'The Golem of Havana' Sings the Song of Diaspora with Miami New Drama Premiere

Critically acclaimed musical The Golem of Havana made its South Florida premiere this weekend at The Colony Theater in Miami Beach.

This elegant chamber musical captures a complex story that's not easy to tell about the Jewish and Cuban diaspora during the cusp of the revolution when Castro overthrew the Batista dictatorship.

The coming of age story reflects on love, loyalty, betrayal and politics through Latin, Afro-Cuban and Jewish inspired music. Think klezmer, son Cubano and odes to Yemayá in one beautiful score, beautifully interpreted by the cast.

The golem is the name of figure from Jewish folklore that is made from clay and brought to life. In one legend, the golem acts as a savior but is destroyed when it turns against its creator. The idea of a golem surfaces in many ways during the musical as characters shift their loyalties struggling to survive during a dangerous, tumultuous time in Cuba's history.

The main character is a storyteller, the daughter of a Hungarian-Jewish tailors who's haunted yet inspired by dreams of her mother's escape from the holocaust, which parallels the plot of the musical. The mother is forced to make a Sophie's choice between people she wishes to protect and compassion can only go so far. Difficult decisions abound in this play, including the final one, which involves exile to Miami.

It's a theme that echoes in all diasporas: We sacrificed. We survived. We start over.

The weaving of Jewish, Afro-Cuban and Cuban musical motifs in the score echoes the multi-cultural nature of Cuba's syncretic culture, powerfully expressed in a song to Yemayá, the Afro-Cuban goddess of the ocean, which the young Jewish storyteller adopts in a desperate attempt to find answers as her family life succumbs to the heartless decisions of powerful politicians and revolutionaries.

1958 Havana is the perfect setting for a story that brings together opposing personal religious and political beliefs. The ending is bittersweet: we see glimpses of shared human connection amid bloody struggles that erode faith.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

The Miami premiere of the Golem of Havana is a production of Miami New Drama, a fledgling company co-founded by the musical's author, Venezuelan Michel Hausmann. The world premiere took place in New York City at the New York Theater Workshop in 2013. The Miami cast features some of the original actors as well as Miami-based actors.

The Golem of Havana plays at The Colony Theater through February 7. For more information, visit Miami New Drama.

Of interest:

Jordan Levin of The Miami Herald offers an in-depth background about the work: New Miami musical 'The Golem of Havana' evoked struggle against oppression.

Some of my random notes on Facebook.

Photo credit: Carol Rosegg for Miami New Drama

Romancing Italy at Via Verdi

A taste of rustic Italian cooking in Miami and some #vicequeenkitchen musings on tomatoes, mushrooms, octopus, olives, hazelnuts ... are you hungry yet? Read more.

No woman in her right mind would refuse a taste of white truffle from a handsome Italian. Photo courtesy of Via Verdi on Instagram.

When I first walked into Via Verdi earlier this month I felt like I had stepped into a little corner of Italy. I'm not quite sure what it is: maybe it's the covered courtyard or the cozy bottega filled with bottles of wine and boxes of pannetone. Of this I am sure, though: the soul of Italy is definitely in the food.

The lentils that started it all.

I first learned about Via Verdi when I stopped at their exhibitor's booth during the Seed Food and Wine Festival. The cold lentil salad was delicious; however, I told the gentleman behind the booth that it needed maybe a pinch more of salt. Little did I know that I was speaking to one of the restaurant's chefs! He looked at me wide-eyed in disbelief but I'm pretty sure there was no Italian family curse hurled at me; instead buon presentimento clicked and the food writer was invited to dinner.

Good vibes, indeed. Vicequeenkitchen never refuses a dinner invitation from good looking Italian men. Never.

Restaurateurs Nicola (the chef I met at Seed) and his brother Fabrizio (who is also a chef) come from the Piemonte region of Italy. They opened Via Verdi about two years ago and have a regular following of locals, including homesick Italians. I'd be homesick, too, if I were Italian and ate food like this back home.

Octopus with chickpea purée and tomato basil.

