Keys, gators and Latin flavors: Why Miami continues to captivate visitors

CNN

25-02-2025

Miami. Just saying the name is enough to conjure thoughts of vibrant nightlife, streets aglow with neon and Art Deco architecture that lends everything a hip, 20th-century feel.
This Florida gem is in your face and proud to be so. Yet it hasn't always been like this.
Miami is a city that has changed beyond recognition over the past 40 years. A tourist boom set off by the hit TV series 'Miami Vice,' which first aired in 1984, saw the famous Art Deco buildings get a new lease on life as clubs and bars sprung up along the waterfront.
What had been a struggling city was transformed as the decades passed, somewhere people could be themselves, with a diverse community that helped foster a sense of pride in the place they called home.
Now, Miami has matured into a destination that retains an artsy vibe with a love of its Latin heritage, as well as being a world-class financial hub. People don't just want to visit Miami. They want to stay and make their lives here too. And it's easy to see why.
Wynwood is perhaps the Miami district that has seen the biggest changes. A working-class neighborhood since its inception in the 1910s, home to garment factories and retailers, by the 1980s drugs and crime had made Wynwood into a place that residents wanted to leave as soon as possible.
Yet when the South Florida Arts Center snapped up the beautiful but derelict American Bakeries factory, everything began to change. Soon artists were drawn to the area thanks to cheap rent and abundant space available in old warehouses.
Today the American Bakeries factory is known as the Bakehouse Art Complex and is a nonprofit incubator for new artists.
In the 1990s and 2000s, property developer Tony Goldman saw Wynwood as ripe for further development, creating Wynwood Walls, a space that uses the facades of buildings as canvases for street art.
Goldman died in 2012, but his vision has seen Wynwood become an essential stop for anyone exploring Miami and its arts and nightlife scene.
In fact, Wynwood is just one of many Miami districts that have become destinations in their own right, whether it's Coconut Grove, Miami's oldest neighborhood with its leafy streets and street-side cafes, or the planned community of Coral Gables, just south of Downtown.
Yet nowhere stokes the fire quite like Little Havana.
Little Havana came into its own during the 1950s and 1960s, when waves of Cuban exiles fled their homeland and the ongoing revolution for safety in America.
Since then, it has been the epicenter of Cuban-American life, with restaurants, bars and cafes catering to those craving a taste of home, especially delicious Cuban coffee made with evaporated milk.
For musician Juan Turros, Little Havana's central street Calle Ocho and the surrounding area are what make this neighborhood so special.
A saxophonist, he's also CNN's guide to the area, yet can't help himself when there's the chance to play. Having guzzled a quick coffee, Turros darts into Old's Havana, a palm-fronted building with orange neon beaming, to do his thing — jumping in to join a performance by other musicians.
Does he know the other musicians?
'No,' he replies, laughing.
So how did they know he was any good?
'Oh,' he says. 'They can hear it!'
With that, Turros leads the way into the night, making time for salsa and a few drinks to round off the day.
Miami isn't the end of the road when it comes to South Florida. Pick up a rental car and drive 160 miles (257 kilometers) along the Overseas Highway over 42 bridges, all the way to the end of US Route 1, and you'll find a slice of paradise: Key West.
Key West is the most southerly of the Florida Keys — the archipelago of islands off the state's southern tip — and more of a state of mind than a destination, a place that is welcoming, friendly and has a vibe all its own. It's known for its party scene, its effervescent and kind LGBTQ community and, of course, year-round sunshine.
It's also close to the largest coral reef in continental America, its marine life heavily protected and cared for by the locals.
Key West is renowned too for the people who have called it home. Famous writers Tennessee Williams and Robert Frost once lived here.
But it's Ernest Hemingway who remains the city's most celebrated former resident. His former home and writing studio is now the Hemingway Home and Museum.
While you can see the typewriter upon which classics such as 'The Old Man and the Sea' and 'A Farewell to Arms' were written, there are some proper oddities on show too.
Chief among them is a series of 17th-century 'birthing chairs' which, the museum's director, Andrew Morawksi, says helped ease the author's back pain.
It's not just the furniture though. The Hemingway Home is also the home of a barely believable 59 cats, many of which have six toes on their front paws. They are absolutely everywhere you turn, each one named after someone famous. We catch sight of Walt Disney and Jackie O, as well as the latest addition to the family, June Carter Cash.
'They get 60 pounds of food a week,' smiles Morawksi. 'We have a vet that comes here about once a month that checks on them [and] takes care of them.'
Even the pool here has a story to tell.
'This was actually the first in-ground pool put in the city of Key West,' says Morawksi. That alone would make it special. Yet there's more.
It's said that Hemingway's second wife — Pauline Pfeiffer — built the pool in 1938 as revenge for his suspected infidelity.
'She got rid of his prize boxing ring, donated it to the local brothel and she put in a $20,000 pool,' says the museum director.
On arriving home and hearing the news, Hemingway was said to be furious.
'He took a penny out of his pocket, threw it at his wife, and said, 'Pauline, if you're going to spend my money like this, you might as well take me for my last penny.' She actually took that 1934 penny and stuck it in the ground.'
You can still see it today, stuck fast in the cement deck.
No trip to South Florida would be complete without an Everglades adventure. Back on the mainland, southwest of Miami, the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States is home to alligators, manatees, American crocodiles, the elusive Florida panther and many more animals and plants.
Robby Price is captain of an airboat, something synonymous with the Everglades. They skim across the vegetation and shallow water in search of the abundant wildlife that calls this special place home.
Price's boat is powered by a huge Chevrolet car engine, all the better for going farther, faster and deeper into the far reaches of this two-million-acre wetland ecosystem. Despite what many think, this is not a swamp. In fact, it's the slowest-flowing river in the world.
Price grew up on these waters and he knows them like his own backyard. Just watching him search for his favorite alligator is inspiring.
'I call her Lily,' he says. 'She normally lives back there, in the lilies, but, in the daytime, I'll catch her hanging out throughout this trail because she gets pretty good opportunities for food.'
After a brief search, she appears. Then it's off to see another of Price's favorites, Snaggle Tooth.
'You could see he's got a bunch of scars and bite marks on his body,' he observes. 'It's all chewed up from fighting other alligators.'
Just a glimpse of these creatures is frightening, but Price insists that there would be little danger from falling in the water.
'If you just jumped in and did a cannonball, they would most likely get scared from the splash and take off. When people get attacked by these animals, it is always a freak incident. It is definitely always a mistake.'
With that in mind, it's easier to relax and enjoy one of the United States' and the world's most beautiful corners, all just a stone's throw from Miami itself.
CNN's Richard Quest contributed to this story.