There’s no escape for first timers in Miami: a millionaire’s row sightseeing cruise is a must. Boats sail around Star, Palm and Hibiscus Islands, offering great views of the city and port, glimpses of some of the most luxurious mansions imaginable and serious name-dropping: Gloria Estefan, Julio Iglesias, Elisabeth Taylor, Will Smith, Shaquille O’Neal… hard to remember them all.
In reality, not everyone resides or has ever owned property on the island, but who can blame the tour guides for wanting to give tourists a blown up version of the story? One look at these mega-mansions and I was ready to believe every word.
Take, for example, Phillip Frost: the pharmaceutical billionaire, who owns one of the largest properties on Star Island, was matter-of-factly credited by our guide with the invention of Viagra. On another note, we also learned that the palm trees lining the grounds of his property at the waterfront were imported from South Africa at a cost of $10.000 each (there were more than 30 of them). A quick post-tour search showed one of these facts was false – guess which one.
Oh well, not all is lost, however, because … yes, Don Johnson also stayed here during the Miami Vice years. Now, what about Crockett’s Theme by Jan Hammer, in my opinion, one of the best soundtracks for a TV series, ever?
January 31st, 2018
The Humble Fabulist 
It is great to see your view of Miami! We rode our bikes every morning across the Venetian Causeway to get to our studios on South Beach, before we made the move to Little Havana. The city is always changing it is crazy.
Hopefully you get to return to Miami the first week of December for Miami Art Week (& Art Basel) practically the whole art world is in town and you get a super dose of all things art and culture and arty parties in the evenings.
When you return there are a few places we highly recommend, first is the De La Cruz Collection at 23 NE 41st St, Miami, FL (33137) Just north of Wynwood and all the murals, this is one of the best private collections free and open to the public, amazing art, and fabulous building. Just down the street is the newly opened Institute of Contemporary Arts, 61 NE 41st St, Miami, FL 33137. Both of these places show the trajectory of Miami arts.
On the food scene we recommend Versailles Cuban Bakery 3501 SW 8th St, Miami, FL 33135. If you start at the beginning of SW 8th Street (Aka Calle Ocho) from Brickell traveling west you will pass through Little Havana, and with several stops (10th Ave – 16th is the main concentration of the sights) past there you will see Versailles Bakery and Restaurant 3501 SW 8th St, Miami, FL 33135. The restaurant is always buzzing late into the night, and the bakery has some of the best pastries and Cuban coffee, every US President has visited Versailles.
Our favorite restaurant has to be Miss Saigon, which is located in Coral Gables (148 Giralda Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33134) Giralda Avenue was recently closed to traffic, and is now a popular destination for dinner, drinks, and evening strolls. The food at Miss Saigon is consistently the best Vietnamese we have found in our travels.
There are also two pizza places we have to list, this might be dangerous talking to a New Yorker who obviously has access to some of the best pizza in the world. But La Pizza on 5840 SW 71st St, South Miami, FL 33143 is one of our favorite spots, they offer 3 pizza styles, Roman, Napolitan (our favorite) and Brooklyn style, and is just a stones throw from the University of Miami campus. Frakies Pizza on 9118 SW 40th St, Miami, FL 33165 is considered “The Best Pizza” by a lot of people, not a restaurant but more pizza takeout, but worth the trip.
Always love seeing your extensive travels, and so cool to see you in our neck of the woods.
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Wow THANK YOU so much for taking the time to write such an extensive list of great tips! I wish I knew some of these places before, but now I have a good excuse to come again. That’s besides Art Basel, of course! During which, I hope to be able to catch some of your art, if exhibiting!
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