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South Beach Miami
Miami Metro
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Since then, its history has been checkered: by the 1980s, crack dens and
retirement homes were equally commonplace in South Beach, but the 1990s saw a
renaissance spearheaded by a few savvy hoteliers and Miami's gay community.
The beaches of Miami Beach If you took away the Art Deco, the beautiful people and the South Beach Miami glittering nightlife, you'd still be left with the simple truth that Miami has a fabulous choice of beaches , twelve miles of calm waters, clean sands, swaying palms and candy-colored lifeguard towers - even if much of the sand in Lummus Park was shipped in from the Bahamas. The young and the beautiful soak up the rays between 5th and 21st, a convenient hop from the juice bars and cafés on Ocean Drive. Lummus Park , from 6th to 14th, is the heart of the South Beach scene, and there's an unofficial gay section roughly around 18th. North of 21st it's more family-oriented, with a boardwalk running between the shore and the hotels up to 46th. To the south, Ocean Park and South Pointe are favored by Cuban families, and are especially convivial at weekends. For swimming , head up to 85th, a quiet stretch usually patrolled by lifeguards.
South Beach Miami |
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06/29/07 |
One of the groups that remained in Miami Beach through it all was its sizable
Jewish population, including many Holocaust survivors and their families. The
Holocaust Memorial at 1933 Meridian Ave (daily 9am-9pm; free; tel 305/538-1663),
at Dade Boulevard and Meridian Avenue opposite the visitor center, is a complex,
uncompromising monument to their experience. From a distance, the impression is
of a giant, defiant hand punching into the sky; as you approach, however, you
make out the mass of wailing people scrabbling up the wrist. Following the wall
of names, inscribed with a relentless list of Holocaust victims, brings you to
the foot of the sculpture, hidden from the road, where distressing statues
portray more writhing, emaciated human figures. The whole, brutal, ensemble is
underscored by the accompanying quote from Anne Frank: "Ideals, dreams and
cherished hopes rise within us only to meet the horrible truth and be
shattered." 