I know, you’re a world-weary traveler who has seen it all. So I already know that you’ve been to Miami, already explored its beaches and dove into its mythical pools, but cut me a break, will you? I am not nearly as cosmopolitan as you and just made my first trip to that southern-most tip of this fair country’s only peninsula (is it?). 

Here’s what I’m dying to know: did you think Miami was as weird as I did? 

Let’s just say, one night I almost ended up having dinner—not clubbing, as you might suspect—at a place called Haven, a new, very sceney joint off of luxury shopping lane Lincoln Road:

But instead opted for a more restrained dining experience here:

Yes, the furniture in the left and right corners of the frame are high-backed, Alice In Wonderland styled chairs. And this is but one room in a VERY large, multi-roomed restaurant called The Forge. Transformed from an actual forgery at the turn of the century, this joint’s owners seem desperate to overcome their blue-collar background. But it was fun, the food was surprisingly delicious, and it wasn’t as neon as Haven. So win-win-win.

But really, this was par for the course in Miami. It was a strange, strange place.