Tagging Miami

 It is always fun when the most affordable flight patterns offer up small opportunities to explore other places that we would otherwise never go to. This month Miami was that spot! Miami is a popular tourist location and as such there are many places to stay. At first I considered paying extra to stay right in the Miami Beach area - we love beaches. I reconsidered this after seeing the prices in this area and the pictures of how busy and lively the area is.  There are many stand alone hotels with swimming pools that seem to be both more affordable and cater to families. These were tempting as the girls like to swim but it would also mean we would both need a car and have to use it and that Jakob would be largely stuck to the more suburban area around whatever hotel we settled on. In the end we decided to stay in the hip and centrally located Wynwood. Funny how graffiti and warehouses can go from illegal to hip and coveted. Our airbnb was just outside the hip zone and maybe a little outside our comfort zone as the neighbourhood was rich in raving motorbikes, revving engines and atvs cruising the streets and enough broken glass and run down ness to give a slight sinister air. 

On our first morning stroll in Wynwood we met Tony who sells drinks from a cooler on wheels and seems to be more invested in getting to know everyone who passes his way than actually selling drinks. He gave us tips about the area. By the third or fourth time we passed Tony our waves got enthusiastic. He walked the girls and I over to one of his other workplace (he is door security as a club as well as owning a hot dog stand elsewhere) one day to ‘give us something.’ He came out with a handful of sidewalk chalk and proceeded to explain to the girls how tagging works. He then instructed us to check out the ‘real’ graffiti in the neighbourhood and add our own to the mix. Tova got really into this idea of tagging and roller bladed around the neighbourhood marking up the sidewalk with her signature. She was fascinated by the fine line between illegal and art. Inspired by her fascination we supplemented our learning about graffiti by watching ‘Exit through the gift shop.’ The kids really liked the documentary and it fuelled them to tag with even more enthusiasm. They started to pay close attention to all the graffiti and even noticed a few artists work from the films. Thanks Tony for making our learning fun and real!

The part of Wynwood where artists are paid

Was a great city for roller blading

Beach day!

The artwork on our building