Cuba

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Funny thing - I wasn't talking about the glitz and glamour associated with those that dealt, lived, and died in the contraband trade (although those first few episodes of Miami, etc did accurately portray what was actually happening down here at the time). I was much more familiar with the results of dropping between 60 and 100,000 desperate folks onto the South Florida scene. Along with many, many folks just looking for a better life that lovely island country emptied out all of its jails and mental facilities... The results down here were disastrous. It was almost twenty years later when our flow of tourists and visiting anglers began to be restored.

 

One of the reasons I spend my days in the Everglades is a reaction to a time when a guy in law enforcement saw lots of things most would avoid... My career (such as it was) came during the height of the party for better or worse. After 22 years on the street I'm aiming at 23 years as a guide.... A certain symmetry there from my point of view.

[agn54 0]

Come on Mike, we all know you were rocking whet suits and pink pastel shirts back in the day!

 

Capt Bob, actually that's what I was referring to when I mentioned Scarface. The early scenes in the movie when it shows the refugee camp under I-95 was of course hollywoodized but still really well done. Miami Vice sure didn't do the tourism trade any favors. I remember in the 80's when I would tell people where i was from who had never been there, they would start asking questions as if I lived in Beirut.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Funny you mentioned Beirut... Anyone down here in the early eighties (once things had gotten pretty ugly...) would remember what it sounded like on New Year's eve if you were anywhere near the downtown area. It really did sound like Beirut! Lots of gunfire, lots of automatic weapons gunfire - and mixed in the very, very distinctive sound of heavy machine gun fire ( a .50 cal gun sounds very different from any ordinary machine gun).

 

The result of all that for me? I very carefully lived to the north in Broward county and about fourteen miles in from the coast where we never heard gunfire at all, and I had reasonable expectations that my family wouldn't be leading the kind of life that I was leading at the time. To this day I still live well north of Miami and my attitude changes whenever I'm driving down that way..... I'd much rather go hand to hand with a big shark or alligator than mess with some of the stuff that can happen in the big city if you're not paying close attention.

[Saltybum 0]

Interesting to hear about machine gun fire in the city and how you described the sounds. I spent four in the Army, 1974-78 with the bulk in infantry ( fortunately never in combat ) and the distinction form M16 full auto to M60 30 cal. was quite noticeable, but then when you heard the 50....it was kinda of spooky, scary compared to the others.

I too am with you Bob on swimming with sharks and stomping the swamps with any of those residents vs those in the concrete and asphalt jungle.

[agn54 0]

I agree with both of you, I moved out of the big city years ago and don't miss it a bit. In Miami I lived in the suburbs of South Miami where you didn't hear too much gunfire by Miami standards except on New Year's. At midnight you would always hear plenty of it, and the sound was distinctly different than the fireworks. One of my neighbors was a cop and he told us that most cops would find a bridge to park under from midnight until about 12:30 unless they got a call because the morons doing the shooting didn't seem to realize or care that their bullets came down eventually

[elderbarry 0]

I lived in Miami for a few years and left in '72 to move back to the "country" in St. Lucie County.