Ten years ago Wynwood was like a lot of other old-time light industrial neighborhoods in the US. A wasteland of abandoned warehouses with empty streets and urban blight. A place you wouldn’t go to in the daytime, much less at night. What a difference a decade makes. Wynwood Today Today the neighborhood is full of […]
Florida is such a strange, compelling place for me. And I am finding Miami ever-more fascinating. In my continuing exploration of the city I went to Miami Beach, aka South Beach, this week and took in the magnificence of 7 miles of white sand. It’s difficult to capture without an aerial view. Here’s my try: […]
Little Havana ‘Pequeña Havana‘ is a neighborhood adjacent to downtown Brickell to the west. You can’t be in Miami very long without hearing about it. It also goes by the nickname Calle Ocho ‘Eighth Street.’ On Saturday I took a 3-4-mile stroll down its length. I began at Versailles Bakery. The boast of being the most […]
Title Image: The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables seen from one of its two 18-hole golf courses. I’m living in Coconut Grove for the semester. One neighborhood to the west is Coral Gables. I explored it on Sunday. For the title image I chose the Biltmore Hotel. It was a tough choice. I could have […]
For the past seven weeks I’ve been living in Miami. This means I’ve been here long enough for the topic of hurricanes to come up often enough to understand that they are a part of regular conversation here. For over 10 years I had reason to be in Orlando fairly often. Everyone in Central Florida […]
On Saturday I went to the University of Miami to attend a one-day linguistics conference. The event took place in the Flipse Building. It stands on one edge of the campus, removed from the center. Which meant I had no idea what the campus looked like. So, during the extended lunch hour I went on […]
Walt Wolfram Documentary: The Producers The latest Walt Wolfram documentary is Talking Black in America. Walt is the Executive Producer. And Renée Blake is one of the Producers. Walt is Distinguished University Professor at North Carolina State University. In addition, he directs the North Carolina Life and Language Project. He is a premier sociolinguist. One […]
Vizcaya Estate lies at the northern end of Coconut Grove. It sits pretty on Biscayne Bay. The principal building is a Venetian-style villa. The structures dotting the estate follow architectural suit. The formal gardens are an Italian Renaissance landscaper’s dream. Construction began in 1914 and continued until the completion of the gardens in 1923. Yesterday […]
Title image: View of Biscayne Bay from the fifth-floor restaurant/bar of the Mr. C hotel, Coconut Grove, looking east. In the distance is Key Biscayne. I am loving being in Miami for the academic year and teaching at Florida International University. After spending two weeks in Brickell, I decided to move. The neighborhood had its […]
My first week of teaching at Florida International University just ended. Now to explore my Miami neighborhood: Brickell. I chose to hang out here for a couple of weeks. You know, fancy Miami. While I find a more permanent place to live for the semester. I had expected a more neighborhood-y vibe. Instead, it’s all […]