"Are you sure we're not in some Italian fishing village?" I asked my sweetheart, who dined with me that night. I gushed further: "You can taste the sea!" Visions of cliffs studded with pastel-colored houses stacked above a deep, blue Mediterranean sea crossed my mind. My palate traveled far -- very far -- from busy Biscayne Boulevard in the MiMo District.

The grilled octopus was so tender and smooth that it melted in my mouth faster than it took for me to talk about how long it takes to cook. Grilling after boiling added a smoky flavor to the subtle briny flavor of the ocean. In all my culinary adventures searching for the best octopus (and often refusing to order it if it even looked rubbery), this one hooked me at first bite. I could eat this everyday. For a pescetarian, this is heaven.

I must be on to something. Fabrizio told me he often makes the same dish at home.

IT'S ALL IN THE TOMATOES

You can tell a lot about a restaurant by its tomatoes. A tomato that is treated as an afterthought is insulting to this versatile queen of fruits. A watery, flavorless tomato is a poor excuse for a real tomato.

A bad tomato is like bad sex: I'll pass. No thanks. A good tomato is the object of desire in a food porn fantasy. A great tomato makes that fantasy come alive as flavors burst in your mouth. A spectacular tomato should capture all your senses and leave you craving -- what else? -- more tomatoes.

At Via Verdi, all my tomatoes were spectacular. I imagined a minion working in the kitchen delicately and very diligently dicing and mincing tomatoes all day long -- tomatoes so delicious that I had to stop and put my fork down on the plate and say: "Dude."

Little cherry tomatoes came to my palate in various forms, including as a garnish salad for the above mentioned Polipo Ala Griglia, which was served in a light, lemony basil vinaigrette.

Assagi left to right: Ceci, Tartufe, Polenta and Panzerotti. 

But even before we had our octopus antipasti, we enjoyed a few assagi -- small tasting plates like tapas to whet the appetite along with a classic Italian cocktail, an Aperol spritz. Here, homemade sun-dried tomatoes graced the Ceci -- a chickpea mousse served with Sardinian carasau bread, which is more like a wafer thin cracker. Other appetizers included Polenta sticks with a truffle parmesan sauce that was so good, it made my guy say "mmm" in a way that I only ever hear in private. A few "mmm's" were uttered in unison as we ate together.

The Tartufe -- a provolone-stuffed olive with a panko and squid ink crust -- is what I would call the Italian equivalent of a fried pickle. Made to look like a black truffle, the olive, which is fried fresh in the coating, packs big flavor and is the perfect savory accompaniment for a cocktail. I'd hate to call such a sophisticated morsel prosaic bar food, but it's definitely a delicious nibble that'd go great with a martini.

The Panzerotti seriously made me want to reinvent the arepa or anything else made to fry from dough. Fabrizio explained that they use less yeast and that the dough is cooled to rise for a longer time than other doughs. The result is a very light dough filled with melted mozzarella and dipped, you guessed it, in a thick, homemade marinara sauce that pays homage to her highness the tomato.

Fabrizio confirmed that I wasn't the only one obsessed with tomato purity. I mentioned that a tomato dipping sauce should never, ever taste like ground herbs in ketchup. It should taste like tomato, damn it, which is exactly what this particular marinara was -- nothing more, nothing less. One whiff or oregano or garlic powder and I'm turned off. All other sauces -- arrabbiata, puttanesca and so on, build upon that base of tomato-ness that is the foundation of so many dishes in so many cuisines.

The assaggi menu -- order 5 for $23 -- is a great sampler for a light supper or happy hour fare.

COMFORT FOOD

Top: pasta with wild mushrooms. Bottom: branzino with Ligurian olives.

For the primi course we tried two different pastas, homemade and cooked perfectly al dente. I made an exception to my pescetarian diet and tried the braised beef agnolotti, which had a rich, concentrated beef flavor that any meat lover would enjoy. The raviolis were light in texture. So were the tagliolini, which shined with hearty flavor of finely chopped mushrooms and more of that exquisite truffle parmesan sauce, which in this case, clung to the noodles. It's this dish that spoiled me to the cucina rustica feeling at the restaurant: Italian comfort food at its best.

