Afterward, head to the outdoor sandwich bar La Sandwicherie, a French import with sandwiches on melt-in-your-mouth croissants ($8). If the adjoining Art Deco District intrigues you, the Miami Design Preservation League leads guided tours ($25) there every morning at 10:30 a.m. The hardpacked sand in some stretches is perfect for jogging, while a boardwalk runs all the way up to 46th Street. There’s mile after mile of relatively empty sand beneath the same soothing, baby-blue sky, with an accompanying soundtrack of gently crashing surf. But if serenity is what you’re after, walk north. Late morning is the perfect time to hit the beach, before it gets too hot and the main drag of the shoreline - running roughly parallel to Ocean Drive from 5th to 15th Street - fills up. Around the corner, two smaller and scrappier organizations - Locust Projects and Swampspace - feature installations from tomorrow’s art stars today. Next door, the de la Cruz Collection displays the personal holdings of the collectors Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz in three high-ceilinged floors filled with rotating displays of avant-garde heavyweights like Isa Genzken and Dana Schutz permanent space has been set aside for the works of the Cuban-American experimentalist Felix Gonzalez-Torres. But it’s the spotlight on local talent that often steals the show, from the viscerally powerful minimalist paintings of the late Darby Bannard to the hypnotic, abstract canvases of a relative newcomer on the art scene, Tomm El-Saieh, who is making waves far beyond South Florida. The Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami pairs a peaceful outdoor sculpture garden with an indoor array of heady conceptual artwork from around the globe. Amid these temples of conspicuous consumption are two of Miami’s newest museums, right next to each other, and both free. The Design District, in the city of Miami proper, is chockablock with luxury retailers, from Louis Vuitton to Versace. As for the actual white, sandy stretches of South Beach, they remain as stunning as ever, and a meeting spot for locals from Greater Miami’s far-flung corners to strut their barely clothed stuff. The growing pains are unavoidable - traffic jams may sprout up anywhere, and some residents of previously off-the-radar neighborhoods aren’t exactly thrilled with the rent hikes that come with being “discovered.” The upside? An already dizzying multiculturalism has only gotten richer: Little Haiti and Little Havana now find themselves competing for attention and influence with Little Venezuela and Little Moscow. South Beach’s famously louche night life has fanned out across Biscayne Bay and onto the mainland, along with cutting-edge art galleries, top-notch restaurants and funky but chic boutiques. The confusion was understandable - for those weekend warriors there was little reason to venture beyond the city of Miami Beach’s telegenic, Art Deco-emblazoned, southernmost tip. There was a time when it wasn’t unusual to hear visitors use South Beach as shorthand for the entire Miami metropolitan area.
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