Basel By The Bay – Miami

Spotted at the “Le Baron Does Daytime” pool parties at Mondrian South Beach during Art Basel Miami Beach, December 2013…

You know that Miami Beach is actually a (largely man-made) barrier island that sits several miles off the coast of the state of Florida, right? As such, the far eastern edge of the island borders the Atlantic Ocean…while the western edge borders the Biscayne Bay – across which you can see the Florida mainland and downtown Miami in the distance. Typically when I visit Miami Beach – during Art Basel or otherwise – there are few reasons to spend time on the bay…the main exception being riding a DecoBike over to The Standard for lunch/a party/their spa/the pool. I typically spend as much time as possible actually swimming in the Atlantic…or hanging out on the beach…or crashing events that I might/might not have actually been invited to at the classic oceanfront hotels like The Delano or The Raleigh.
Though the Scope and UNTITLED art fairs set up their massive tents directly on the beach, ABMB 2013 was all about the bay side of South Beach. While the arts-and-events schedule at The Standard might have been a little more low-key than usual, Mondrian South Beach (also on the bay) and hip Parisian nightclub Le Baron stepped in to fill the party void. Always artsy-leaning, Le Baron has been doing a series of nightly parties during ABMB for several years now…but this year was their first throwing daily afternoon pool parties. Whether buying a t-shirt at the Colette Art Drive-Thru pop-up shop at Alchemist…or having a great pizza at the new Miami Beach location of Lucali…I found myself steering my bike westward more often than not. Will this trend continue?? Is the uncontrollable desire to Instagram the sunset over the bay secretly driving this westward expansion?? Will I post more photos soon from ABMB?? Yes, perhaps, and stay tuned! x Mr. Newton