For the secondi course, the pescetarian in me was once again transported back to Italy. The grilled branzino with salmoriglio sauce and broccolini, like the octopus, is something I'd eat every day. The  Taggiasca olives in the sauce hail from Liguria where they live in a barrel of silky olive oil until sliced and paired with -- you guessed it again -- more of those heavenly tomatoes. The tender sea bass had just a bit of crispy skin and danced on my palate with an earthy olive oil flavor that complimented but never overpowered the fish. Suddenly, I was wearing a peasant dress in Northern Italy, picking olives under the sun. Can you tell I love olives as much as I love tomatoes?

Even the broccolini had an important supporting role in this dish; it was just perfectly crunchy with a hint of spice from it being tossed with peperoncino, although there were no peppers on the plate. No sad, soggy or overcooked vegetable here.

A typical Northern Italian dessert: bunet Piemontese.

If we both had just had fallen in love with this little taste of Italy, we fell a little harder with dessert. Interestingly, the appearance of chocolate made us forget how full we were from this wonderful repast we'd just shared. So to finish, the bunet of caramel, amaretto and chocolate was heady with the scent of hazelnut and as delicious as one of those interminable kisses by the sea in romantic Italian films.

Eat this dessert in moderation, but love abundantly, il mio cuore.

Via Verdi Cucina Rustica is open every day for lunch and dinner as well as brunch on Sundays. Local diners needn't fly to Italy for a sensual feast and on Monday, diners get 50% off select menu items. That's molto bene in any language. For more information, visit Via Verdi Cucina Rustica.

Disclosure: For this dinner, we were guests of Via Verdi. The article was unsolicited. All opinions my own, as always.

Ditch the Beach and Grab a Brush in Islamorada

A lion fish in watercolor. Photo courtesy of artist Michelle Nicole Lowe.

Inclement weather in the Sunshine State couldn’t keep us from enjoying ourselves in Islamorada.

In winter, Floridians get more than snow birds. Cold fronts from the jet stream sometimes assault our sunny days with chilly, squally weather, interrupting what water babies love to do -- in our case it was a day of snorkeling and sailing. But no matter, in the Florida Keys, you can still enjoy the area's marine life even if you're like a fish out of water.

I was traveling with a group of bloggers and although I really hankered to don my snorkel gear and to end the day with a sunset sail, I’m glad we spent the afternoon indoors at Michelle Nicole Lowe’s art gallery. Located in a small, non-descript strip mall on the overseas highway at mile marker 81, Lowe’s gallery bursts with bright, colorful creatures of the sea that come to life on canvas.

Lowe also paints birds who call the Keys ecosystem home.

Lowe, who grew up in South Florida, has been painting since childhood but worked for a spell in corporate IT after earning a degree in finance. She followed her passion for art, furthered her studies in Italy and returned home, where she’s painting vibrant watercolors with striking realistic detail.

The love of the land’s natural splendor runs in her bloodlines. Lowe’s family traces some of its roots back several generations in the Keys and the Bahamas. She gathers inspiration for her watercolors by exploring the land above and under the water. Currently, Lowe is also working on a series of botanical watercolors.

During our visit, the friendly artist taught us how to paint a turtle swimming up to the water’s surface. We spent about three hours working with acrylic paints on a small canvas. The meditative nature of the process made for a relaxing afternoon and a refreshing change of pace from the surf. I didn’t miss the ocean at all and would return in a heartbeat to repeat this experience.

The set up included a small blank canvas.

Lowe taught us some rudimentary painting skills to create the turtle's shell.

First, the background. We enjoyed some wine while painting the ocean in different shades of blue.

Soon, a turtle appeared on my canvas. This wasn't easy to paint, but definitely fun.

My little turtle. I kept him and took him home.

Our final output. Painting together for an afternoon helped us nurture a jovial camaraderie.

Lowe’s gallery is situated just down the road from Morada Way Cultural and Arts District, which features additional galleries run by artists who welcome visitors warmly like old friends -- there’s no snobbery here.

