It is the Model Shoot capitol of the United States. Miami’s tropical beaches, shimmering waters, gleaming high-rises, and classic art deco backdrops draw fashion photographers in droves.
In Miami Beach, you clearly get the sense that money talks. Or just plain struts along Ocean Drive, a ribbon of asphalt that winds down the waterline, past neon-soaked clubs and restaurants, shops and boutique hotels. The aging retirees that first made the place famous are now largely replaced by the young and the restless.
But just a few miles away, there is no doubt, what country of origin sets the cultural pace. Strolling the Miami neighborhood known as Little Havana, you could easily imagine that Cuba had packed up, moved 90 miles north and became our 51st state. Along Calle Ocho (8th Street), Cuban owned businesses and eateries of every stripe crowd shoulder to shoulder, serving a community of nearly 100,000 people. An enclave began to grow when Fidel Castro came to power in the late 1950s, and has not slowed in the decades since.
When you are in the mood for some Cuban cuisine, Casa Juancho provides an upscale, cultural dining experience. Voted the best Latin Restaurant by South Florida magazine, Casa Juancho’s list of signature dishes include Angulas de Aguinaga Bilbaina, baby eels sautéed with garlic and olive oil; Cochinillo Segoviano, roast suckling pig; and Fabada Asturiana, a stew of white Faba beans with Spanish ham and sausage.
Little Havana’s dense concentration of exiled Cubans has long given the area a strong sense of solidarity and considerable political clout. In fact, a small park at Calle Ocho and 13th Avenue harbors a Memorial Flame honoring those who staged the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion. That same greenspace includes other tributes to Cuban heroes – among them the beloved poet and revolutionary Jose Marti. And of course, those ever-present domino games – a time honored tradition among the elders that moved up from the island without missing a beat. So many players gather regularly at Maximo Gomez Park that it is simply known as Domino Park.
For fans of Latin music and movies, the nearby Little Havana Paseo de las Estrellas serves as Miami’s answer to a well-known Hollywood sidewalk! Teatro Avante, an entertainment venue established in 1979, produces contemporary and classical Spanish-language plays in English throughout the year.
So when is the best time to visit? Because of that reliably warm, sunny weather (hurricane season excluded) there is almost never a bad time. But March is when the annual Calle Ocho Street Festival calls everyone out to play. It is where The World’s Longest Conga Line, 119,000 strong, was formed back in 1988. In other words, the party they throw in Little Havana is always a raucous one. You might just need that really strong coffee.
Get maps and more travel info about Little Havana at About.com:Miami.