Often called the most beautiful horse race track in the world, Miami's Hialeah Park has had a long and storied history. Famous for its setting, its prestigious races, the many famous horses that won there, and of course the flock of bright pink flamingos that nested in its infield, Hialeah Park was, and still is a legend. Opening for thoroughbred horse racing in 1925, Hialeah Park by now is almost one hundred years old. A faded grand dame that no longer holds thoroughbred racing, but stays alive as much as it can through its newer casino, Hialeah's track, grandstands, clubhouse, and paddock areas all still exist and could easily be brought back to their glory days. Hialeah really comes alive, however, in many vintage newsreels recorded there, some of which are still available online.
The 1980 roared in Miami. Not only was the city's image and identity transformed in ways both good and bad, mixing global glamour with global intrigue, but the city itself changed physically. In that decade Greater Miami saw a building boom, blending luxury condo towers with avant-garde architecture, new public amenities and institutions, and a flood of stylish, luxury hotels catering to different kinds of travelers than the old beachside hostelries of earlier.
With just over one acre of land on South Bayshore Drive, the rambling estate of John T. Peacock, a member of Coconut Grove's founding Peacock family, this 111-year-old historic pile is on an unusually large piece of land for a property in the heart of the Grove. Overlooking Kennedy Park, and an old sheltered inlet that practically ends at its front gate, the listing is asking for a healthy $12.9 million.
Miami Beach, a city of hotels, is often known for its most famous establishments of yesterday and today: places like the Fontainebleau, the Eden Roc, and the Delano. But there are scores of lesser-known hotels that have come and gone and often show different, more surprising sides to the beach. A catalog of hotel postcards from the University of Miami Libraries shows some of the big famous hotels, but even more smaller establishments that have been almost forgotten over the years. Check them out, this way.
While you're at this season's iteration of Miami Motel Stories, the action surrounds you. You're watching a short play set in a motel room, at some point in the history of the Gold Dust Motel on Miami's iconic Biscayne Boulevard. The play takes up the entire room. But you can also hear thumping and pounding and shouting and muffled drama happening in the rooms all around you. The thin walls of the motel expose passion and life that are imbued in this place.
One of Miami’s liveliest public spaces is Margaret Pace Park, at the south end of Edgewater, one of the city’s most rapidly transforming neighborhoods. Lined with towering residential towers on the west, and the shimmering blue waters of Biscayne Bay on the east, the park is a favorite of neighborhood residents. The park features basketball, tennis, a large playground, volleyball, sweeping lawns, public art, and a meandering baywalk with spectacular views of the bay.
Bordered by the Miami River to the north, Biscayne Bay to east, the Rickenbacker Causeway to the South, and I-95 to the west, Brickell is one of Miami’s oldest neighborhoods. Constantly evolving, Brickell has changed radically over the years, including an incredible development boom in the last twenty years. Brickell is a hub of the Latin American financial industry, and home to many of Miami’s foreign consulates, as well as thousands of condo-dwelling urbanites. Beginning as a neighborhood of luxurious mansions over a hundred years ago, Brickell has become the densest neighborhood south of Manhattan.
Edgewater is a long, and somewhat narrow neighborhood bordering Biscayne Bay in Miami. One of Miami’s oldest neighborhoods, it really developed in booms that mirror Miami’s repeated eras of development through its history.
Villa Paula, the storied, old Cuban consulate in Miami, is about to hit the market. Listed by ONE Sotheby’s International Realty agent Jean-Louis Delbeke, the property will hit the market at $4.5million as part of a four-lot commercial assemblage, according to a publicist.
The iconic Football Sandwich Shop on NE 2nd Avenue is a Miami institution. This institution, however, may or may not be closed for good. A recent-ish post on the Big Bubble dove into that question. Sadly, in addition to no more delicious subs, the news of its closure might also mean the loss of the gorgeous murals celebrating the Miami Dolphins that grace every inch of the exterior. They're murals are still there, though, for now. So, check them out in our gallery, this way...
