Friday 11th May 2007. Miami, Florida.

Today is really the first time I have noticed the blanket of cloud that currently sits over the city, the result of the various wild fires burning throughout Florida.


After breakfast Wendy and I head downstairs to the gym where Wendy works out and from where I begin my explorations of the King Cole.

Built on the site of the former King Cole Northshore Hotel, which had been a popular holiday spot for the Jewish populations of Chicago and New York City, the current high-rise building dates from 1961/1962 and at the time of construction it was one of the nation's largest high rise apartment marinas.

Originally an apartment hotel you can trace the social history of Miami in publications such as the rules and regulations of the building. By the time of conversion into condominiums in 1974, the regulations had to be published not only in English but also in Spanish marking the growing importance of the Hispanic population in the city.

The King Cole was for many years one of the most prestigious buildings on Miami Beach (and its not too bad today either), set here with its superb waterfront location with sweeping views of the Intracoastal. Designed by the original developers Robert L. Blum [who attended Loyola University in New Orleans where I was the other day] and Robert A. Rautbord with resort style amenities, the investment in its development was some $7,000,000 dollars in 1961.

The design sought to resemble life aboard a luxury liner with the building nicknamed the SS King Cole. The facilities were exceptional: a putting green, olympic-size swimming pool, sun-deck, exercise room, steam room, solarium, billiard room, card room, library, cocktail lounge, coffee shop, teen rooms, social hall, public gardens and a private marina...this was living for the elite...Wendy's grandmother was one of the first tenants.

The eleven story luxury landmark at 900 Bay Drive, Normandy Isle was home to Miami Beach's largest marina at the time of the development. The entrance lobby bore a chandelier in the shape of King Cole's Gold Crown and the original tenants were all issued with keep-sake golden keys to their apartments and for King Cole lessees planning a trip out of town or arriving in Miami there was use of the King Cole limousine.

When the complex opened in October 1962 there were some 241 apartments and 108 hotel rooms along with 172 parking spaces (just see how our love affair with the car has continued to develop...even the wealthy at this time tended only to have one car).
The original plan had called for some 450 apartments but a decision was taken to offer larger apartments with more space and plans were cut to 259 units.

As an apartment hotel the tenants were offered all the facilities of a hotel with maid service, air conditioning and electricity included in the rent. There was also an option to take apartments unfurnished or fully furnished (where at the end of the specified period the furnishings belonged to the tenant).

The apartment hotel retained the services of the same basic staff from the old hotel. Keeping experienced, responsible and familiar personnel was a major attraction for lessees from New York and Chicago who had vacationed frequently at the old hotel. One of the most important being Anthony (Frenchie) Francia the Mixologist (cocktail waiter) of 12 years standing.

There are some wonderful stories about the buildings history such as that published in the King Cole Herald Volume 1, Number 1 of February 1962...Yes, the building had its own newspaper.

"Mr Blum and Mr Rautbord received a long distance telephone call [my how technology has changed] from Detroit recently asking if 24 year old Mary Margaret Revell could do an attempted around Miami Beach swim starting from the King Cole Yacht Basin".

Curving gracefully between Biscayne Bay and Indian Creek the cocktail lounge at the King Cole became the refuge of stars like Frank Sinatra who would take a water taxi here to avoid the paparazzi after performing at the Fontainbleau or the Eden Roc. I have even heard stories of John Wayne in the cocktail lounge.

And the building was the location of many firsts...

here we saw "strange looking contraptions. These are actually "walkie talkies" to keep in constant touch with every element of construction...to have instant communication with the sales office and model apartments...a continued speed-up of your new home[s construction]" being used on an American commercial building site for the first time.

A new type of crane was imported from Germany and was used for the first time in the United States in this construction. Moving on a set of tracks and curving with the King Cole building it was used "to expedite the placement of concrete, steel and men as
the construction moves from place to place and floor to floor".

The apartments were the first luxury block in the area to feature a twenty-four hour switchboard and answering service providing a complete intercom system throughout the building. And the kitchens were hi-tech all electric Hotpoint models.

