A mish mash of all cultures combined...

I have never been to a city with so much color and tall buildings running along a strip of beach and sand...

Lincoln Road Mall was an interesting find and looking for the parrots in the palm trees was alot of fun for the kids. Just watch out since they will go after your food if your not careful.

Bring lots and lots of cash or a big credit limit at this mall is rather expensive with lots of high priced curio stores!!

Lincoln Road Mall is a well known hot spot in South Beach. With several blocks of shopping, eating, sitting, and a theater, there is always something to do. Lincoln Road Mall has tons of restaurants with many ethnic foods to choose from. The restaurants are set up where you walk down the street and can view a menu, once you have decided where to eat, you just sit right there and are waited on. You can go in if you want, but most choose to sit right outside, where all the action is. There are also many ice-cream, coffee, and other specialty shops. In the midst of all the food are specialty clothing shops and your typical retail shops like GAP, Victoria Secret, etc. Lincoln Road also has a movie theater and several musical and theaters production . You can also find a church, a CVS, and a water fountain. Lincoln Road is another spot that you can find all kinds of action and entertainment. It is not really the party spot but it is great for a little more low key relaxing night out with dinner and maybe a movie or some music.

You might even find a lurking paparazzi, and strange kinds of people walking around or standing with a boa all dressed in white. Miami is a very liberal place so you should not be shocked at all about the things you might see here, just be prepared.

Lincoln Road is a place where night or day you can spend hours walking and shopping and still not hit every place, I think I would have to live there for several years to get to see everything, since there is so much to see. And from many places within walking distance, in fact I would recommend walking, anything else just seems useless.

One of Miami Beach's great pleasures is hanging out on Lincoln Road. From Washington Avenue to Alton Road, Lincoln is closed to vehicular traffic, creating a pedestrian mall of bars, restaurants, theaters, stores, and galleries.

The area was rundown back in the 1980s, but art galleries and cafés led a renaissance in the ‘90s. Now that the real estate has skyrocketed in value, some of the smaller, more interesting storefronts have disappeared, but Lincoln Road retains much of its charm.

Here are some highlights:

On the Alton Road end of the strip stands an 18-screen movie multiplex that shows a nice mix of Hollywood blockbusters and art-house films. It'll give you something to do on a rainy afternoon or an evening when you seek air-conditioning.

The fine arts are also represented on Lincoln Road. Miami's acclaimed New World Symphony (under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas), as well as visiting classical artists, play at the Lincoln Theater. Miami City Ballet used to have a rehearsal space nearby, where you could watch them plie and jette through the large front window, but they moved to more affordable digs at Liberty Avenue and 22 Street. (You can still watch them rehearse at the new address.)

A personal favorite attraction on the strip is the Art Center South Florida, which is both a gallery and a working artist's space. You can watch local artists crafting their works and converse with them about their paintings and sculptures. Look for its curving edifice and blue neon sign at 800 Lincoln Rd.

One of the more interesting cocktail lounges you'll find anywhere is Laundry Bar. It's both a bar and a working Laundromat, so bring your dirty clothes and your dirty habits. Laundry Bar (actually on Lincoln Lane, parallel to Lincoln Road on the north side) attracts a decided mixed crowd: Anglo/Latino, men/women, and straight/gay. Down the block is Idol's Gym, where you can get in a workout for $10. The workout space is nice, though the locker room is a bit shoddy.

Like any popular public area, Lincoln Road is full of street acts (the human statue, the disco skater) and local crazies. (Beware the middle-aged Colombian woman who begins conversations with, "Are you going to hit me?") Spend a little time observing the tops of the palms that line the strip; you'll notice a slew of green and red parrots nesting up there. (You can't miss hearing them.) I'm told that these are the progeny of birds that escaped from the mainland tourist attraction Parrot Jungle after Hurricane Andrew hit in the ‘90s.

Lincoln Road (between 16 and 17 Streets) is within walking distance of most South Beach hotels. If driving there, you might be lucky enough to find metered street parking on Jefferson, Pennsylvania, or Meridian Avenues, but it's more convenient to pull into the nearby Convention Center lot for about $5.

Lincoln Road Mall is a very successful chic, trendy pedestrian outdoor mall. There are about 400 businesses in this area, including shops, a theater, and restaurants taking up the space in the middle of the "road," as they set up tables outside for people to enjoy the sunshine and people-watch. There's so much eye candy here.

One of the highlights of our stay in South Beach, apart from enjoying its unique architectural heritage, was strolling along Lincoln Road’s pedestrian mall in the evening. It was quite a happening place to be on a Friday night: great people watching, interesting shops, a few galleries, and busy outdoor cafés. Our favorite cafés were the El Tropico Restaurant and the Girhardelli Café, just a few doors apart from each other on the same block.