Yeah I was born at Mount Sinai Hospital (Miami Beach)... So I am as Miami native as it gets You know, we were there (Tampa) for about a year and a half (June 04- Jan 06)... But my wife (working in RE) got a great job over here by Deerfield so we came back. We lived in North Dale....good times...just wish the Bucs fans would realize that the FINS are the superior team 1-15 be damned ...
UGHH! Don't get me started. My Aunt and Uncle moved down from Georgia. Was kind of a mid life crisis adventure move. The first thing I warned them about were all the arrogant and impolite NY'ers there were going to have to deal with. They thought I was nuts....... until they had a few run-ins.
Wow bro, my mother was born there as well! I was hatched in N. Miami Gen. which isn't even there anymore. It's fricking cooking school now. LOL. You know I was really leary about moving over here to Tampa but the difference in the attitudes of people over here is unreal. Holding doors open for you, saying hello, people letting you get into traffic and not speeding up to block you from entering the roadway. Night and day man!
UH...well....I won't say 'NO'...as it is a pretty decent place as there is down here....and there arent many left. BUT, I will say that their school is about 1 1/2 miles away from the Towncenter Mall where the few people earlier this year got abducted and killed.... So.... Although if you come around here its definitely safer than most other places...so I can't knock Boca really...just worried that it wont last especially after this:http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpmall1218sbdec18,0,3461010.story
Oh yeah! Totally different. People thought we were crazy there at first. Its not that we meant to be idiots on the road...but its what we were used to here...fight for your survival everytime on the street After awhile we learned to drive right.
me too.. a long long time ago... back then there was Mt. Sinai and Jackson Memorial.. that's it.. I love Martin County where I live... We still limit all structures to four stories or less.
I remember that well. It was in May 1997 and I was working down on Brickell Ave. Saw it just blocks away out of my office window, and I thought it was gonna do a lot more damage than it actually did. (thank God )
Isn't it a bit early for snow, even in the Rockies ? I'll never forget the time the Marlins played in Denver and it was 80º+ on a Saturday, and then on Sunday it was cancelled because of snow.....I think that was in early May.....maybe 1994 or 1995.
I am with them on that one. This is not the town I was born and raised in anymore, just doesn't feel like home anymore. And I am nervous all hurricane season long. I have a bad, dibilitating panic disorder, but if I can ever overcome it somehow, I want to move out of Florida and get away from this hellish weather. I am thinking about Phoenix, AZ or somewhere in AZ. They don't have the Pacific storms, or earthquakes and don't have much rain, maybe two or three thunderstorms a year, and the people there are all like mid-westerners -- nice folks with manners and good attitudes.
I am with ya brother. Miami used to be home, but has changed so much, I often feel unwelcome when I go to a store or restaurant. I get looks of distrust from clerks, and such and I think to myself, why distrust me just because I am white ? I just don't get it. I know exactly what African-Americans have been going through for 2 centuries. You know I was freakin' born in Coral Gables darn it, but in the 48 years I've been alive just about everyone I am related to or knew as a kid has left. My family came to Miami in 1898, just two years after it was incorporated, and my grandfather, fer chrissake was born here in 1906 and graduated from Miami High in 1924. When my parents and even when I was a small kid, Miami was like a nice Southern city, say Nashville or Atlanta, but its not like that anymore, and I am finally convinced to join just about everyone else and head out of here, probably to never return. Its very sad but probably necessary for survival.
Yeah...I want to go to the West Coast (Florida) when I get enough money cus stuff down here isn't right. We have gangs taking over, corrupt politics, traffic, bad drivers, stupid people, corrupt police, violence, etc.
You'd think those in power would see the problems and try to correct them, instead they use their power to just insulate themselves even more.
Not much to say, Pops (David Owen Clements) my great-grandfather had worked for the Atlanta Constitution as a linatype (spelling ???) operator. He was offered the job job of Chief Operator at the old defunct Miami Metropolis (which eventuallty became the Miami News) and moved himself down here in 1897, and the family moved in 1898 from McDonnough, Ga, where my family had homesteaded in 1737 (they came from Virginia and had left England in 1688). That was my fathers family. My mother came to Miami at age 6 in 1937 from St Petersburg. She was born in Lakeland, but both of her parents were born in Georgia, grandpa near the SC bordertown of Aiken, SC and grandma in the town of Hahira which is near Moultrie, GA. There ya go...got three qtrs of my family as dyed-in-the-wool Southern folk The other qtr, was my dad's mom's family. She was born in Jeffersontown, KY 11th of 11 children to German immigrants Graf (Count) Friedrich Christian von Seitz and Freida Hoffstedler (a housemaid in his fathers schloß). They met as teens and left in 1870 because great-grandpa didn't want to fight for the Prussian army against the French in the Franco-Prussian War. He resented Prussia because they had taken his fathers position away from him when Baden, the Grand Duchy they lived in sided with Austria in the War of 1866. Baden lost its independence and was annexed to Prussia. Okay you now know more than you ever wanted to know about my family
way cool.. your gramps got in early, they were but a year in operation, and just a weekly. Up to then, the only competition came from Guy Metcalf's Tropical Sun, which was published in order from; Melbourne 1887, Juno 1891, Lake Worth 1894. Remember, in 1891 Juno was the Dade County Seat. Metcalf was the road builder of the counties first road.. from Lantana to Lemon City. It was he that brought Frank Stranahan to New River to operate his ferry. He then opened the Biscayne Bay Stage Line. This of course brought "his" newspaper to Biscayne Country, AND finally ended the era of the Barefoot Mailman. So, a simple newspaper guy was VERY important to early SE Florida, your Gramps would be too. If you had a Church, a schoolhouse and a newspaper, you were pretty much civilized in those days, and your gramps was there from the beginning. He must have also been doing Flagler's slick advertising pamphlets, and later, all the land boom stuff too.. got any of that hanging around in the family albums? Do you have Arva Moore Parks book Miami Memories? There are three pages about the Metropolis with some photos in it. One is of the original building, including the law office.. has a bunch of guys posing.. bet one is your gramps ! Arva Moore Parks has a couple of very good books out that were photo collections.. things your gramps would have seen..
