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MiamiA ‘Tropicool’ Hot SpotBy Jane Cassie
Although it’s hard to pull ourselves away from the five star pleasures, we yearn to check out other handholding opportunities in this ‘tropicool’ hot spot, and a personalized tour with Style Ventures reveals that the city sizzles with them. Bryn becomes our driving almanac and provides a sensational synopsis of Miami, unrivalled by any guidebook. “Miami is the only destination on the continental U.S. to boast year round sunshine,” he informs, “and that’s why it’s one of the world’s famous playgrounds!”
As well as the rich and famous, Miami’s sprawled out metropolis hosts a thriving kaleidoscope of neighbourhoods and multiculturalism. Thick rooted banyan trees shade our drive through South Florida’s oldest settlement and captivating Bahamian enclave of Coconut Grove. Graced by flowering hibiscus and jacaranda the neighbouring Coral Gables or ‘City Beautiful,’ charms us with dazzling mansions, and Little Havana shares its varied Latin cultures, boasting a unique flavour all of its own.
Joining us are honeymooners, Argentineans, Kansas folk and their children from Miami, Andy and Carla, and with the promise of a full moon, we slip our shiny two-man torpedoes into the emerald clear water and start paddling like merry gondoliers. En route, we sight double-breasted cormorants, stoic looking herons and a glorious spectrum of colour as the sun falls from the sky. When we reach Chicken Key the camp fire is burning, the wieners are roasting and the stars are twinkling above, and the only thing missing to complete my memory of summer camp is a sing along with Kumbaya. After feasting, American style, we reflect on nature that abounds. The memory stays with us long after the fire burns out, long after we push away from the shores of the tranquil island and long after we paddle back home by the light of the moon over Miami. If You Go:Where To Stay: Beach House Bal Harbour What To Do: Style Ventures Tour Guides Vizcaya Museum And Gardens The Deering Estate At Cutler Dining: Versailles Restaurant Miami Convention & Visitors
Bureau IMAGES BY BRENT CASSIE |
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The
caressing breeze alleviates the humidity that hangs in the night air and the
metronome sway of our hammock lulls us into a dream-like state. Beneath our
suspended haven, a powder sandy beach leads to the bath-tempered Atlantic.
Above, feathery palm fronds frame a golden moon. It’s pure escapism, doused
with romance, and during our visit to Miami while staying at Beach House Bal
Harbour, we discover that it’s just the beginning of more to come.
Instead
of a grandiose reception area, we are greeted with fresh cut daisies,
chocolate chip cookies and other wonderful comforts. A seascape décor,
shimmering pool and hammock grove, where we ogle at the moon each night, are
just a few other enticements for amour. 
We
can see that there’s truth to this fact. High rise hotels that line the
white sandy shore host scantily clad sun-lovers that laze on lounges and
romp in the surf. The modern maze interconnects with the art deco treasures
of South Beach by a continuous evergreen walkway where people meander for
miles. We cruise the trendy Ocean Drive, boasting a palisade of pastels and
neon that glows long after the sun does, and Bryn shares notorious
landmarks, like the gated mansion of murdered fashion designer, Versace, and
the News Café, where he enjoyed his final cup of coffee. Today, couples
mingle on the same sidewalk eatery that spills into the gridlock street and
there is an undeniably chic feel about this trendy square mile that embraces
the most southern edge of Miami Beach. 
For
lunch, we feast on authentic fare at the well-known Versailles Restaurant
where gastronomical portions suffice any Cuban epicurean. The Latin beat
energizes, while the masses dine on specialties like spicy pork, garlic
soup, and crispy plantains. Full-bodied café cubano gives an entirely new
meaning to the word Java, and by the time we are ready to go, we feel
totally satiated and have a yearning to learn the rhumba.
Vizcaya
and Deering Estate are two of Miami’s historical haunts that truly imbibe
the romance of yesteryear. Although both were residences of wealthy
industrialist brothers in the early 1920’s, and both boast exceptional
properties fronting the picturesque Biscayne Bay, that’s pretty much where
their similarities end. While Vizcaya expresses flamboyancy and passion for
Italian Renaissance throughout its seventy rooms bedazzled with gilded
ceilings, elaborate tapestries, and period pieces, Deering Estate in its
unpretentious, unfettered and serene setting lends a hint of mystery with
its conservative Mediterranean Revival feel. Its four hundred and fifty acre
parcel also encompasses the offshore island of Chicken Key, and destination
point for the night time canoe trip we sign up for. 
“Stick
together like a pod,” our guide instructs, “and if you tip, don’t worry it’s
never over your head.” Biscayne Bay is incredibly shallow and flat and I
ponder this forgiving quality, rationalizing that I probably won’t even get
my hair wet if we flip.