Draining, barely draining, from within South Florida’s Everglades, the Miami River forms near Miami Airport. The river trickles east six miles through downtown Miami. Flowing into Biscayne Bay, the Miami is a natural river, once home-ground to Tequesta Indians.
Shellfish were the Tequesta’s food of choice on date night. Not clams, oysters or conch – of which there was plenty along the Miami River, rather turtle and snail.
In the 1890’s Florida was invaded by the railroad. The Miami was dredged, bridged, commercialized and, by the 1950’s, polluted – all the way to its mouth; Biscayne Bay. The Tequesta were history.
Why this place appeals to me
Escape from downtown Miami’s touristy Bayside Market is an easy walk South through Bayfront Park. Pick up the Miami Riverwalk. Keep heading South, Miami Riverwalk curves west along the bank of the Miami River. At the mouth of the Miami commercial ocean-going vessels destined for Caribbean Islands are being towed into Biscayne Bay, then released and trusted to self-navigate
The Miami River serves as the North border to Miami’s “Financial District,” Brickell Avenue. South Florida wannabee financiers dubbed Brickell Avenue “Wall Street South.” It’s not. It is “South America Wealth North.” Spanish is the preferred tongue along Brickell Ave. Spanish is often the sole language spoken by cabbies and UBER pilots.
Upriver the Miami brushes the North boundary of Little Havana. From Brickell Ave it’s a 10-minute car trip to the music of Calle Ocho.
How Far Down the Block, or River?
It’s Saturday 1 pm. Time-out – Il Gabbiano (the Seagull) at the mouth of the Miami River is a worthy option. But we’re going local, Down The Block. Or rather, Up The River.
Lunch is an old-school Miami mainstay, Garcia’s Seafood. A 1.5-mile stroll up the Miami River from Biscayne Bay. After lunch, next door to Garcia’s a relative newcomer to the Miami’s dining scene awaits; Kiki on the River.
Why you might be nearby?
A. Absorbing the all-day music thumping from within Ball & Chain in Little Havana.
B. Confirming payment on an undisclosed South American business transaction at Banco do Brasil Americas, 1221 Brickell Ave. office.
C. Gaging behavior at Miami’s new hot spot along the river, Riverside, 120,000-square-feet of hedonism.
D. Brickell City Centre; landlord to SAKS, TED Baker, Coach and their retail cousins has occupied your morning. The North/South sidewalk along S. Miami Avenue, leads you 500 feet north towards the Miami River.
Lesser Known Facts
The Miami is a River of Exports; 75 percent of the cargo floating downriver is tagged for foreign shores.
The goods are being transported to the Caribbean; the Dominican Republic, Haiti, the Bahamas. Only shallow draft commercial vessels can navigate the Miami River. Shallow draft is required to slip-in, dock and tie-up in many Caribbean harbors.
Local Recommendation
Garcia’s Seafood smells a bit fishy. Comforting since the patio seats are right on the river.
The seafood market, as you step through the front door, stuns with a selection of shiny claws and colorful creatures with fins.
Former guests and the Garcia Family are celebrated with pictures nearly every wall.
The downstairs/outdoor seating area, just behind the fish market, features wooden picnic tables, properly aged. Upstairs is only slightly more refined.
“My father, when he got here from Cuba, he didn’t know anything other than fishing,” explains the current Garcia overseer. GOOD START. The Garcia’s contract their own fleet of fishing boats. Thus, FRESH is the seafood in both the market and the restaurant.
Settle your tab at Garcia’s Seafood. Out the front door, 200 feet north on the bank of the Miami River lies Kiki on the River.
Kiki parties all-day on Sunday – a tribute to the Sunday Soiree at Miami Beach’s Raleigh Hotel back in the day. Kiki’s isn’t priced as a “local hangout” – their signature cocktails cost $17.
Kiki on the River, dining area
Kiki’s allows a lenient outdoor smoking policy, perhaps defined as “South American.” At the riverside bar, a slick-dressed, russet-skin fellow has a lady on each arm. All three smoking cigars.
Eight elegant Spanish nymphs, each wearing white, chatter in Spanish around a square table. Their apparel du jour, head-turning suggestions from the pages of Vogue. Each top designed with a cleavage-relief plunge. I wanted to wait their table.
Next to me, at Kiki’s bar, the woman said, “You’re staring at that table.”
“I’m not staring,” I replied, keeping my focus on the group of eight, “I’m ogling. Ogling is a higher form of observation.”
The woman winks at a 50-ish man seated around the L corner of Kiki’s bar. He dressed French Resistance-style, sporting a European two-day growth. The man speaks sottovoce into his cell phone
Something for Nothing
1. A Spanish language lesson Spanish with your UBER pilot.
2. Miami’s free transportation: 1) Metromover, 2) City of Miami Trolley
3. The pedestrian walking path that circumnavigates Brickell Key. South on Brickell Avenue from the Miami River, turn left (East) onto Brickell Key Drive. On the east side of the 200-foot causeway bridge over Biscayne Bay, step down to the shoreside footpath. If a walking loop of Brickell Key (or several) induce thirst, repair to the outdoor deck of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, or the patio at Brasserie Brickell Key.