Posts Tagged With: Miami History Museum

Miami Beach, April 3

Miami Ship Channel

Sunday morning was Easter and we headed over to Miami proper to attend 11:30 AM Mass at the first Catholic church in Miami, Gesu Catholic Church. The current church building goes back 90 years. The first Jesuits landed here in 1568, said Mass, met with the Tequesta Indians (none remaining in the area today, any still alive accompanied the Spaniards to Cuba when Spain gave up Florida), performed a religious play for the settlers, and complained about the mosquitos. The service was long, with incense, blessings, over-talked homily, and the first free-for-all Communion service I have seen in years. Everyone just got up at once and started going forward; normally it is much more organized, going up row by row.

Gesu Catholic Church in Miami

We hightailed it over to the Miami History Museum, just a few blocks away. A 1 PM docent tour was our goal and we made it just in time. The docent wanted to wait for any last-minute attendees, so we did-to no avail. It was Chris and I and the docent. The gentleman appeared to be a college student who knew his history well. He gave us a forty minute talk as we toured the exhibits, starting with pre-historic times to current development. Paleo-Indians are thought to have arrived in Florida around 10,000 B.C. The Seminole Indians in Florida are descendants of Creek Indians of Georgia who refused to go on the Trail of Tears that President Jackson and Congress ordered beginning in 1830 removing all Native Americans from the southeast to what is now Oklahoma.

He seemed keen for us to recognize that the Everglades were once more vast than currently; the development of canals and drainage ditches for agriculture and later urban development resulting in a much reduced waterway with major negative environmental impacts. We had a general sense of Florida development, with boom and bust land sales in the 1920s and the big boom after WWII. It is now the 8th largest metro area in the U.S.

Pelicans getting their evening meal at South Beach

Sun and sand and surf were our late afternoon companions. We picked up some towels from the front desk, the blanket from our car and headed to the beach. Besides the normal people-watching, we were entertained by a flock of pelicans who demonstrated their aerial acrobatics as they dove for fish right in front of us. A dad and his four kids raced to build a combined dike and pool before the incoming tides destroyed it. It was a battle between late afternoon sun and increasing shade; and a battle between the sand fort and surging seas. Shade and seas were the victors. We stayed late enough to watch the four scheduled cruise ships departing the Port of Miami. Dinner was take-out from the local, uniquely Miami Beach sandwich shop two blocks away with dinner in our unit.

Monday was all day beach. We were there by 9:30 AM; this time renting an umbrella and two lounge chairs right by the ocean. We did not leave until 5 PM, watching two of the four scheduled cruise ships depart. Our memorable people-watching event of the day was a group of five who were at the beach as long as we were. Our constructed story for the five consists of Mom (Brazilian or French, recently divorced from her rich husband, and she has had some physical enhancements performed), her twin teen-age daughters, her teen-age son, and her much younger than her personal trainer/masseuse (PT/M). The PT/M must have rubbed several bottles of suntan lotion onto her body, along with some onto the three teenagers, although admittedly more on the daughters. Three couples from probably the Newark-New York area happened to move their chairs closer to the beach later in the afternoon. The three women turned their chairs back to the late afternoon sun and got an up close and personal view of the lotion application process. They had a great time watching and commenting. In contrast, Chris and I were much more restrained.

Several of the iconic Miaim Beach Lifeguard stations

We reminisced about past Miami Beach experiences: the severely ill or anorexic woman doing her yoga exercises; or the man who had obviously hired a woman for the day and was taking pictures of her in different poses; or the photo shoot (never did determine what the purpose of the shoot was) that involved both horses and bulls and young women; or the young men tossing bean bags at each other aiming for the other’s genitals; or the rainy weather that had us strolling the convention center looking for exhibits and vendors that did not involve us paying for admission; or the hours we used to spend at the library checking work emails (now that goes back a while); or the hucksters practicing age discrimination by visiting many young people on the beach to offer them free admission to night clubs but somehow never came over to us; or the young couple where the man spent the entire day on his cell phone talking to his investment advisor.

Dinner was at an Irish pub but we did not eat Irish. Instead, surprisingly good chicken and pork meals with excellent sauce provided enough food for last night’s dinner and a take-home container for later in the week.

Daytime views of Ocean Drive Miami Beach

Today, Tuesday, we went for a walk down to South Pointe, the southern end of Miami Beach that has developed remarkably in the last 5-8 years. The Miami Ship Channel is there with opportunities to obtain close views of the ships passing through. Nothing dramatic today though although we have been there previously when cruise ships have gone out. Several hotels, most notable being the Ritz-Carlton, the Tides, the Raleigh, are still closed and undergoing renovations from last fall’s hurricane.

The afternoon was back on the beach, nothing dramatic to report. Dinner was our splurge for the week, eating next door at the LT Steak House in the Betsy Hotel. Live jazz was the inducement to spend a bit more than usual.

Ed and Chris April 3

Epilogue: Snippets on life in America from Chris
Day 19: When did leisure time develop in our society? Many communities that we visit depend on big and small tourism. The railroads moved, manufacturing closed, farming changed. Towns that wanted to continue vibrant latched on to a tourist niche-art, nature, music, a unique experience. Come visit and spend your money here.