Miami makes New York Times 41 Places to Go in 2011 list

I’m a sucker for International travel, nothing like experiencing different cultures and seeing your own life from a different perspective.  I was just telling my husband that I would love for our kids to travel abroad more and maybe plan our family vacations in more remote locations.  Talk about how much better the world would be if we all took the time to expand our horizons beyond the small protected bubble we live in.

Right after I was done with that conversation, our dear friend and client, Ken De Loreto, sent us a link to The New York Times’ article, “The 41 Places to Go in 2011”.  Talk about excellent timing!  To our surprise, our own Miami made 41 on the list with this description:

Big-time music arrives in a town known for beaches and art.

Between the white-hot Art Basel festival and the growing Design District, south Florida’s city on the sea is slowly earning must-stop status on the global arts circuit.

This month, the quest to amass cultural assets to match its beachside charms continues with the opening of a huge performing arts center, the New World Center, designed by Frank Gehry, in the heart of Miami Beach. The 100,000-square-foot space will be home to the New World Symphony and its conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas, and will have a 2.5-acre park for outdoor performances, a 7,000-square-foot outdoor projection wall for videos and installations, and a music academy for young artists. And after only the briefest of pauses in honor of the global economic meltdown, the stampede of hot hotel openings returns, led by Soho Beach House with 49 rooms, a private screening room, and Cecconi’s, the city’s hot restaurant of the moment. Others include the Dream South Beach, planned to open in the next couple of months, and a new top-end JW Marriott.— ONDINE COHANE

Some of the other places mentioned in the list include: Santiago-Chile, Iceland, Milan, London, Cali-Colombia, Melbourne-Australia, Singapore, Whistler-British Columbia and Budapest. I’m surprised Brazil didn’t make the list, especially with everything they are preparing for, including The World Cup and The Olympics.

Either way, Miami continues to be ON THE MAP and it makes all the sense in the world.