ME 1948              ME 1956            ME 1968

    

JOE THE 'MAYOR' OF 6TH STREET BEACH 1950S/1960S

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MIAMI BEACH  2011

   
THE MACCAUTHER CAUSEWAY THAT CONNECTS THE CITY OF MIAMI TO THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH

South
Miami Beach below Lincoln Road has become known as 'The Art Decco' due
to the many hotels built there in the1930s and 1940s having in common
pastel colors and being in the shape of various parts of ships. Along
Ocean Drive has become world famous for the fashion shoots and, in my
opinion, way over priced, restaurants featuring chefs from all among the
best world wide.

 
This
is no longer 'my' Miami Beach--you can't even see the ocean from Ocean
Drive. They have filled in a about quadruple the size of the original
beach plus doubling the size from the wall to the street. There is a man
made hill with sea grape bushes dividing the park, the beach and the
ocean.

Looking
at the picture of Joe, the beach goers and me compared to the above,
and below, you can get an idea of the scope of the change.

There
is a reason I took the above picture which is a whole other blog but it
brings back a whole world of memories to me and what 6th Street meant
to me at that time in my life and how much I learned.

I
can understand the reasoning behind this because I can still remember a
hurricane that piled sand up on Ocean Drive and into the lobbies of the
hotels but Ocean Drive as a name has lost all its meaning.

That's
my shadow at the bottom of the picture taking the picture and if you
squint  and look you can see the ocean in the background!

This
is a big change along Ocean drive. For 14 blocks of hotels in the 50s
and 60s you would see tourists, older folks and those who lived on Miami
Beach all year round--at that time this was where those who worked on
the Beach or in Miami and those tourists who couldn't afford the high
price hotels above Lincoln Road would stay--sitting in rocking or
wrought iron chairs, talking, playing cards, watching the life of area
during 'season' and enjoying the quiet 'off-season.' Now the hotels have
taken over the porches and lobbies with restaurants so the 'beautiful
people' (didn't see many of those!) can sit, have drinks, something to
eat, all while they looked at each other

Piccolo's
no longer exists and the patio where I always volunteered to work--if
it rained I got off early, if it didn't rain I would get cut first if it
was slow--is now a building with a restaurant on the ground floor. Joe
Stone Crabs is still there and has expanded their location, taking up a
whole city block while across from them are high rise condos blocking
the beach and ocean from site.

The
apartment building I lived in has been demolished as have Al's
Luncheonette on the southeast corner of Washington and 5th street and
the drugstore that had papers from all over the country across on the
northeast corner. The corner at Collins and 5th where there was a big
souvenir shop selling conch shells and coconuts painted like monkey
faces now has a TD bank on the ground floor and a gym on the second
floor with multi-colored windows hiding something.

The
Miami Beach I knew no longer exists but the memories will never go
away--I hope the generations playing, working, living and/or vacationing
there will have memories 50 years from now as good as I had 50 years
ago.

No, I don't think
you can go 'home' again in reality but the mind, and heart, can make you
smile with the experiences you had when you were younger.

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"You must learn day by day,

year by year, to broaden your horizons.

The more things you love, the more you are interested in,

the more you enjoy, the more you are indignant about,

the more you have left when anything happens."

Ethel Barrymore, 1879-1959, American Actress