We returned to Miami for a final night in downtown. It was the last stop on our itinerary.
We’d investigated trying to cross the Florida panhandle and travel the southern USA to return home by train. More than a decade ago Hurricane Katrina severely damaged sections of the track, particularly in Mississippi and Louisiana. Amtrak service has never been restored from Florida to New Orleans. Taking the train would have meant back tracking long distances we’d already covered previously. We flew home instead.
We’d investigated trying to cross the Florida panhandle and travel the southern USA to return home by train. More than a decade ago Hurricane Katrina severely damaged sections of the track, particularly in Mississippi and Louisiana. Amtrak service has never been restored from Florida to New Orleans. Taking the train would have meant back tracking long distances we’d already covered previously. We flew home instead.
I was happy to be rid of the rental car, even if it meant circling downtown Miami’s one way streets several times to locate the car company. I then suggested we walk from downtown to our hotel in the adjacent Omni neighborhood. In Chicago, Boston, and Philly we had traveled on foot from train stations to our hotel accommodations. My daughter pointed out we didn’t know the area. We could already see some blocks looked dicey.
I was looking forward to riding the free downtown PeopleMover anyway. Based on a monorail and driverless track system developed for Walt Disney’s Tomorrowland in 1967, many cities studied installing them to revitalize their downtowns. Jacksonville and Detroit started, but only Miami would go on to complete theirs. Later designs would become ubiquitous around the nation’s airports, but the only downtown one is still Miami.
Despite the good press I’d been reading about Miami, we could observe from the elevated PeopleMover track that walking to the hotel would have been somewhat impossible, despite the relatively close proximity. Abandoned sidewalks didn’t link up. The river lacked a decent pedestrian crossing. The area was dotted with empty lots and abandoned warehouses. Clearly people didn’t stroll around except in parks and shopping malls. When we later walked a couple blocks to a diner, we were constantly badgered by cabs for pick up. It was assumed we weren’t planning to go anywhere without a vehicle.
Miami presents an impressive skyline. From a boat it appears equal to other cities, like Chicago. It is only up close and on the ground that the differences are striking. It was in Miami I had my “Aha” moment.
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