Miami Beach report

Aug 5, 2008

Another run along the boardwalk, and weight training in the gym, then a block down Collins Avenue for lunch at a Cuban diner, fried sweet plantains and a papaya shake.

After reading underneath a palm frond umbrella for a few hours, we showered and dressed, then hopped into a cab for a short ride to the Art Deco Hotel Victor, where we made the most of a Miami Spa Month promotion (there’s a similar Miami Spice Month for dinner specials around town.)

“I feel like a shiny new red car,” I told my masseuse, Kelly, during the sea-salt scrub — this after a muscle-melting 30 minutes on the massage table. A few glasses of orange-infused and cucumber-infused water quenched my thirst, and then I hit the steam room to sweat out any remaining hints of stress or worry gathered over the last year.

Upstairs, the Hotel Victor lobby has a tank filled with white undulating jellyfish. (Read this interesting NYTimes article about the decline of the seas leading to a rise in jellyfish.)

Outside, past Gianni Versace’s Casa Causarina mansion (read my previous post about my connection to the first victim in the murder spree that ended with Versace’s death), around the corner, we had an early dinner — turkey burger, Monte Christo, chocolate malt — at the 11th Street Diner.

Walking toward our hotel, we walked up Washington Street, finding our way onto the pedestrian mall, Espanola Way, and immediately getting sucked into the Cavas wine tasting shop. I most enjoyed the Terravid# carmenere and Erath 2006 pinot noir.

All in all, another fine day in Miami Beach.

Anton Zuiker ☄