Wednesday:
- Mental soundtrack ---> Wovenhand
- My first full-body scan at SFO security, woo.
- My first time on Virgin America too. They pipe music into the toilets. Just sayin'.
- Stepping off the plane into humidity like I had forgotten even existed.
- The fabulous Hotel St. Augustine.
- Throwing on a sundress and running out to Tap Tap for a late-night Red Stripe.
- Still 80 degrees at midnight.
- Briefly considering buying a bikini at Walgreens just because I can.
- So many nice people.
Thursday:
- Mental soundtrack ---> The Love Language
- Cuban pastries and coffee in the Hotel St. Augustine lobby with sun streaming through the windows and a very nice chocolate Lab named Bailey at my feet.
- A stroll up Collins Ave, noting the profusion of tourist tees with the unfortunate catch-phrase "I'm In Miami Bitch"
- Fresh mozzarella and a slew of veggies on the best French bread imaginable + a mango/banana/pineapple/orange smoothie at La Sandwicherie.
- Swanky shopping in remodeled Art Deco hotel The Webster and sipping a glass of champagne at their vintage bar.
- Admiring all the cool shiznit for sale at Base.
- Parrots screeching in the palm trees.
- Strawberry gelato from Gelateria Parmalat.
- Definitely still allergic to mosquito bites.
- Patatas bravas + chickpeas with spinach + baked goat cheese with tomato/garlic + a glass of cava at Tapas y Tintos.
- The Afterhours event at the Miami Art Museum giving me a chance to cram in the excellent New Work Miami 2010 show, performances by Frozen Music and Flash Orchestra, and a live broadcast by Talking Head Transmitters.
- The opening for the group show The New Frontier at Christopher Miro Gallery, which was also the debut for the awesome new gallery itself.
- Then a jaunt up to the MOCA for the opening of Shinique Smith's gorgeously exuberant solo show Menagerie.
- Embracing skimpy clothing as a way of life, at least for a few days. No dying of heat exhaustion that way too.
Friday:
- Mental soundtrack ---> Q-Tip
- Luminous NYC-era Ari Marcopoulos skater photos at OHWOW.
- The super-rad Typoe show at Spinello Gallery, and a great conversation with the artist himself too.
- Ginger-lemongrass ale + thin-crust margherita pizza + a chocolate/peanut butter bar with buttered popcorn ice cream at Michael's Genuine Food & Drink.
- A tiny bright green lizard sneaking up the palm tree next to me.
- All the amazing murals in the Wynwood district, but especially the sublime Barry McGee.
- Words used to marvelous effect at David Castillo Gallery in the Profane Expressions group show.
- An artfully-composed ode to Italiam Futurism in the Wolfsonian's Speed Limits exhibit, along with the wonders of their permanent collection.
- Some sort of deadly vodka punch at The Raleigh pool bar.
- Shrimp in garlic sauce + a lemonade at Puerto Sagua.
- Dusk in Little Havana and the fantastic inaugural group show Get It Fresh! at the new 6th Street Container gallery.
- High on inspiration.
Saturday:
- Mental soundtrack ---> Twin Sister
- Omg Everglades! Sawgrass as far as the eye could see and multiple alligator spottings, including a 'gator mama carefully guarding about 20 crazily squirming babies.
- So glad I opted for the naturalist-led tram ride in Shark Valley over the ecologically-questionable airboat rides outside the park. Next time I will be brave and rent my own bike cuz that looked super-fun too.
- Vegan tofu and wild mushroom stir fry over couscous + an Orangina at the Coral Gables Books & Books cafe.
- A small but mighty exhibit about art and politics at the Lowe Museum on the University of Miami campus plus a showstopper of a David Park painting and one of the more impressive collections of ancient Mesoamerican art I've ever seen.
- Steaming off the DEET I'd applied to fend off the Everglades mosquitoes in my own personal sauna-shower back at the Hotel St. Augustine. Have I mentioned how much I loved that place?
- Three chickens casually crossing the road in the Design District.
- Hey, Bay Area, this thing where you can pay for parking at any meter from your cell phone and then you get a text when your time is about to run out? Get on it.
- A strawberry and mint spritzer + shiitake mushroom steamed buns with sesame paste + butter-seared grouper with ginger-cauliflower puree and honey-kimchee vinaigrette + a rice krispie chocolate bar topped with creamy Bavarian chocolate and Ovaltine at Gigi.
- Getting my hipster dance party on with Surfer Blood and The Drums at Grand Central.
- Also glad to see the Global Hipster Fashion Memo made it to the kids in Miami. They're cute though.
Sunday:
- Mental soundtrack ---> Strand of Oaks
- Sunrise over South Beach. Well played, Miami. Well played.
