That just shit all over my Miami stereotype.
I guess not just the Miami Vice stuff, but because we've always had good experiences in FL at Orlando, Daytona, Cocoa Beach, Clearwater. We just kinda thought Miami would be a good place to visit.
Hope = crushed
Those are "whitey areas". Northern Florida and the Gulf Coast are all high white areas. Yeah you get some white trash around the Panama City, Daytona, Jacksonville area... but that beats the mongrels in Miami. Think of it like this... Chinese restaurants owned by Cubans. That makes sense? No. Welcome to Miami.
The only good thing about Miami is that it is 30 south of Ft Lauderdale and 2.5 hours north of Key West. Other than that there is no redeeming factor. When Versace was killled so was the vibe of the city. All the aspiring models/actresses that you could bang after buying one drink disappeared. All the European "superstars" no longer visit. I am 29 now and back then when I was 14 and 15 my family would come to Ft Lauderdale and my sister and I would drive down to South Beach and just simply walk up and down Collins Ave for 5 blocks and within half an hour we would both have gotten invited to at least half a dozen parties. Imagine walking into a party where the foyer table had a mountain of coke and the cover model of Vogue and Vanity Fair was tooting a line. Know the porn star Jamie Gillis? When I was 14 I saw him pouring poppers into a dust mask, putting it on and laying back to get a blow job by whoever passed by. Didn't matter if it was male or female. Probably wouldn't have cared if it was an animal as bombed out as he was.
Now days if you get invited to a party from someone approaching you on Collins or Washington, you are about to get a train pulled on you after they roofie your ass (pun - but literally). When you meet someone that says they "own their own business" in South Beach, that means they are protected drug dealer for a certain club. And once the club finds another dealer willing to give them a bigger cut of the sales taking place in the biz, they will be out on their asses.
You can still go to South Beach and have a nice time. You will see beautiful people. Have exotic drinks. Pick up herpes (if single) from the ho's or (if married) crabs at the minimum from the dirty ass hotels there. Hit the casinos a bit north, go to the horse races, have really fantastic food. But if you are watching shows like Dexter, CSI Miami, or Burn Notice and think Miami is all brand new high rises and clean area... well that is filmed in North Miami, right below Aventura.