Miami Beach's tiny size precludes it from having any major professional sports teams. Nevertheless, professional sports flourishes in Miami, across Biscayne Bay. Miami Beach's greatest attraction is South Beach, its Art Deco, low-rise hotel and entertainment district. South Beach is second only to Disneyworld in Orlando as a Florida tourism destination. No small wonder with its colorful, 1930s architecture, gated mansions of celebrities, great stretches of white, sandy beaches and a hedonistic lifestyle of glitz, glamour and indulgence.

Prior to its revitalization in the 1980s, South Beach was home to a mostly elderly, retired population. Most of the small beachfront hotels and apartment buildings were occupied by retirees. Today, however, South Beach is the hottest entertainment and dining locale on the East Coast. Originally farmland, the 23 blocks of South Beach, or "SoBe" as it is sometimes called, now has hundreds of restaurants, bars and clubs that cater to both locals and tourists. Such famous places as Joe's Stone Crab restaurant, founded in 1913, and the venerable Mac's Club Deuce, which opened in 1926 and is still going strong, draw huge crowds. You may find it difficult to get into one of South Beach's nightspots without some local connection or some pre-planning. Hotel concierges can usually be depended upon to find you a seat at one of the restaurants or tell you which club is hot and which one you can easily slip into without too long a wait.

If nightclubbing isn't your cup of tea, a stroll around South Beach can be a pleasure. South Beach is the world's largest collection of Art Deco
"Streamline Moderne" architecture. Find your way to Lincoln Road, an open-air pedestrian mall that presents you with the finest selection of trendy stores and boutiques. Watch your step, though, or you may find yourself as a backdrop for one of the many fashion photo shoots that regularly use the ocean, the sand and the Art Deco of South Beach. If you were (or still are) a fan of the 1980s crime drama "Miami Vice," you'll quickly recognize many South Beach streets, parks and buildings that were used in the television show.

Moving a bit north, you'll find Ocean Avenue and Collins Drive, home to many of Miami Beach's oldest hotels. Names like Fontainbleu, Deauville, Delano and Waldorf, conjure up images of gracious and expensive vacationing. It's a treat to walk through the older hotels, although all have been extensively remodeled and updated, wondering who among the rich and famous may have trod those carpeted lobbies. Presidents, kings and queens, movie stars and notorious gangsters have always been a mainstay of Miami Beach tourism, and who knows, you might see a few of them on your stroll. Don't be surprised, however, if you hear European languages being spoken. Spanish and German are the two most frequently heard after English, a clear indication of Miami Beach's popularity with foreign tourists.

If professional sports is your thing, across Biscayne Bay you'll find all of the most popular. The NFL's Miami Dolphins play in Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens. The 2006 NBA Champion Miami Heat play at the American Airlines Center in downtown. The Florida Marlins, twice world series champs, also play at Dolphin Stadium. The Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League play at BankAtlantic Center, and Miami also has teams playing in the American Basketball Association and the United Soccer League. The University of Miami, one of college football's powerhouse teams, plays at Dolphin Stadium, and around New Year's Miami hosts the Orange Bowl, one of the bowl games that determines college football's champion.

Small, though it is, Miami Beach has three golf courses, including a public course on Alton Road. Nearby is the Bayshore Par 3 Golf, and further up Alton Road near Bal Harbour is La Gorce Golf Course, a private layout in a luxury housing development. There are more than 40 golf courses in and around Miami, including the Doral Golf Resort, for decades the site of the PGA's Ford Championship. And, there are more than 200 tennis courts available in the Greater Miami area.

If you have a need for speed, a short drive south to Homestead, FL will bring you to the Miami-Homestead racing complex where NASCAR ends its yearly tour and, for the past two years, the oval race has determined the winner of the NASCAR-Nextel Cup. The complex is also popular with open-wheel Indy cars and sportscar racing.

There is also plenty of watersports, fishing, boating and sailing to be found in Miami Beach. One popular water ride is take one of the many glass-bottomed boats that ply the waters around Miami and watch the undersea life. Inland there's the Everglades National Park, a pre-historic wetland that has changed little in thousands of years and Lake Okechobee, the second-largest freshwater lake in the U.S. Both are easily reached from Miami Beach.

Dining out in Miami Beach can be both a pleasure and a trial. Because of the popularity of South Beach, many of the restaurants there are overwhelmed by tourists. For example, the famous Joe's Stone Crab restaurant, possibly the most popular in town, does not take reservations and the wait for a table can range from 3 to 5 hours. The food is worth the wait, but if you're in a hurry, Monty's on the Beach is more accessible. By the way, Joe's is the oldest continuously-operating restaurant in Miami Beach, and has its own fleet of crabbing boats to insure a continuous supply of the delectable claws. You may also want to try Emeril's Miami Beach restaurant in the Loew's Miami Beach Hotel on Collins Avenue. The cuisine of America's most popular television chef, is as good as any you'll find anywhere. Expensive, too. The 510 Ocean restaurant in the Bentley Hotel on Ocean Drive features some of the popular South Florida fusion cooking called "Floribbean," a blend of American, Spanish and Caribbean cuisines that feature spicy flavors and colorful ingredients. For Cuban food try Lario's on Ocean Drive. The owner, Latin superstar Gloria Estefan, might be greeting diners when you drop by for a mojito and something with plenty of Cuban flavors. A more casual spot might be Joe Allen's self-styled Mediterranean bistro on Purdy Avenue. At the other end of the spectrum is the Blue Door at the Delano boutique hotel. Chef Claude Troisgros's cuisine is Florida inspired French, and the spectacular cuisine draws the rich and famous to be gawked at by the tourists. And you might also try the China Grill on Washington Avenue for Pan Asian-inspired food. Although a chain establishment, China Grill knows quality, service and atmosphere, and you'll have an all-round pleasant experience.

So, from architecture to auto racing to star-studded dining, there's plenty to entertain and sustain you in Miami Beach. But perhaps the most sensible thing to do is grab a piece of sandy beach, stretch out on a towel, douse yourself in sun block and just listen to the ocean. It won't cost a thing.