Hey CNC, I do have a copy of Hoyt Frazure's "Memories of Old Miami as told to Nixon Smiley" Which has some wonderful memories and stories about old South Fla. I'm not sure exactly where grandpa grew up but I think I remember someone saying it was around NW 11th Ave and 6th Street. I guess that would put it close to the old Orange Bowl. My Dad grew up at 420 NW 35th Ave, very close to Flagler Dog Track. My grandparents (wood) house had a small 1 bedroom house that was behind the main one. Every Winter my grandparents rented out the main house and my father, his brother and my grandparents moved into the small place so that some rich Yankees could come down and spend 3 months out of the cold and go to the Dog Races. When my parents married in 1954, they bought the parcel of land next to the 420 house and built a duplex, and we lived in the back half, and rented out the front half. That way my folks basically lived in the duplex for free The Mortgage was like $ 100 a month and I know in the 1960's they were charging about $ 150 a month rent. They had the place paid off by 1969 and we moved to the Westchester area in 1971, real close to the Palmetto Expressway and Coral Way. Dad passed away in 1999, and I moved back in with her soon afterwards after my partner of 10+ years passed away from a heart attack. I remember so many things that are gone now in Miami, like the old skating rink in Hialeah, that I used to go to every other Saturday at 3pm to 5pm for Kids Time. And of course all of the old bowling centers.....too many to name but a few I bowled at.....Coliseum Lanes, Palm Springs Lanes (in Hialeah), Airport Lanes, Tamiami Lanes, Sunset Bowl, Don Carters in Kendall. And the how about the dairy farm out at 72nd Ave and NW 25th street.....I forget what it was called but they had the petting zoo, with the calves and the goats, and you got fresh ice cream they made at the dairy, with the little wooden spoons. Does any of that bring back memories for y'all ? I hope we aren't boring too many folks.
You might be boring some of the teenage crowd around here but you'd never bore me with this. This is some GREAT stuff. I LOVE Miami...... well, what it was anyway. I used to love hearing stories from my Grandparents about how Miami really was a family town with Southern Hospitality ingrained in it's roots. A tropical paradise with a family base. Not to built up as of yet so all the beautiful ecosystems were still very much intact. I always wished I could go back and see it then. I think Miami was still kind of that way as the 80's began but it started to roll downhill very quickly from there, especially beginning in the 90's. One of my best childhood memories from the 70's was that every time I'd go visit my Grandparents in Miami Shores, they'd take me to the Miami Shores 5 and dime store. That's right a Dime store. Complete with a soda fountain. I had to explain to my wife what a "dime store" even is cause they don't exist anymore. After that we'd go to the HoJO for breakfast. LOL. Hey do any of you remember an old Sub Shop just south of Miami Shores that had all their subs named after Dolphins players and coaches? That place was awesome...... can't remember where exactly it was. My favorite sub was the Csonkanator! Does this rant down memory lane give a clue as to whether you and Marty are boring me with this Miami history stuff?
I don't know if I should rate this 5 stars for the great discussion, or 1 star for the smell of mothballs... Posted via Mobile Device
Does being 25 and remembering all this stuff make me eligible for mothballs as well?? I, too, am sad to see the decline of what used to be my fave. metropolis. Being born at Jackson Mem., the giant pineapple fountain at Baptist where my mom worked my sis was born, spendings Sundays at my grandparents and great-grandparents in Hialeah (and the occasional trip to Lila's down the street) , spending summer days at Larry and Penny Thompson (as it was right across the street), even the nightly sirens that lulled me to sleep every evening. I loved what it was...I refuse to soil my memory with what it now is. Thanks bringing back all the good memories guys.
It's midpreseason and the top stories in this forum are about the weather, and a murderer. WTF? I'm glad there's a game tonight.
ya know, until this minute I did not realize this was in the Dolphins forum.. Imma move it to the lounge... sorry, I'm slackin' ohhh gish, just go into the college forums and occupy yourself bragging about osu some more.. we are hijcking a thread, important bidness ya know.