You can see Lowe’s work at the gallery or at scheduled shows. Although Lowe doesn’t advertise classes, call her and ask for a customized, private session. A few hours painting with friends becomes a respite from the daily grind in an already marvelously relaxing destination. Islamorada’s proximity to Miami makes for an ideal staycation.

For more information, visit Michelle Nicole Lowe Gallery.

DISCLOSURE

My participation in this outing was part of a press trip. As always, all opinions are my own.

Follow the Fish and Hibiscus Trail in Islamorada

Look for the fish and hibiscus flower logo.

If you blink while driving down Route 1 at mile marker 85, you'll miss the area that makes up the Morada Way Arts and Cultural District. But don't let size fool you. The district is a thriving enclave of culture in a place where it's all about the water.

Folks come to Islamorada to look at fish, catch fish and eat fish but to see fish on canvas? That might be an afterthought, but it shouldn't be. Marine-inspired artists here capture the spirit of a community devoted to its aquatic surroundings.

The Morada Way district was founded in 2010 off an industrial road Old State Highway, which runs parallel to Route 1. Today, it's a non-profit that brings together artists and community partners featuring events such as a third Thursday art walk, live painting, classes, culinary gatherings and more.

Anchor galleries Redbone, Pasta Pantaleo and Gallery Morada, as well as Morada Way Clay and Blue Marlin Jewelry, are surrounded by some of the area's favorite restaurants, including Florida Keys favorites The Green Turtle Inn and Ma's Fish Camp. The Florida Keys Brewing Company is scheduled to open on Morada Way early in 2015 and will offer brewery tours and tastings.

To the undiscerning eye on drab Route 1, Islamorada seem like a flat, scrubby island, but from a satellite's point of view, the "rock" (as locals call it) is surrounded by the mangrove estuaries of Florida Bay and the reefs of the Atlantic Ocean -- all in a dazzling array of green and blue hues.

Local artists bring to canvas what isn't immediately visible from land. Robert "Pasta" Pantaleo is one of them.

I first visited Pasta Pantaleo's gallery in 2011 one evening while attending a Ladies, Let's Go Fishing workshop. Housed in a historic cottage -- a Red Cross House built in 1937 -- the gallery offers a visual feast for anyone who loves sea creatures. Several signature pieces, many of which show off the vibrant colors and dynamic movement of marine life in large, bold brushstrokes, hang from the walls of the quaint gallery.

A marlin bursting out of the ocean.  Art by Pasta Pantaleo.

Can you guess how many turtles are in this Escher style painting? Art by Pasta Pantaleo.

The very affable Pasta demonstrated his acrylic painting technique to us travel bloggers.

This time around, I had a chance to meet the artist and see him at work. Later, I gave him a call.

Brooklyn-born Pasta remembers his early fascination with fish. "Being a young kid, I was enamored with the water. I had fish tanks in my room," he said. "Fish had a gravitational pull. I watched Jacques Cousteau documentaries on TV. All the colorful aspects of the ocean inspired me."

The grown-up Pasta hasn't lost his passion for all things ocean and now he's inspiring younger artists.

"I try to mentor young artists to be larger than the canvas or whatever their craft is," he said. "Whatever you do, try to expand upon it and do bigger things. Share it and give back. You can make change. Once you get that voice, use it for betterment.  And you can still do what you love to do."

Sage advice for all, not just for kids or artists.

See more Pasta sharing his advice below or on Youtube.



To learn more about Pasta and the district, visit Art by Pasta and Morada Way Arts and Cultural District.

FTC DISCLOSURE
For this post, I visited Islamorada as part of a press trip. Opinions my own, as always.

Summer Shorts Shows Off Miami's Theatre Legs

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a Miami Rat Pack soirée at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. The Arsht invited a handful of social media influencers to enjoy an evening of theatre while sitting in "tweet seats" in the rear of the black box where we could tweet to our heart's content. Even better: cast members were tweeting from backstage, enjoying our own ramblings tagged #summershorts.

But I couldn't tweet much during the performances, as I was completely captivated by nine short plays for a total of one and a half hours.  It's challenging to laugh so much and tweet at the same time.

