Miami, Away from the Glitz.

Could nature give back some of what the pandemic had taken away?

I have never been the kind of person to stand on the beach in the pre-dawn hours, the sky dark above me, the sand cold beneath my bare feet, but the pandemic has changed many things. I no longer want the things I used to want. The beach at noon with its crowds, and noise, and music hold no allure for me anymore. Suddenly, and with force, I want quiet and beauty—to see things I’d never seen before. And so, I found myself this past winter in Miami, a familiar city, but one I wanted to see differently. Instead of its glamorous, sun-drenched side, I planned to spend a few months getting to know its pre-dawn birdsong, its peaceful mangrove channels, its out-of-the-way parks. In short, the natural beauty so many visitors miss by sticking to South Beach or Wynwood or Brickell.