Who hasn't heard of South Beach? It's the trendy Art Deco district of Miami Beach in Florida. It's a place bustling with Beachgoers, shoppers and people watchers by day, and it is filled with the sounds of music and laughter and the sightings of the "beautiful people” at night. Some call South Beach “America's Riviera." It has not always been so.

Back in the 1970s we lived in Fort Lauderdale. Often, after dinner, my husband and I would take a ride along the old shoreline Route A1A down to Miami Beach. We'd drive past the grand, famous hotels, the shops on Lincoln Road, and the side streets where folks in folding beach chairs lined the sidewalks in front of Old “Mom & Pop" motels, visiting with one another and enjoying the warm Florida evening. Sometimes we'd stop on Collins Avenue at "Wolfie' s" for a huge, decadent slice of their famous cheesecake.

Often, in those days, the Miami Herald ran articles about a feisty, middle-aged widow named Barbara Capitman and a fledgling organization called The Miami Design Preservation League. Capitman had fallen in love with the unique architecture, which she saw all around her in the old South Beach area of Miami Beach. The styles of the buildings had evolved over the span of a couple of decades - from the 1920s to the early 1940s. They had, for the most part, fallen into disrepair, and many had become low-rent apartments for elderly people.

Capitman was a gifted writer and her stories about the wonderful Art Deco designs, the dramatic spires, the porthole windows, the "eyebrow" ledges, appeared in publications all around the country. She worked tirelessly to save those remarkable buildings. The Capitman family even began to buy some small hotels in an effort to save them from the wrecker's ball. Indeed, Many of those vintage structures had already met that sorry fate.

Barbara Capitmam became one of my personal heroes. Slowly, and with great difficulty, the effort of the preservationists began to bear fruit. Crumbling stucco was repaired, pastel paint renewed, hotel lobbies returned to their former glamour. In May of 1979 the Miami Beach Architectural District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

During the 1980s, while some of the South Beach structures were still being demolished, efforts were being made to promote the district to visitors. In 1984, Miami Vice premiered on the fall television schedule and suddenly Deco was “cool” again. Magazines were filled with "fashion shoots" with the pastel hues and distinctive buildings of South Beach figuring prominently.

Before long Public Relations firms began to invite writers to experience newly-hip south Beach. Photographer Sharon Ogan and I were invited to spend a few days at a charming vintage hotel on Ocean Drive, in hopes that we would produce some favorable articles about our experience.

We were given a suite facing the beach, with rooms furnished with original honey-colored Heywood Wakefield furniture. There were a few sidewalk cafes open back then, and Wolfie's was still there and so was the wonderful cheesecake. We made notes and took pictures and gathered material from the Preservation League.

Considering that the deco area was just beginning to emerge from what some regarded as art urban slum, I wrote about the architecture and the history, while preparing readers for a "general disregard for street-cleaning." Sharon shot rolls of film displaying the Deco details all around us. It wasn't that long ago, and now that decaying neighborhood has become one of the world's most glamorous hot spots.

When I heard that M. Barron Stofik had written a book called Saving South Beach I could hardly wait to read it. I expected that the book would be interesting. It’s so much more than that. Saving South Beach reads like a novel. Full of history, adventure, intrigue, excitement and drama, it gives us glimpses into the lives of real folks. The saga of the saving of this architectural treasure trove is intertwined with very human stories of the people involved - not just the main players, like Barbara Capitman and Abe Resnick, the millionaire Holocaust survivor who seemed focused on thwarting her efforts - but regular citizens like Benjamin Levy and the other elderly residents of the old

district and the artists who gave of their time and talent to bring the structures back to life and the designers and movie stars and models who finally "discovered" the place.

Visitors to today's South Florida will do well to check out the now-famous Art Deco district. But first, please do read Saving South Beach before your trip. It will give you the rich background of this special place in the sun. Drive or bike through the area bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and Lenox Court. See the beautiful people, the models and actors at play. Grab a bite at a sidewalk cafe. Take advantage of the Art Deco District Tours offering guided walking tours of the Art Deco Historic District, with knowledgeable docents pointing out the sights and relating the history of this unique slice of Americana. The tours are offered every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 10:30a.m. and Thursday at 6:30 p.m. It costs $20 for adults and $15 for seniors arid students. If you prefer a self-guided tour, when you can" go at your own pace, pick up an audio in English, Spanish, French, German or Portuguese daily at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. These are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and students. Both tours are located at the Art Deco Welcome Center, 1001 Ocean Drive in the South Beach district of Miami Beach.

You'll surely see plenty of "beautiful people" and quite possibly some famous ones too. There are lots of nightclubs in South Beach, but unless you "know someone" or perhaps "ARF someone” it's hard to get admitted. But there are shops, art galleries, theaters, symphony, ballet and plenty of restaurants to experience along with the truly remarkable architecture. And yes, the cheesecake is still there at Wolfie's.

Enjoy!