Back when my mother Mary lived in Stuart, Florida, my sister Susan and I would often visit, and sometimes I could persuade them to drive with me down to Miami to check out the action. We would visit Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, and Miami Beach, where we would walk along Ocean Drive and admire the old Art Deco hotels lining the street. At one time, Miami Beach fell out of favor as a tourist destination, thanks to cheap flights to the Bahamas and other Caribbean destinations, and those old hotels filled with elderly retired people. Once the area became trendy, they were quickly evicted, and the hotels restored, the area becoming hipster heaven. My mother and Susan and I once took a guided Art Deco tour of the area, and one of the buildings we went through, well away from Ocean Drive, still catered to the elderly, most of whom were sitting in the television room, fans running at full blast. I have to wonder if that place is still occupied by senior citizens, or if they are all long gone. Miami Beach is fun during the daytime, but these days, the sidewalks of Ocean Drive are crammed with hipsters after sunset, which is now my signal to get the hell out of there. And by the way, I took the above photograph of my mother Mary back in 1988 in front of the Cardozo Hotel, where you can still get a room for $250 a night, at least in the middle of summer. Unforrtunately, there is not a Motel 6 in sight around there.
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