At first it was a reception center for shipwrecked people: it was 1870. his land was worth 75 cents an acre. It was then a coconut plantation, quickly converted over the next decade to more profitable crops, most notably avocados. In the end explosion of the twentieswith the arrival of industrialists and large hotels, a growth that even the hurricane of 1926 and the Great Depression could not stop. Miami Beach Boom which is often confused with Miami, a separate municipality on the shores of Biscayne Bay. also born at the end of the nineteenth century with the advent of the railway and the creation of the Government Cut shipping canal.
Sitting on a bench in South Pointe Park, a few steps from the pier, I watch a huge cruise ship stroll by: right where land once was. Guests on board lean out and say hello, finding someone to answer them. Of course, only on my side, because on the other side is Fisher Island, an ultra-luxury oasis accessible by boat, helicopter or seaplane. Look but don’t touch. As does the even more exclusive Star Island, a few meters away is the artificial island home to the villas of Naomi Campbell, Gloria Estefan and Will Smith, to name three: with luck – and security approval – You can pass in front of the gate, but without stopping.
Curiosity is the watchword. But this applies only to the universe of VIPs, aka tinted Lamborghini windows, on which the gaze of passers-by is shattered. Curiosity, at least as I understand it, is 360 degrees. Yes, because before me, still standing in South Pointe Park, everything appears within a few minutes: first of all, skates, lots of skates, bicycles and skateboards. People who play sports dress in a variety of ways. from micro bikinis to oversized tracksuits. A group of young people practicing yoga on the grass, two very hippie men painting the same canvas, a girl who has tied a rubber band between two trees and is trying to walk on it while balancing.