I particularly liked Bedfellows, a flight of fancy in which we witness the banter between John Adams and Benjamin Franklin had they ever had to share a room together while on the road.   Moscow reveals the bond between a traditional Jewish mother and her granola, new age daughter as they participate in an unusual ritual to celebrate the birth of the granddaughter.

Single ladies take heed:  I'll Be There is a humorous yet poignant story about a woman and her stalker. What if the nicest psycho could be your non-boyfriend from afar?

Some of the other plays also tackled sex and relationships issues -- even the subject of orgasms -- but all in a classy way.

Produced by Miami-based non-profit City Theatre, Summer Shorts celebrates its 17th anniversary this year, bringing fresh theatrical performances that pack a punch. It's summer entertainment at its best to beat the heat and humidity.  And no pun on Miami Heat intended -- actual refreshing cocktails are served at a cash bar in the vestibule, which you can bring into the theatre.

The video above features the cast of Green Dot Day, a short by Carey Crim and directed by Mark Swaner enjoying its world premiere this summer here in Miami. Tod Allen Durkin and Irene Adjan play a couple desperately trying to conceive. In ten minutes, the characters share a gamut of emotions from frustration to tenderness.

Summer Shorts is on stage until June 17. And unlike real summer shorts here in Miami, no one's ass is hanging out. Sex and the Beach approves!

Miami Goes to the Dogs

I'm not really a dog person, but I did have a chance to see the Incredible Dogs show, which is still playing under a tent at Bicentennial Park until October 23rd. It's actually quite fun to see these dogs -- most of them rescued from shelters -- perform some amazing tricks.

This lady was one of the more elaborately dressed of the performers. You get to meet and greet the dogs and their trainers at the end, which is a special treat.

For more information, visit The Incredible Dogs.

A Maria Miami tip: if you go, save a little money by parking in the meters on the side streets across Biscayne Boulevard. Miss Yip is a nice place to go for Chinese food and cocktails before or after the show.

TedX Miami Showcases the Best of the Magic City

You want this lanyard, trust me.

TedX Miami outdid itself from last year’s already extraordinary first attempt. Held at the New World Symphony’s new campus, the event brought together nine outstanding speakers from all walks of life who are based in or vested in Miami.

The theme was Between the Lines, which is often where so many dynamic ideas begin.

Every speaker hit a raw chord -- literally, as in the case of the musical presentations – but also figuratively, giving us opportunities to think hard about the potential we all have to come up with positive, life-changing ideas. Every talk moved, inspired and provoked. Sometimes, the audience laughed and I'm fairly certain that in a few cases, there probably wasn't a dry eye in the full house, either.

This is one of the sentences I jotted down last night in my notebook: “The only way I can describe this TedX event is ‘breathtaking’ and it leaves me without words.”

So, I’m just going to give you a brief recap of each talk. But honestly? That can't even begin to do justice to all the profound thoughts that were shared. When you’re done reading, you’ll see why this was so kick-ass awesome and why there's so much more to Miami than meets the eye.

Attendees waiting for doors to open at the Frank Gehry building, the best thing to happen to Miami Beach since Columbus discovered America.

• Bestselling novelist Brad Meltzer begged the question of writing one’s own obituary. You don’t get to write your own obituary, but you do get to have a lasting impact. Your legacy isn’t just about children but about the people you influence in your life. Meltzer brought up the example of Jumbo’s restaurant in Liberty City. Founded in 1955, the restaurant hired black employees during segregation.

• Mathematics, computer and engineering super geek Scott Rickard asked if it was mathematically possible to write music without repetition and patterns. (Repetition is "key" to enjoyment. Think about it: you enjoy music because you know what's coming next.) A short piano piece called the Perfect Ping was performed and though it had no repetition, I dare say I think it’s impossible for the human ear not to seek it out. We are so wired that way.

• The absolutely lovely former fashion designer and now jewelry maker Barbara Devries spoke of Plastic is Forever. One day, she started picking up pieces of plastic debris on Eleuthera’s beaches -- random objects washed out by the hot sun and salty sea. Out of this hobby came not only beautiful jewelry, but also an entrepreneurial program for children in the Bahamas. Ironically, the kids actually sell jewelry to cruise ship guests – the cruise industry being one of the greatest polluters of Caribbean waters. De Vries wants her idea to be copied as there is enough plastic jetsam out there in the world for many more mini-entrepreneurial empires. Something to ponder: how many times a day do you come in contact with plastic?

