Art Deco in South Beach

One bright blue morning in South Beach, we set off on a walking tour of the Art Deco District, the neighborhood between Sixth and 23rd streets that contains more than 800 pastel-hued properties of historic distinction. Our guide was a droll British woman from the Miami Design Preservation League who spent the next 90 minutes expertly shepherding us into a dozen utterly entrancing hotel lobbies and courtyards. Pointing to the sweeping balcony of the peach ocean-liner Essex House on Collins and 10th, she asked, "Couldn't you just picture enjoying a cocktail up there in the late '30s?" We could.