Ocean Drive (South Beach)
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Ocean Drive is a major
thoroughfare A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way of transport, whether by road on dry land or, by extension, via watercraft or aircraft. Originally, the word referred to a main road or open street which was frequented thoroughly. Different terms *Roa ...
in the
South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a Neighborhoods of Miami Beach, Florida, neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south ...
neighborhood of
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...
,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
.


Route description

The road starts at South Pointe just south of 1st Street, near the southernmost end of the main
barrier island Barrier islands are a Coast#Landforms, coastal landform, a type of dune, dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of an ...
of Miami Beach, about a quarter mile west of the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
. Ocean Drive continues north to 15th Street, immediately southeast of
Lincoln Road Lincoln Road Mall is a pedestrian road running east–west parallel between 16th Street and 17th Street in Miami Beach, Florida, United States. Once completely open to vehicular traffic, it now hosts a pedestrian mall replete with shops, rest ...
.


Attractions

Ocean Drive is known mostly for its
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
hotels and restaurants/bars, many of which have been prominently featured in numerous movies and media. Among the most popular is the 1939 Colony Hotel, known as the most photographed art deco hotel. Renovated as a boutique hotel, it has been featured in cameos in scores of movies and TV shows, including the series ''Dexter''. Another popular art deco hotel is the Clevelander Hotel; in addition to its standard hotel services, it has an indoor sports lounge, a dance floor and pool area on the ground floor, and a complementary roof-top lounge. The exterior of the Carlyle Hotel was used for the Birdcage drag club in the
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
comedy ''
The Birdcage ''The Birdcage'' is a 1996 American comedy film produced and directed by Mike Nichols. Elaine May's screenplay adapted the 1978 French film ''La Cage aux Folles (film), La Cage aux Folles'', itself an adaptation of a La Cage aux Folles (play), 1 ...
''. The Sunray Apartments were featured in the movie ''Scarface'' (1983). Ocean Drive is also the location of the famed Casa Casuarina, the residence of the late Italian fashion designer
Gianni Versace Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace (; 2 December 1946 – 15 July 1997) was an Italian fashion designer, socialite and businessman. He was the founder of Versace, an international luxury-fashion house that produces accessories, fragrances, make-up ...
. Since his death, the house was sold and adapted for use as a boutique hotel. It is one of the most photographed houses in North America.


Culture

Developed in the 1920s and 1930s, the street is the center of the Miami Art Deco District, which contains about 900 preserved, contributing buildings. It is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.
Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by Aerodynamics, aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In indu ...
evolved from the Art Deco style, and dominates the street. ''Ocean Drive'' magazine is named after the street.
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
easy-listening duo The Lighthouse Family released a single entitled " Ocean Drive” in 1995 (although this is based on a road in the UK), which reached #11 on the UK Singles Chart. A street in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is based on the street.


In popular culture


Television

In 2005, Ocean Drive served as the setting for the Brazilian
telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...
'' América'', in which the main character ( Deborah Secco) worked illegally in a dance club. Several takes were previously filmed on Ocean Dr. itself, but for scenes in several chapters, a street set was built at
Estúdios Globo Estúdios Globo (Globo Studios, in English) is Grupo Globo's television production arm and Latin America's largest audio-visual production center. Before its current name, it was also known as Central Globo de Produção (Globo Production Cente ...
in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
.


Video Games

* Grand Theft Auto Vice City


Restaurants and cabaret

One of the most famous restaurants on this strip is Mango's Tropical Café, a Caribbean-inspired restaurant that also has live performances by dancers and singers. Known for its
cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...
and
drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...
shows, the Palace Bar is dedicated to the
LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...
community.


Cars

In July 2020, Miami Beach Commission passed a resolution that banned cars on Ocean Drive in light of the COVID-19 pandemic to create a pedestrian thoroughfare and increased sidewalk seating. Ocean Drive reopened to traffic in January 2022.


Gallery

File:Ocean drive south beach miami night.JPG, Night view File:Colony Hotel Miami Beach Izzy.JPG File:Boulevard Hotel (Neon sign), Miami Beach.jpg, Neon lighting of the Boulevard Hotel File:Ocean Drive during Superbowl XLI.jpg, Ocean Drive on
Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2006 Indianapolis Colts season, Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2006 Chicago Bears season, Chicag ...
weekend, 2007 File:SouthBeachMiamiBeach.jpg, Typical
art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
buildings File:OceanDriveSouthBeach.jpg File:Entry-Miami.jpg, Beach access in Ocean Drive File:Miami Beach - South Beach Buildings - Ocean Plaza Hotel on Ocean Drive.jpg, Ocean Plaza Hotel File:Versace mansion - casa casuarina.jpg, Versace Mansion - Casa Casuarina File:Miami Beach - South Beach Buildings - Leslie Hotel on Ocean Drive.jpg, Leslie Hotel File:Miami Beach - South Beach Buildings - Edison Hotel on Ocean Drive.jpg, Edison Hotel File:Miami Beach - South Beach buildings - Victor Hotel and Lummus Park.jpg, Victor Hotel viewed from Lummus Park File:Miami Beach - South Beach buildings - Lummus Park and the Victor Hotel.jpg, Tides Hotel from Lummus Park File:Southbeachoceandrive01.JPG, View north with Victor Hotel on the left of picture. File:Miami Beach Buildings - Betsy Hotel.jpg, Betsy Hotel File:Miami Beach - South Beach buildings - The Carlyle Hotel.jpg, The Carlyle Hotel File:Miami Beach - South Beach buildings - Fat Tuesday.jpg, Fat Tuesday Miami Beach File:Miami Beach - South Beach buildings - The Tides Hotel.jpg, The Tides Hotel


References

*''Florida'', ''DK Eyewitness Travel Guides,'' 2004, pgs. 58 & 59


External links


Google historical timeline of Ocean Drive, South Beach, Miami
{{Greater Miami Roads in Miami Beach, Florida Roads in Miami-Dade County, Florida Shopping districts and streets in the United States Tourist attractions in Miami-Dade County, Florida