• Dennis Scholl, Vice President of Arts at the Knight Foundation, spoke of Random Acts of Culture. This is a hell of a fun program. Imagine sitting at a food court in a mall minding your own business when suddenly Joe Schmoe sitting next you gets up and starts belting out opera. Actually, something similar happened last night in the audience as well, catching us by surprise with a rousing performance of Toreador from Bizet's Carmen, full female chorus included.

• My friend and brilliant artist Hugh Macleod exhibited some of his work in the hallway upstairs. The drawings were from the main TED Global conference at Edinburg earlier this year, part of a Dewar's scotch whisky series. (Very smart of Dewar's to sponsor TedxMia by the way. Scotch is sexy and smart.)

• TedX is a forward thinking event and the venue was perfect; the philosophy at New World is aligned. Talk about an idea worth spreading -- it's all about technology and universal access to music and music education. Bill Williams, Dean of Musicians at the New World Symphony, spoke on the subject. I’m just going to quote him: “We are sitting at the intersection of music, architectural beauty, technology and design, connecting musicians from around the world.”

(A personal note here: I used to write art and technology grants for the symphony and I saw this idea grow from seed to its current manifestation. I can’t even begin to tell you how thrilled I was to be in this hall.)

• I fell in love Felecia Hatcher from Feverish Ice Cream. She and her husband make gourmet popsicles from local fruit but it’s her kid’s entrepreneurial program (not unlike the one mentioned above) that really stood out. They have taught 20 kids in South Florida how to create and manage a popsicle truck business –- everything from picking strawberries to marketing in their own communities. That’s something very tasty -- ice cream with a cause.

• Colin Foord of Coral Morphologic discussed two hybrid corals growing, nay, thriving, at the mouth of Government Cut – two true South Beach beauties. An imminent dredging program is threatening the organisms. This is serious science stuff, folks. The corals are exceedingly rare, proving that adaptation is possible is an urban waterway and further study could help revive dead coral colonies in different bodies of water. Find a great article on the subject at Beached Miami.

• Did I say I was in love already? I was absolutely smitten with Shelly Baer, a luminous beauty who grew up with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Her condition is visible in her hands and in her limping walk, but honestly, if you see her real beauty, you can’t tell. My heart sank when she said: “I never looked into a full-length mirror until I was in my early 30s.” Baer was part of a show called Raw Beauty that exhibited in Miami a while back and featured women with disabilities. It was all about breaking stereotypes. “Beauty is in the flaws,” Baer told us with refreshing candor. In a city where plastic surgery is a lifestyle for some, hearing those words was like a breath of fresh air.

• Last but not least, Barrington Irving regaled us on how he broke a world record by flying around the world in an airplane he put together -- not just with mechanical parts -- but with some seriously gutsy grit. He's the youngest person and first black pilot ever to accomplish the amazing feat. Barrington then founded Experience Aviation in Miami, which brings math and science education to kids through a flying simulation classroom, among other programs.

WHAT IS TED?

Well, it's exactly what you just read. An evening of great ideas and inspiration and the best fifty bucks you'll ever spend in this town. But fyi: TED is a non-profit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It all started in California 25 years ago. There are global conferences but the “x” offshoots are local, self-organized events designed to get people thinking about great ideas and how they impact community. TedXMia is a high-caliber grassroots effort, requiring devotion and hard work from many curators and volunteers.

Want more? TedXYouthCushman takes place on November 20 with kids sharing their own great ideas. The next TEDxMIA event is December 16 at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Tickets go on sale next week. I suggest you nab one right away; Between the Lines event sold out a month ahead of time. Videos from last night's event will be available to view on YouTube in the coming weeks. Find details about it all at the TedxMiami website.

Miami's Aviation History

An article about Cubana Airlines' "Tropicana Special" flight from Miami to Havana in Cabaret Magazine, 1957.

