Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
Mingling with the beautiful hipsters amid the jaw-dropping
Wynwood Walls
murals.
2
Cigar smoke and dominoes; saying
bienvenido a
Little Havana in
Máximo
3
Taking in a show at the gorgeous
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Perform-
ing Arts
.
4
Splashing about the faux grottoes and coral cliffs in the magnificent
Vene-
5
Dancing to Caribbean beats and chow down on curried conch and goat at
the monthly
Big Night in Little Haiti
.
6
Relaxing far from the celebs while still appreciating the beautiful Miami
skyline in
Crandon Park
.
7
Exploring the opulent
Vizcaya Museum & Gardens
.
8
Wandering through the architectural heritage of the
Art Deco Historic Dis-
trict
.
History
It's always been the weather that's attracted Miami's two most prominent species: deve-
lopers and tourists. But it wasn't the sun per se that got people moving here - it was an ice
storm. The great Florida freeze of 1895 wiped out the state's citrus industry; at the same
time, widowed Julia Tuttle bought out parcels of land that would become modern Miami,
and Henry Flagler was building his Florida East Coast Railroad. Tuttle offered to split her
land with Flagler if he extended the railway to Miami, but the train man didn't pay her any
heed until north Florida froze over and Tuttle sent him an 'I told you so' message: an or-
ange blossom clipped from her Miami garden.
The rest is a history of boom, bust, dreamers and opportunists. Generally, Miami has
grown in leaps and bounds following major world events and natural disasters. Hurricanes
(particularly the deadly Great Miami Hurricane of 1926) have wiped away the town, but it
just keeps bouncing and building back better than before. In the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, Miami earned a reputation for attracting design and city-planning mavericks
such as George Merrick, who fashioned the artful Mediterranean village of Coral Gables,
and James Deering, designer of the fairy-tale Vizcaya mansion.