DK Travel : Miami : Places of interest

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Barbara Meller-Jensen, Hapless Tourist

The unwary German visitor was murdered in 1993, tarnishing Miami’s tourism image.
Barnacle State Historic Site

Hidden from the highway by a tropical hardwood hammock (mound), this is Dade County’s oldest home. It was designed and built in 1891 by Commodore Ralph Munroe, who made his living as a boat builder and a wrecker (salvager). In fact, wood from shipwrecks was used to build the house, and it was inventively laid out to allow the circulation of air, all-important in those days before air-conditioning. Rooms are stuffed with old family heirlooms, old tools, and wonderful early appliances.
Barnacle State Historic Site

This unusual house, lived in by the descendants of its original builder until 1973, is the area’s oldest, built in 1891 (see Barnacle State Historic Site).
Bass Museum of Art

This Mayan-influenced Deco structure of the 1930s came of age in 1964, when John and Johanna Bass donated their extensive collection of art. It consists mainly of 15th–17th-century European paintings, sculpture, and textiles, and highlights include Renaissance and Baroque works, as well as paintings by Dürer and Rubens, and a 16th-century Flemish tapestry.
Bayside Marketplace

Never a dull moment in Downtown Miami’s hottest daytime spot, featuring boutiques, live music, street performers, and ethnic dining right on the marina (see Bayside Marketplace and Bayfront Park).
Bayside Marketplace and Bayfront Park

Curving around Miamarina, this shopping and entertainment complex is undeniably fun and the Downtown area’s best attraction. It’s not South Beach, but La Vida Loca echoes here, too, often with live salsa bands playing on the esplanade. Shops – including Guess?, Victoria’s Secret, Structure, and Foot Locker – and 30 eateries, with everything from ice cream to paella, make it a happening place. To the south, Bayfront Park, designed by Isamu Noguchi, is extensive and can provide a pleasant interlude of greenery, water, monuments, sculpture, and striking views.
Beach at 12th Street, SoBe

While all of South Beach is a gay haven, this particular stretch is where the guys tend to gather in their imposing, thong-clad throngs.
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Recreation Area

This beach, also rated among the nation’s top ten, is conveniently joined to picnic areas and pavilions by boardwalks across the dunes. The sugary sand is sometimes marred by clumps of seaweed, but it is the stinging man-o’-war jellyfish that you need to watch out for most.
Biltmore Hotel

George Merrick was one of the visionaries who made Florida into what it is; this lavish hotel stands as a monument to his taste and grand ideas. Herculean pillars line the grand lobby, and from the terrace you can survey the largest hotel swimming pool in the country. JohnnyWeismuller, the first movie Tarzan, used to teach swimming here, and the likes of Al Capone, Judy Garland, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor came in its heyday. Weekly tours of the hotel and grounds depart from the front desk (see Biltmore Hotel & Biltmore Hotel).
Biltmore Hotel

Inimitably beautiful and grand, this is one of the world’s most gorgeous hotels, opened in 1926.