Legal Commentary

Destination Cities Take a Hit

By Jeralyn

Las Vegas and Miami are feeling the economic downturn. That's really too bad as both cities are a lot of fun to visit. Maybe instead of grants for law enforcement, the next stimulus bill could include some incentives for the rest of us to vacation so workers in the tourism industry won't lose their jobs.

The Miami article begins with a nod to a new book by author Steven Gaines, “Fool’s Paradise: Players, Poseurs, and the Culture of Excess in South Beach.”

The gossip-larded social history of Miami Beach spans the decades-long transformation of what the author calls “the little sand bar across the bay” into a fast-and-louche Eden, where corruption, street crime and profligate spending were as integral to the landscape as sand and swaying palms.

Gaines has previous books on the excesses of the Hamptons, evangelical preacher Marjoe, Studio 54, the Beach Boys, Alice Cooper and designers Haltson and Calvin Klein, among others.

Way back when around 1971, just before law school, I spent summer evenings acting in an off-off Broadway play about Charles Manson and Gaines was my guide to places like the back room at Max' Kansas City. I doubt he'd remember me but I'm happy to plug his new book anyway because he's fun to read and it was a really fun summer:

So, if money weren't so tight right now and you could afford to take a little time off, where in America would you travel, just for fun?

Full post as published by TalkLeft on February 15, 2009 (boomark / email).