been difficult to keep light colors from fading in the florida sun, especially with the technology of the day.

pastels came into fashion during the deco revival of the 1980s. one of the things i like about architecture in south florida is the latin influence of the last 20 years which has brought us some interesting forms and often surprising use of color.

Originally Posted by Moemg

Super pictures , you make me want to pull out my camera . I also liked the aqua house . How much does that kind of house run ?

i believe all those pictures are apartment buildings, not single family houses. often it is just the front facade which is deco style and the sides can be rather bland, though some buildings maintain their character throughout. i don't know but i would imagine the prices range from $100k foreclosures to silly sums of money. according to realtor.com for 33139 zip code which is south beach area: (under $100k) 7 including studios; ($100-200k) 258; ($200-300k) 471; ($300-400k) 391; ($400-500k) 265; ($500-1mm) 513; ($1mm-10mm) 449 units available for sale.

one of the things i'm not crazy about is all the on-street parking. i'd have to wait until i didn't care about door dings before i'd buy in there.

though i enjoy miami beach very much, it is getting there that sucks. the highways in dade county are insane. though once the car is parked, south beach has much to offer.

Originally Posted by BunsGettingFirm

OK, Lazy, you have convinced me. Thanks for posting those real estate photos with big EASY-TO-READ PHONE NUMBERS!

sorry for the inadvertent enticement. i did photo of that advertisement to show the asking price. i think it must be a historic sign, dating back to the old bubble days.

Originally Posted by TromboneAl

I took some pictures years ago of this clown. The clown got very bent out of shape because I didn't pay to take his picture. You can see his attitude from the photo....Is this common that street performers will want you to pay them if you take a picture?

the kid has on a similar expression. just what did you yell at them to get their attention?

though it seems all rather public domain, maybe i should have given the rapper a dollar. it was just a picture; i really didn't even think about it. would a dollar have obligated me to listen to his music? note to self: next time bring dollars and dog biscuits.

[BunsGettingFirm]

How's the Normandy Beach area about 5 miles north? Is it sleepy and boring, or is it the next SoBe as the realtors keep touting? BTW, how's the taxi service in Miami Beach? I'd hate to have to drive after a night of partying.

For those complaining about the lack of babes in Lazy's photos, check out this Flickr stream. It's focus is on an art studio in Miami Beach, and even so, there's still plenty of babage in the background.

Miami Beach atelier-gallery - a set on Flickr

[GoodSense]

Nice Pictures! I've never been to Miami, but look forward to visiting someday. I, too, am studying conversational Spanish. (Just returned from class a little while ago)

So were you checking out real estate sales besides sight-seeing? In any case, thanks for posting!

[mb]

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