There is talk of changing the last call in South Beach. They want it to be 2 am. That is when liquor will stop being served in their 170 locations, that serve liquor. 170 locations! Now to be clear, this is only during a few weeks during Spring Break each year, but I suspect that the residents will love it so much, they may make it a full time, all year thing.

But I was thinking about it. I don’t know how I would survive with that. I don’t go out to bars and clubs these days, but in my time (again, sounding like an old man), we didn’t even go out until midnight! I remember my first time in Boston, I was flabbergasted to see that the bars closed at 2 am! In Miami, we don’t get going until that time!

Miami Beach/South Beach is one small area in all of Miami-Dade County. The whole county consists of 34 municipalities (cities, towns, villages), the whole county is larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined; so there is plenty more to do than South Beach. South Beach is sort of the Times Square of the area. Some other cities you may know are Miami (yes, Miami is a separate city from Miami Beach and South Beach is one area of Miami Beach); Coral Gables, Key Biscayne, Pinecrest, Cutler Bay, which used to be Cutler Ridge; and so on. . . . Each has its own closing time, but the tourists, and most locals, hang out in South Beach to party.

In South Beach the mayor wants to turn the Art Deco district and all of South Beach into something else (during Spring Break only?), rather than party central – maybe more arts and culture, I think. I don’t know how that will go over, but of course it will change the whole complexion of the place.

But how many times did I come crawling in at 6 or 7 am, take a shower, change and head out to work. How many times did my friends and I head out at midnight? Well, actually, every night.

It’s just something to think about, the changing times, literally and figuratively.