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Photo: Alexf, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
This museum, located in a 1936 synagogue that hosted Miami's first Jewish congregation, has a permanent exhibit detailing how Florida's Jews arrived in Florida as well as their history in Florida and their customs. The museum also has videos to view while you’re inside the museum, temporary exhibits in the center of the synagogue and a gift shop. A small and fairly uninteresting museum.
The Jewish Museum of Florida is a museum that preserves Florida Jewish history, culture, and art and is located in two restored historic buildings that were formerly synagogues, at 301 & 311 Washington Ave., in Miami Beach, Florida. The main museum building, at 301 Washington Ave., was built in 1936, is on the National Register of Historic Places, has Art Deco features, a copper dome, a marble bimah, and 80 stained glass windows. The adjacent building located at 311 Washington, which served as Miami Beach's first synagogue, was purchased by the museum in 2005 and restored in 2007 as a museum expansion.
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Good park to sit and watch the cruise ships as they pass by.
Florida International University Museum
Back in the 1930s and 1940s, this building was the headquarters of the Washington Storage Company, a facility where the rich could stash their valuables whenever they were out of town. Movie theater heir and Miami native Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. stored so much artwork here that he bought the storage company, and later gave the building to Florida International University, hence the museum's odd name. The Wolfsonian hosts a large Modernist-era (around 1885-1945) art collection that includes propaganda posters and postcards, Art Deco household items, and other touring exhibits. There is also a café, bookstore, fountain and a modernist-inspired artwork on the first floor.
Miami Beach Architectural District
It only takes a stroll down Ocean Drive and through much of the neighboring blocks to see the world's largest collection of modern Art Deco architecture. The Miami Design Preservation League runs an Art Deco Welcome Center that serves as the base of operations for all things Art Deco: they hold lectures, show films, and other special events here. They also conduct guided walking tours of the district for a fee; call ahead for times and to make reservations.
The famous beachfront park of South Beach located along all the party destinations on Ocean Drive. Huge grassy areas and giant palm trees make for a great backdrop for photo shoots, which happen frequently, alongside volleyball courts and pull up bars. A wavy pedestrian walk called the Promenade weaves through the north end of the park and up along the beach to 21st St, where it turns into boardwalk. The bathrooms, located at around 11th Street, are in a stunning Art Deco boat-shaped building but have rusty fixtures and are dirty.
Versace Mansion
Built in 1930 and remodeled by Gianni Versace in 1993, this famous house is where he was murdered in 1997. It is one of the most photographed landmarks in South Beach, but it is not open to the public. It now houses a boutique hotel.