► NOTE TO BRITISH TOURISTS from the publisher: Florida is very tourist-centric and has superb, helpful visitors bureaux for all areas to help YOU plan your visit. Find them by going to: www.visitflorida.com the Sunshine State's official website.
► FOR MIAMI ONLY: The Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau [305] 539-3000 is the official organisation to advise tourists. WEBSITE www.miamiandbeaches.comFOR ALL TYPE OF CURRENT EVENTS, ATTRACTIONS, RESTAURANTS, NIGHTLIFE AND IN ALL PARTS OF MIAMI.
► MIAMI THE MAGIC CITY I live downtown Miami in a hotel in this exciting city. I have tried everywhere, and want to share recommendations with British visitors unfamiliar with Miami. Thousands of British tourists come to Miami and never get to know the non-touristy places that we locals know and love. Here I will recommend non-Latin places of particular appeal to British tastes.
►BIGGEST TIP: Don't stay rooted to South Beach! Miami the city has so much more to offer these days. Jump in a taxi or one of 5 buses [A,C,K,S,M] over to downtown Miami, the Design District, Midtown, Mary Brickell Village and Coconut Grove. EXPLORE! These are all exiting, hip and eclectic parts of Miami. ALSO: From South Beach take the S or K bus down to Downtown and Bayside. The fare of $2 is the best money you ever spent. I ride buses all the time to and from South Beach and rarely take my car out. METROMOVER: In downtown Miami ride the FREE above ground Metromover which loops through the city with a great view of the cruiseships in port. FOR FREE MIAMI INFO call the city's info-line: Dail 311form any phone in Miami.
► You will see a free newspaper in street corner boxes The New Times. It's the alternative local weekly which lists all the nightclubs, strip clubs, bars, party places, live music venues and ongoing local events which appeal to younger British tourists. Pick one up--very useful source. www.newtimesmiami.com
► RESTAURANTS--Yum, yum not hum-drum. SOUTH BEACH AREA: First know that the best food is NOT found in tourist areas. That is true with most cities around the world. We Miamians rarely eat overpriced food on Ocean Drive unless we have to, when showing visitors around. Classic exceptions on South Beach to seek out: Always popular with us local Brits is waterside Smith and Wollensky's [305] 673-2800www.smithandwollensky.com Friday nights you will hear many British accents there.
► HAKKASAN, Britain's only Michelin-rated Chinese restaurant. This award-winning restaurant has made its U.S. debut direct from London at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. [305] 538-2000
► HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: British people love gardening and flowers. Take a tour down to the Redlands agricultural area about one hour's drive south of Miami, in a suburb called Homestead. I have done this tour and it's wonderful. Orchid farms, tropical blooms, tropical eatables, local wineries and numerous tropical nature experiences you will enjoy. Look at the wesbite www.theredland.org first. For tours call [305] 247-5172 Redland Pioneer Tours. Or ask your hotel concierge how to drive down to Homestead.
MIAMI: A proud to be British item. Joe's Stone Crab restaurant is the most famous restaurant in Florida, with a three hour wait to get a table. Known for its legendary seasonal stone crabs with its signature mustard sauce, the sauce was a recipe kept secret for 43 years by the original owner----as closeley guarded as the Coca Cola one. In 2004 Joe's chefs there told Katie Couric, who was doing the Today show from Miami, the ingredients of the mustard sauce. Millions of Americans for decades had tried to copy it without success. Because lo and behold, the main key secret ingredient was revealed as Colman's English dry mustard in those little cans we Brits know so well. Since no American could guess that, all recipe attempts using feeble American mustards were therefore doomed.
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