Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald once walked across the stage of the Lyric, a major stop
on the 'Chitlin' Circuit' - the black live-entertainment trail of preintegration USA. As
years passed both the theater and the neighborhood it served, Overtown, fell into disuse.
Then the
Black Archives History & Research Foundation of South Florida
took over
the building. Today the theater hosts occasional shows, while the Archives serves as an in-
formation center for those interested in Miami's African American heritage.
Cisneros Fontanal Arts Foundation
MUSEUM
305-455-3380;
www.cifo.org
; 1018 N Miami Ave;
10am-4pm Thu-
Sun)
This arts foundation displays the work of contemporary Latin American artists, and has an
impressive showroom to boot. Even the exterior blends postindustrial rawness with a lurk-
ing, natural ambience, offset by the extensive use of Bisazza tiles to create an overarching
tropical motif. The opening hours only apply during exhibition showings, although in-
formal tours can be arranged if you call ahead.
Miami-Dade Public Library
LIBRARY
To learn more about Florida (especially South Florida), take a browse through the extens-
ive Florida Dept, or ask to see the Romer Collection, an archive of some 17,500 photos
and prints that chronicles the history of the city from its early years to the 1950s.
Miami River
RIVER
For a taste of a seedy Old Florida, come to the lazy, sultry and still kinda spicy Miami
River. Much of the shore is lined with makeshift warehouses, where you-can-only-
imagine-what is loaded and unloaded onto small tugboats bound for you-can-only-
imagine-where. Fisherfolk float in with their daily catch, fancy yachts 'slumming it' dock
at restaurants and all in all, it just seems like a matter of time before the music from
Buena
Vista Social Club
starts drifting over the scene.
Dade County Courthouse
HISTORIC BUILDING