Take in the View: July 2016

Saturday 16 July 2016

Where the whole street's a stage....Ocean Drive, Miami

We could hear Ocean Drive before we saw it, a dull thud repeatabley beating out the bass line of a song. As we turned the corner the melody burst out accompanied by bright lights like a theatre curtain had been lifted and we had walked out onto a stage. The whole area was a buzz , full of hustle and bustle with throngs of people accumulated around every bar. It was hard to tell where the bars began and the pavements ended, as the establishments commandeered the footpath to become part of their restaurants. What was left was a narrow passage way for pedestrians to meander by whilst being tempted and persuaded to come on in by the meeters and greeters.

This was part of the show, one couldn’t help but look at the diners sitting an inch each side of you as you walked through, tables piled high with enormous plates of food and the eye catching bowls full of concoctions of bright coloured alcoholic beverages, bowls so large they looked like they should house aquariums rather than just a drink.

It really was a surreal experience, like being inside a “Grand Theft Auto” game with music blaring from bars, mixed in with the speakers of flash sports cars passing by with people hanging out of any open space… windows, sun roofs, open tops. Pavements amass of characters who look straight from the game, Bikini clad babes strutting past with high heels and hand bags despite the late hour, dudes with jeans hanging off their hips surprisingly not weighed down with the enormous gold chains they have round their necks. The road looking like a fashion parade of the most beautiful vehicles, the Ferrari followed by the Lamborghini and Porsche with a large number of Mustangs thrown in. A real melting pot of the bold, the beautiful and the privileged.

Throw in the gorgeous pastel coloured “Art Deco” buildings, an abundance of character and history, all lit up at night giving a glow along the entire route, the floodlights on the action taking place on it’s frontages….. this was one glorious setting.

Ocean Drive has played its part in movies and TV shows over the years….the staircase that led to the infamous chainsaw scene in Scarface, the bars in Robin Williams “ The Birdcage” through to shows such as Dexter, Ballers and Miami Vice.

It seemed quite fitting that the street really seemed like a stage setting with the visitors the audience, the bars were the theatre stalls with the clientele sitting there eating and drinking whilst watching the show unfold, the characters, the noise, the colour being all part of this fabulous Miami experience.