The architects for the construction were Fridstein and Fitch of Chicago and Melvin Grossman of Miami. The three and a half acre site was in effect a city within a city, and all of this for an opening yearly rental ranging from $2300 to $6500 including utilities and daily maid service.

And...in 1974 another first. Arlen's (by then the owners of the building) began the process of selling the units as condominiums. Taken to court by the local authority for violation of planning regulations the resulting court case produced a historic decision handed down by Judge Rhea Grossman in what became a landmark case for Miami Beach apartment and hotel owners who wished to covert their properties to condo's in the future. The decision based on Florida State statute 711.21 allowed Arlen's to go ahead with the conversion.

After a day of research we head out to Bal Harbour via the stunning North Beach Band Shell (reminded me of The Soundshell in Napier) outdoor performance area.

We dined at Panini Cafe Bar in Bal Harbour Shops and after hitting Books & Books Wendy tried on a great deal of jewellery at Tiffany (and I looked like their regular customer...I don't think!).

It was Tiffany & Co that introduced the world to the engagement ring as we know it today. The six-pronged Tiffany setting lifted the diamond above its setting and into the light. By 1848 New York City newspapers had dubbed Charles Lewis Tiffany "The King of Diamonds" for the exemplary quality of his work.

In the spring of 1887 Tiffany shocked the world by purchasing the French Crown Jewels and soon Tiffany designers were creating a brilliance all of their own. Their designs were gracing all the famous families of the day...Astors, Vanderbilts etc and celebrities from sport, theatre and Hollywood were fans. Soon European Royalty could be added to the list. From Art Nouveau to Art Deco, Tiffany designs grace the world's museums but the world famous 128.54 carat Tiffany Diamond remains on permanent display in the company's flagship New York store.

My journey then takes me to Oleta River State Park before we take in some MIMO (Miami Modern) apartments.

Oleta River State Park consists of some 1,043 acres and is the largest urban park in the state. Located on Biscayne Bay the river is the most prominent natural feature of the park. As early as 500BC the river was home to the Tequesta Indians with the estuary providing a rich and varied diet.

When the Spaniards first arrived here they encountered deer, bear, panthers, bobcats, wolves, alligators and manatees. In 1841 the river was named Big Snake Creek as part of the route used by federal troops in the Second Seminole War travelling south to Loxahatchee.

In 1881 Captain William Hawkins Fulford explored the river and settled further inland in what is now North Miami Beach. By the 1890's with other settlers had come pineapple and vegetable farms and the town of Ojus.

As the river linked the Everglades with Biscayne Bay an Indian trading post was established at Greynolds Park and the river was re-named in 1922. Today the river no longer flows into the Everglades but it is home to many water-birds who feed along its mangrove-lined shores and it is a refuge for the endangered West Indian Manatee.

The West Indian Manatee matures at approximately five years of age and has a gestation period lasting approximately thirteen months with a cow nursing her calf for up to two years.

These gentle slow-moving creatures surface to breathe every three to four minutes and whilst they are shy and reclusive and harmless to no one and nothing they face many threats. The most commom 'problems' come from collisions with boats and barges; from being crushed or drowned in flood gates and canal locks; from the ingestion of fish hooks and monofilament line; from entanglement in crab trap lines and fishing trawl nets; from pollution as well as from cold-related illnesses and habitat loss

Living in a habitat of shallow slow moving rivers, estuaries, salt water bays, canals and coastal areas (particularly where seagrass beds flourish) with no system of defence makes the Manatee vulnerable.

In the winter they concentrate in natural warm water springs or the outfalls of industrial/power plants and in the summer they can be found more widely throughout their habitat, swimming offshore to graze sometimes as far as the Lower Carolinas on the East Coast and Louisiana on the Gulf Coast.

The Manatee eats aquatic plants that are submerged such as hydrilla, emergent such as spartina and floating such as water-hyacinths.

Tonight we chillout at Miriam's before we dine at Steve's Pizza in North Miami.