Ocean Drive

SoBe (South Beach) in Miami, Florida is famous for not only its white sandy beach and turquoise water, but also the well-preserved Art Deco buildings, the relaxed life style, the restaurants and beach cafés.

Some people commented on my Miami photo that they would love to see some photos of the South Beach architecture.

On Ocean Drive outdoor cafés give you a ringside view of all the action.

I had a lot of difficulty actually photographing the buildings as there are a lot of obstacles in the way. There are a lot of parked cars, moving cars, pedestrians and restaurants along this road.

Not to mention palm trees! I had to stand on the pavement / sidewalk opposite to try to get the buildings in frame, but it wasn’t easy and the perspective is easily distorted.

Art Deco decoration
Curved window grills
Flamingo outside the Tropical Café

But I hope this photo essay gives you a feel of the place. With the sugared almond colours, the cubic shapes, the curves, the barley twist columns and the decorative patterned features. And the fabulous windows, especially those corner ones on the Congress Hotel. And opposite all this busyness is this…

leading you to the sea.

~wander.essence~ photography

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Heyjude

I have lived in the UK for most of my life, but when young I definitely had wanderlust and even ended up living in South Africa for several years which was a wonderful experience. I now look forward to a long and leisurely retirement doing what I like most - gardening, photography, walking and travelling.

32 thoughts on “Ocean Drive”

    1. You were one of the ones who wanted to see more of this place, I am only sorry that my photos aren’t that great.

      1. Good enough for me, Jude. But I have of course looked at many others of that district, and when my cousin visited, she bought me a small photo book of the best Art Deco examples. I can’t find it though, so may have lost it during the move. x

  2. You so perfectly captured the feel of Miami, Jude. I love the colorful architecture and the palm trees and the flamingos. That’s one place in which I haven’t spent much time; we just breezed through on our way to the Keys for our honeymoon (first marriage, so many years ago!). It reminds me I should put it on my list for a visit. Thanks for linking. I’ll add you to Thursday’s photography post. 🙂

    1. You should do a road-trip down to the Keys Cathy, I am sure several of those islands along the route are worth a visit and the bridges and the water are amazing. I’d love to drive there myself, but it’s not going to happen now.

      1. I could, you’re right, Jude. Actually, when I went to the Keys the first and only time, in 1979, it was for our doomed honeymoon; we took Amtrak down to Miami, then rented a car and drove to the Keys. We stayed on Islamorada, but then visited Key West and other Keys as well. I remember reading The Thorn Birds during the entire train ride and realizing what a mistake I’d made!

        1. Well 2019 would make it a fitting 40 year pilgrimage. Perhaps with Mike to get rid of the bad memories and make new ones!

    1. Yes the blue and white is so refreshing – I love the colours on the buildings, just wish I had better photos.

        1. No. Ocean Drive by the Lighthouse Family
          “Don’t know why you’re so blue
          Sun’s gonna shine on everything you do
          And the sky is so blue …”

        5. I could share the driving. I like driving in the USA. Might need to wait until they get rid of that idiot though.

        6. I could pretend not to know which idiot you mean, but I think I’ll change the subject from one obnoxious man to another… The youngsters fell foul of the German pilots strike today, but at least they got home. It looked like they might not for a couple of hours. 😦

        7. Well I hope they had a good time in Berlin. Blooming strikes all over the place it seems. Think I shall stay at home.

  6. Sugar almond colours and barley twist columns gets it exactly. Can you still get barley sugar twisted? Haven’t seen it for years. Those palm trees could drive the photographer-me to arboricide!

    1. I imagine you can still buy barley twists in the old-fashioned sweet shops in England. Whether they taste the same or not…

  7. Art Deco is a favourite style for me too jude, so really enjoyed this post. How lovely to have all these memories to share with us

    1. Well, I only have memories to share right now as we are not travelling much. For some reason I don’t feel the need to.

      1. I’ve been quite happy just having short trips away, but I’m starting to feel a bit restless, but also wanting to stay home. A very strange pulled both ways feeling….

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