The Folly Chariot's First Field Trip

I bought a Muskmobile (aka Tesla Model Y) after hemming and hawing for almost a year. Our new chariot will live at the Folly.  Herr Cucaracha taught me that owning a car in Manhattan is more headache than convenience, and it's only going to get more expensive with the imminence of congestion parking.

 

Up-to-four-passengers was a luxury only provided by Folly rental cars in the past so Chris and I picked up Paul and Linn in Boca en route to Miami.   We began our afternoon visit at the Holocaust Memorial.  None of us except me had seen it.

An engaging docent whose parents had survived the camps told us her father refused to paint all Germans with the Nazi brush.  She'd seen The Zone of Interest, too, and pointed to the little girl who hides apples for the prisoners as an example of humanity's capacity for kindness even under the most horrifying conditions. 

The nearby botanical garden offers relief from the grimness of the memorial.

We're in an ongoing discussion at the Folly about the meaning of "meta."  I think this mural qualifies as it X-rays the often illegal activity that first put Wynwood on the art map in 2009.

We parked just below Frida Kahlo's roller-painted visage while the friendly and talented artist worked to finish it.  He laughed when I pleaded with him not to get red paint on my new car.  Chris and I visited Kahlo's home on our trip to Mexico City last year.

Blank spaces are as rare as icebergs in the ever-gentrifying neighborhood, which I've visited almost annually since 2017.

Introducing Paul and Linn to the Wynwood mixed up my standard tour (which includes artisanal popsicles at Cielito and kosher babka at Zak the Baker, unfortunately closed on Saturdays).  They wanted to check out Walt Grace Vintage which specializes in strings and wheels.  Very cool.

Colorful guitar straps and books were on sale, too.

If anyone ever sculpts a rock Mt. Rushmore, Bowie and Lennon better be included.

Wynwood Walls, the pioneering art space that started it all, now charges $12 admission.  It may no longer be as edgy but it's just as much fun.  Too bad New York City didn't find a way to preserve 5 Pointz.

I love this fantastic take on Florida's flora and fauna.  Is that a unicorn or a roseate spoonbill?

We Work opened this space just about the time the company imploded.  I'd wager it's one of the bankrupt company's most valuable assets.  Hipsters only have to cross the street for delicious babka.

BTW, the Folly Chariot made it to Miami and back (~150 miles) with less than an 80% charge.  So far, home plugging it in at home has been more than adequate.

Miami Holocaust Memorial

After a visit to the Bass Museum, Christine and I walked over to the Holocaust Memorial which made quite an impression on me during a 1994 trip to Miami.  Both the surrounding area and the world itself have changed enormously since then.  

A menorah greets visitors to the memorial.  After seeing The Zone of Interest the week before, we were primed for the gruesome experience.

A passageway inscribed with the names of concentration camps and death factories leads you to an enclosed plaza surrounded by water.  Digital cameras have vastly improved my photography.

I appreciate the lack of subtlety.  You can't fail to be be horrified by the giant hand grasping for life.

Names of the identified dead are etched into the walls.

Is it any wonder that Jews sought a safe space in their ancestral homeland after the Nazis (and other complicit nations, including the United States) failed to prevent the murder of six million?

Marble panels resembling tombstones depict the operation of the camps, including Dachau.

FLASHBACK: Bye Bye Kurt (1994)

Anthony, Barnet and I were in South Beach when Kurt Cobain killed himself. 

 

I'll always pose with a Karmann Ghia.

We stayed at the Kenmore Hotel.  Barnet and I shared a room.

We spent more than a little time lounging around the kidney-shaped pool drinking Zimas.

Gustavo, Anthony's ex who had moved to Miami, stopped by.  He'd lost all his baby fat and turned into a club kid.

He took us to Amnesia in his car.

Even in April the feygelehs crowded the beach at 12th Street.

It killed me to have to rent a chaise lounge.

One day we biked to Cocoanut Grove, passing the Fountainbleu.

Barnet's Aunt Clara was very happy to see us.

Thirty years later, Anthony gave me raw video footage of the trip we had completely forgotten about.  Barnet was in fine form!

We also visited the Holocaust Memorial.  I saw my first in Paris, in 1962.  It gave me a dark view of humanity at a very early age.

Exhibits at the Paris museum included grisly items from the concentration camps.  In Miami, the memorial conveyed the horror of the experience mostly through harrowing sculpture. It, too, made quite an impression.

More South Beach

South Beach Redux (2026)

Recreating the Pines Experience in January (2019)
FLASHBACK: Miami White Party (Thanksgiving 2003)
FLASHBACK: Alligator Alley (1996)