I happened to be in Miami, Florida a few months ago.  It clearly has the most Latin American atmosphere of any city in North America.  As you walk down the streets in the entertainment districts, you constantly hear the fiery throb of salsa beats emanating from the nightclubs and restaurants. Spanish is spoken almost as frequently as English.  Cuban cuisine is served in many of the local eateries.

Miami Beach is situated on a narrow spit of land bordering the Atlantic Ocean.  It's broad sand beaches are fringed with an array of high-rise hotels and condominiums.  These upscale resorts draw an international array of vacationers as well as the jet-set party crowd.  The southern portion is known as South Beach,  It has many smaller boutique hotels with art-deco architecture, classy restaurants, trendy bars and exclusive shops. On a Saturday night, the cars are backed up bumper to bumper along the main beachfront drive.  The sidewalks are jammed with well-dressed young people seeking food, drink and entertainment.  At least half of them are speaking Spanish.  And the throbbing Miami beat permeates the air.

The Intracoastal Waterway separates Miami Beach from the mainland and downtown Miami.  Along the convoluted channels and bays, one sees lavish yachts and high-speed motorboats.  It looks like a scene taken out of the Miami Vice movie set. 

Downtown is a bit more sedate.  Amidst the lofty office buildings are an assortment of hotels and condominiums.  They attract the more budget minded tourists expecially those awaiting departure of the cruise ships parked in the nearby harbor basin.  Inland from that commercial center, a vast array of lower buidings spreads westward into miles of suburban bedroom communities, shopping complexes and business parks. Beyond that, begins the jungles and wetlands of the great Everglades.

South from Eighth Avenue, also known as "Calle Ocho", is the area commonly called "Little Havana" because of its huge population of Cuban immigrants.  In the neighborhood, there are two famous restaurants, "La Carreta" and "Versaille" known for their authentic Cuban cuisine.  I ate lunch at Versaille.  I was one of the few customers that spoke any English.  Even the waitresses spoke amost exculusively in Spanish. Families with Children all chattering in Spanish were seated at many of the tables.  This was definitely a Cuban hangout.

 Across the room, I saw a middle-aged gentleman impecccibly dressed in a white linen jacket, with a black silk shirt, black necktie and black handkerchief in his lapel pocket.  He sat quetly sipping his coffee and staring directly ahead through dark colored glasses.  He looked like Al Pacino playing Carlito or Scarface.  Ahh, this was Miami.