Miami South Beach - An International Beach Americans Can Visit Without a Passport

I just love South Beach in Miami. Some people think of it as the international playground for the rich, famous and beautiful people but not me; I live in Florida so I know the 'real' South Beach and trust me you find all kinds there. I have a friend I met while in college recently come back for a visit. He's French and is used to international type beaches, shops, cafes and clubs and often brags that there isn't anything like them anywhere else in the world so while he was here I set out to change his mind.

The first place I took him was, of course, to Lummus Beach. It couldn't have been more perfect if I had planned it, which I hadn't. They where doing a photo shoot for some fashion magazine right there on the beach, my friend was impressed. As we walked along we saw people playing volleyball, building sand castles and wading.

After we finished our walk on the beach we went to a hotel in the Art Deco area, these hotels are dotted all along Ocean Ave. in South Beach and are really great to just walk on the other side of the street and look at. Some of the most recognized ones are the Colony and the Clevelander. South Beach has the largest collection of Art Deco architecture in the world.

After we went back and got clean up from our day at the beach we headed back to Ocean Ave. for a early dinner at one of the many sidewalk cafes there. If you get there early or in the off season you can get some great deals for dinner and even happy hour drinks. The food in South Beach is world class, many of the chefs' train abroad and then bring their culinary skills home to us. As you'd imagine there's a strong Cuban influence as seen is dishes such as paella and all their wonderful pork and chicken dishes - yum. My friend was impressed with his dinner and I was pleased, after all he's been to some of the best restaurants in France no less; this guy knows a good meal when he gets one and he did.

After we ate I took him to a place called Mango's Tropical Cafe. This place is WILD. When you walk in the first thing you'll notice is that the whole place is painted with bright florescent paint, then you'll see this huge bar jutting out from the middle with dancers on it. Did a mention the dancers, and wait staff for that matter, are very scantily clad? I wasn't able to drag my friend out of there so we could go clubbing until around midnight but that's ok most of the clubs in South Beach don't close until 4 a.m.

They have a whole section of town, mainly Washington Ave., that has several upscale clubs. One of the most well known is the Mansion, they have special guest DJ's on occasion as well as musical guests. B.E.D. (Beverage, Entertainment and Dining) and Cameo are a couple more, B.E.D. New York was even featured on an episode of Sex and the City; all these clubs are located on Washington Ave. My friend and I dragged our butts in at about 2 a.m., which was relatively early by SoBe standards, because we still had one more day together and I had to take him shopping.

So as I was driving my friend to the airport we were discussing all we had seen and done and he agreed, finally, that South Beach was pretty international after all. I tried to tell him that but I'm glad he chose to come and see for himself, we really did have a blast.

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