We drove down to Miami Beach yesterday for the first time in about two years and were struck – despite all the traffic – by all the absences, especially along Lincoln Road. It was depressing when the big chain stores moved in, as the street lost its local character, but it’s sad seeing them gone, as the street has been deprived of some of its raison d’être. Of course, people still strolled and ate al fresco, despite the city's crackdown on outdoor tables, which apparently applied to a popular gelateria, whose front sidewalk was strangely empty of chairs. Sunday was a gorgeous day and it was hard to imagine buying an ice cream and not eating it outside.
Sunset Harbor, on the other hand, looked prosperous and active. Heading up Collins Avenue, we were surprised to see that the road work just north of South Beach is still going on, reducing a three-lane street to one lane. But that’s only temporary. Up in Surfside we came upon the greatest absence of all.
On my bike ride the other afternoon I came upon a South Florida first (at least for me): A motorist waiting at the 3rd Avenue bridge after a boat passed under it and honking impatiently for it to reopen. The man clearly thought that enough time had passed since the bridge had come down and locked into place. But since he was not at the end under the bridgetender's tower, he appeared to be honking at a woefully oblivious, or maybe personally spiteful, barrier.
Sunday Hania and I drove down to the Design District where, walking around, I was struck by something odd: no holiday decorations. They were as absent from the public spaces as they were from the commercial venues. I wondered if the district had unanimously voted on a deck-the-halls ban this year. We could have been back in Communist Poland - lines even stretched out of some of the stores - a Soviet Bloc country that had miraculously been gifted with balmy weather and luxury shops.
We had family in town so we took them yesterday evening to Shooters, apparently Ft. Lauderdale's go-to place for Thanksgiving dinner. Toward the end of the meal, someone commented on how tired the staff looked. Much more surprising was how friendly and gracious they were.
Sunday night, waiting for our car in a busy restaurant parking lot, we got talking to one of the police officers helping to direct the traffic. “It’s a tough job,” Hania said, referring to policing in general. The officer agreed.
“Especially these days,” Hania added.
“You’d be surprised,” the officer said, noting all the times people come up to her and thank her for the work she’s doing. “Eight out of ten times someone will pick up our lunch tab,” she added.
I have a friend in Tampa who says that Halloween is the one day of the year when she doesn't mind not living in Europe. Somewhat similarly, Fort Lauderdale's Day of the Dead observance - a majestic display of costumes, music, and puppets - makes me less sorry that I'm not in Mexico.