I guess you are I can share many of the same memories CR. I remember hearing of that sub shop it was on the Blvd right ? About 122nd street ? I can remember going to one of the original Burger Kings, at LeJeune Rd and NW 14th Street, just before the airport and right next door to Parker Sod. In 1966 they closed it down and Parker Sod as well to make room for the Dolphin Expressway. Parker Sod relocated down south on Galloway Rd just across the street from Norman Brothers. I'm so old I also can remember when Norman's was nothing more than a strawberry/tomato stand CR Miami was an southern town, most of the folks were Southern Baptists or Methodists......or Jewish. When we moved to the Westchester area in 1971 (the area from around the Palmetto to 107th ave and the Trail to Bird Rd.) it was more than 50% Jewish and it was a bit of a cultural shock to me. I had never been around a lot of Jewish folks before, just good old fashioned Southern folks, or recent Cuban emigrees. I was lost in this new culture that had a bit of New York and cutthroatness to it. They were extremely blunt and forward and I was not ready for it, and it took me several years to adjust to the change in school. And as being a "southerner" type, I was a definate outsider.
See, I went into the Navy in '71 and when I returned in '75 Miami had gone to hell. All these jawja rednecks had invaded the old neighborhoods and.... naaa, just jokin'. On the serious side, it really HAD changed, and it was no longer really home for me after that. I grew up twenty blocks south, inbetween Bird and Miller on 102 court. It wasn't necessary to lock our doors until 69-70, folks didn't worry about other folks stealing or hurting their kids so we got a LOT of freedom. As kids, when we weren't riding bicycles everywhere, we were taking johnboats all over in the canal system. From Betty and Johnnies at the Dade Monroe levee out on the Trail, to the Maule lakes next to the airport, into Gables by the sea, or take Snapper Creek to the Bay and go poach some lobsters, or maybe to Snowdens Damn to go diving and swimming. I have shot thousands of rounds at the old Coral Gables Police pistol range on Coral Way, been to many football games at Central Stadium, and we got our Chinese at the Westchester Shopping Plaza on 97th, the ne corner. You missed out on Bird Bowl, and the Sunnyland Skating Rink right next door. I remember Pizza Palace, Pizza Patio, Frankie's Pizza, Ludways and the Tropicare Drive In. The Coral Way Drive In was the first to have "air conditioning" you could stuff in your window. I remember the traffic at Tropical Park Race Track on Bird.. before it was a park. I remember playing Innagoddaavida over and over at Sunset Corners Tack store and resturant. Everything west of 117th was horse country in those days, Kendall Road was the road to nowhere. We used to catch crawdads in the ponds out where Kendal met Krome. The Bird road extension was a place to explore.. and go muddin' shooting and raisin' hell. Two hundred yards west of the Florida turnpike where it crosses Tamiami Trail was a hammock.. and an old Indian campsite.. pottery and bones by the bucket. The good ol days...
CNC wow, thats a lot of stuff there. Now Bird Bowl is still there, but the skating rink has been gone for 20 yeras now. Frankie's is still in business and is now run by Frankie's daughter Roxella (Roxy) and her sister (forget her name but I think it might be Denise). I live so close to where old Central Stadium was, I could hear the cheering and when the halftime bands played. Westchester General Hospital bought the property and now has a 5 or 6 story assisted living facility there now. As far as I know the Pistol Range is still there too. All of those are a 5 minute walk from me. Sunset Corners gift store and restaurant went bye-bye a few years ago too. But I actually like what they have done with downtown South Miami, as it is filled with lots bistros with outside eating. Those are wonderful on those nice November through March nights. I remember Kendall being called the road to nowhere and going out there to 117th or 122 and going to pick in the fields out there for a bushel of strawberries. I don't remember the Chinese joint at 97th, but perhaps you mean the one at 87th and Coral Way.....called The Canton. Ludway went goodbye about 10 years ago I think, after the family sold it and the gas station at the corner. They owned that for more than 60 years. Duffy's Tavern is still going strong just north of Coral Way on Red Road, and of course Allen's Drug Store at the corner of Red & Bird is still there and serving the best milk shakes in town. You know that the Tropicaire Drive in is gone from across the street from Tropical Park. Its not a shopping complex that holds a Publix, Target and Best Buy, as well as some furniture store. The New Hickory BBQ on Bird at 75th, became a Sizzler in the mid 1970's and then became a Miami Sub in the late 1980's. The whole of Westchester Mall is gone, was just leveled about 6 months ago, along with the KMart, Walgreens and the Publix at the corner of Coral Way and Galloway Rd (87th Ave), you know on the southeast corner. They are supposed to build a Home Depot, and rebuild the Walgreens and Publix. I don't know what else is going up there. The Winn Dixie moved from facing south on Coral Way to over where the old Zayer's was, and in the Winn Dixie spot goes somekind of baby store. LOL is that a lot of reminicing or what ? I miss Central Stadium a lot. Even though I am a Coral Park guy, I remember going on Thanksgiving mornings over to Central to watch Southwest vs Coral Gables play football....10am and get home about 12:30 and just enough time to get washed up and in our seats for Thanksgiving Dinner. Poor mom & grandmom (her mom) were slaving away all morning, but my brother & father and I always had clean up afterward.
