GMCVB Vacation Planner 2012 : Page-46

Special Advertising Section Downtown Miami The heart of Greater Miami booms with excitement Now part of Miami Dade College, the Freedom Tower has hosted major art exhibitions, including works by Dalí, Goya and Da Vinci. Just for kids, and just for fun, the Miami Children’s Museum is right off the MacArthur Causeway to the east, while across the street, the Jungle Island wildlife theme park showcases exotic birds, mammals and reptiles in daily shows and interactive exhibits. J. Kevin Foltz SHOPPING Since Miami’s first major boom in the 1920s, Downtown Miami has been a shopping mecca, and that hasn’t changed. With Flagler Street as its historic heart, today’s Downtown Miami shopping district is a bargain-hunters’ heaven, as visitors score great prices on everything from sporting goods, shoes and books to electronics, fragrances, luggage and fashions for every climate and family member. Department stores such as Macy’s and La Época, a three-story store founded in Havana in 1885, are part of the mix here. Unique specialty stores, like Auto Craze Parts & Accessories and Alberto Cortés Cosmetics and Perfumes, also add to the shopping landscape. Electric Avenue is a one-stop-shop for retail electronics on the corner of Flagler Street and Third Avenue. When it comes to all that glitters, Downtown Miami sparkles with the third largest jewelry district in the nation. The district’s primary anchor is the famed Seybold Building, housing more than 280 jewelers on 10 floors, including Dasani Jewels and Richard’s Gems and Jewelry, not to mention a host of experts offering appraisals, diamond cutting, watch repairs and other services. Heading east, glittering Biscayne Bay is the backdrop for shopping at Bayside Marketplace, an open-air complex of national retailers, one-of-a-kind kiosks, restaurants and cafes, including Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and Hard Rock Cafe. Day or night, Bayside hosts live entertainment, with an onsite marina launching unique sightseeing and party cruises. Across the Miami River from the heart of Downtown Miami, the Brickell Business District offers a towering — yet uniquely tropical — Continued on page 50 The sky is the limit in Downtown Miami, an international financial center that balances work and play beautifully, with a host of attractions and entertainment options. SIGHTSEEING Long the commercial crossroads of the Western Hemisphere and a major shopping hub for visitors from all over the world, Downtown Miami has transformed itself into a favored tourist destination in its own right, hosting thousands of business and leisure travelers in a variety of first-class hotels that have risen alongside the office buildings in recent years. Twenty years ago, Downtown Miami closed its doors at 5 p.m. Today, when the offices shut down, things are just getting started at the restaurants, clubs, theaters and sporting venues that keep Miami glittering under the tropical moon. Holding court at the massive AmericanAirlines Arena are the 2006 NBA champs, the Miami HEAT, with superstar players Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh playing to sellout crowds during home games. During away games and the off-season, this state-of-the-art arena becomes one of the city’s largest cultural venues; past happenings have included Celine Dion and Britney Spears in concert, as well as the MTV Video Music Awards. Just north of the arena, in Downtown Miami’s Arts and Entertainment District, Miami’s premier cultural palace is the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, where the Florida Grand Opera, the Miami City Ballet, the New World Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra are all in residence along with City Theatre, Teatro Avante and others. The Arsht Center also hosts an incredible variety of visiting performers, including the world’s preeminent dance companies and singers, as well as the Broadway in Miami series. While the Arsht Center is a relatively new facility (opened in 2006), the nearby Gusman Center for the Performing Arts — home of the Miami International Film Festival — debuted in 1926 as the Olympia Theater, and still reflects the grandeur of that era with lavish Moorish architecture and a simulated night sky overhead, complete with clouds and twinkling stars. Meanwhile, the actual sky, and gorgeous Biscayne Bay, set the stage for concerts and festivals at nearby Bayfront Park. But the cultural activities in Downtown Miami don’t end there. At the Miami-Dade Cultural Center, you can browse a huge library or check out two fascinating museums — the Miami Art Museum and HistoryMiami. Standing out among the skyscrapers of Downtown Miami is the Freedom Tower, built in 1925 as the headquarters of The Miami News, then decades later serving as a processing center for thousands of Cuban immigrants. Now part of Miami Dade College, the Tower has hosted major art exhibitions, including works by Dalí, Goya and Da Vinci. 46

Miami Downtown Development Authority
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