Historical Hangouts
Ocean Drive Original
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An Art Deco classic, The Tides has presided over South Beach’s Ocean Drive since 1936. The hotel, popular among celebrities and international travelers, was designed by Lawrence Murray Dixon, one of Miami’s most prolific architects during the 1930s.
Now, after an eight-month renovation, The Tides is preparing to reopen. Shan Kanagasingham, the hotel’s new general manager, was brought in from the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong to oversee the restoration. She says the goal was to stay true to the building’s Art Deco design and history. “We didn’t take an old beauty and transform her into something else.”
Interior designer Kelly Wearstler, renowned for her hotel and restaurant designs, has melded The Tides’ original Art Deco style with contemporary touches, using top-quality furnishings and a palette ranging from muted beiges and dusty peaches to coral and mink brown.
Some of the hotel’s original pieces have remained, such as its front desk, made of coral, and its facade of limestone and white coral chunks excavated from the ocean floor when Carl Fisher and John Collins created Miami Beach in 1915. The building had been crowned with a pyramid, a key Art Deco symbol, removed five years ago because of structural problems. It will be restored and placed on its original perch.
The Tides South Beach
Opened: 1936
Location: 1220 Ocean Drive
Owner: Kor Hotel Group
Style: Art Deco
Architect: Lawrence Murray Dixon
Redesign: 2007, Kelly Wearstler Interior Design, Los Angeles
Daily rates: $435 deluxe oceanfront room, $5,000 penthouse
Photos: |
At left, bartender Faith LawsSpeakeasy
Roxy’s Pub at 309 Clematis St. is the oldest bar in West Palm Beach, predating Prohibition. The 130-year-old establishment and former speakeasy has the distinction of acquiring the first liquor license in Palm Beach County after Prohibition was repealed in 1933.
It still has a certain “vibe,” says owner John Webb, who bought the bar the day Hurricane Wilma hit in 2005. “It’s been a survivor.”
After more than a year of renovations, the popular bar and nightspot reopened in February and, according to Webb, you can’t get in the door Thursday through Saturday night.
Roxy’s got its start at the northwest corner of Okeechobee Boulevard and Dixie Highway when it was a saloon owned by a local named P.P. Doc.
Roxy’s Pub
» What’s New: 64 draft beers and “gastro-pub” high-end bar food
» What’s Old: The original pine siding, sand floors and parts of its masterpiece 42-foot mahogany and brass Brunswick bar
Links: Historical Hangouts
Tides South Beach | Roxy's Pub | Historical Hotels of America
For more articles this month with extra links, go to the Links page.
 Ashley Saunders |
Island History
The Bahamian island of Bimini, a top spot for big-game fishing, is also host to a few historic sites that you may not be aware of, says local historian and author Ashley Saunders, whose family ties to Bimini date back to the island’s original settlers.
While Ponce de Leon searched but failed to find the fountain of youth, purported to be located on this island, islanders still believe it exists, and the Ministry of Tourism has named it an historic site. There is also a natural cold spring in the middle of a swamp known as the Healing Hole. Martin Luther King Jr. was among those who sought out the allegedly curative waters.
Huge limestone rocks off the coast of North Bimini, discovered in 1968, are believed by many to be part of an undersea road leading to the “lost city of Atlantis.” The rocks attract many divers each year.
 Snorkeling the “Bimini Road” Photo: Greg Johnston/ DanitaDelimont.com |
» Where to Stay: Bimini Bay Resort — A new resort/residential community scheduled for completion in early 2008
» Where to Eat: Red Lion (Kings Highway, Alice Town) — Famous local Bahamian fare, including BBQ ribs, catch of the day, turtle steaks and Key lime pie. Credit cards not accepted.
» Where to Cool Off: End of the World Bar (Kings Highway, Alice Town) — The local and tourist hangout has been around since Prohibition, and the likes of former U.S. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell enjoyed hanging out here. Sara will fix you anything you want to eat, and she always keeps a freshly made bowl of conch salad at the bar. (The famous Compleat Angler, which topped virtually all the “where to go” lists for Bimini and was made famous by Ernest Hemingway, burned down in 2006.)