There was a time in Miami when the party wasn't in South Beach but in Havana. You certainly didn't have to wait until you landed in Cuba to get your drink on. The party started on the flight, with live music, a floor show and the appeal of the exotic when mojito wasn't a mainstream word on the U.S. mainland.

Things would change regarding flights to Cuba, of course, but Miami would continue to grow as a main airway hub for the Americas. Today, Miami International is the country's second largest airport by volume of international passengers.

Miami played an important role in aviation history as far back as 1911 when Miamians witnessed the first ever flight over its sunny skies. Future major Everest Sewell and aviator Howard Gill flew over golf courses on a Wright Brothers winged biplane, much to the amazement of those city dwellers who had never seen an aircraft. Over the decades, Miami would be home to aviation training and host to sky-bound celebrities.

The new exhibit at History Miami museum puts it all on display for you, chock full of interesting tidbits for Miami trivia fans.

Here are just a few that caught my eye:

• Burdine's flew gowns to Miami from New York on the first air mail route connecting both cities. (For you spring chickens out there, Burdine's was the original Miami department store, brought out by Macy's.)
• Amelia Earhart began one of her around-the-world flights in Miami so that Pan Am's mechanics, reputed to be some of the best in the world, could inspect her plane.
• The Pan-American Field had the first modern passenger terminal in the United States.
  
• Many female instructors took over Embry-Riddle's aviation classrooms during World War II.
• Charles Lindbergh flew several inaugural flights between Miami and Latin America.

The exhibit dig deep into more history including the rash of hijacking incidents in the 70's related to strained relationships between the U.S. and Cuba -- a far cry from that pre-revolutionary "nightclub in the sky." What with flight restrictions to the island easing up this year, it's still doubtful flying to Cuba will ever be a party.

Flying just isn't as pleasurable as it used to be, no matter what the destination. An exhibit panel on Mohamed Atta, the 9/11 terrorist who trained in a Florida flight school, offers a grim reminder.

Aviation in Miami: The First 100 Years is on display until July 22, 2012 and features lectures and films. The exhibit is free on Wine Down Wednesdays (first Wednesdays of most months). For more details, visit History Miami.

Explore Florida's Art Without Leaving Miami

Dance of the Whooping Cranes by N. C. Wyeth. Just one of many paintings on exhibit at History Miami through May 15.

I've been taking a Florida history class once a week since January with Dr. Paul George at Miami-Dade College. Only this week did we begin to get into the 19th century, when Spain sold Florida to the United States for a cool $5 million in 1819. (Compare that to today's luxury real estate prices.)

Coincidentally, History Miami launched an art exhibit about two weeks ago highlighting the periods we're going to be studying for the rest of the course.

Reflections: Paintings of Florida 1865-1965 displays 69 paintings from the collection of Cici and Hyatt Brown, collectors who are passionate about Florida art. The collection focuses on Florida's natural beauty and rural life before the post-World War II construction booms and is the largest private collection of its kind in the world today.

My favorite paintings were the one depicting natural landscapes -- the kind you might see today if you go off the beaten path into the forests, swamps, lakes and rivers of the state -- any place untouched by development. St. Augustine was also well represented with street and maritime scenes. Portraits of native Floridians and pioneering African-Americans hung among the depictions of the land.

What's important about this collection is that it captures the Florida School of Art and features many renown painters who lived in the state and were inspired by its culture and beauty. Today, it's so easy to get caught up in everything that's wrong about Florida and find no inspiration here. Exhibits like this put things into perspective, keeping track of the rich cultural history of the state.

The exhibit was organized by the Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach and is on display until May 15. For more information, visit History Miami.

NOT A STUFFY MUSEUM

History Miami is one of my favorite local institutions and now they've made it even more cool and groovy with Wine Down Wednesday, which take place the first Wednesday of every month, 5 to 8 PM. So if you happen to go to Reflections on April 6 or May 4 from 5 to 8 PM, you'll get free admission, free parking, live music, $15 open wine bar with light snacks or $5 by the glass. Members and county employees get a complimentary glass. Surely, this has to be one of, if not the best, Miami cultural happy hours.

For more details and to rsvp, call 305-375-1614.