Miami to Maine, not quite 1776 miles

And so the month of June was chock full of travel for me which is completely abnormal for this homebody. I spent nearly a week at the AIA National Convention in Miami in early June, followed by a road trip to Maine for ten days. The dichotomy between South Beach and Southwest Harbor could not be greater. This is apparent in so many ways, the least of which are temperature and attire and perhaps most notably the architecture. I will briefly touch on the atmospheres generated by two distinctly different structures, the 1947 Robert Swartburg designed Delano Hotel with recent renovations by Philippe Starck, and the 1884 Claremont Hotel renovated by Van Dam Architecture and Design.

First I should note, the Delano is not where I stayed and neither is the Claremont. However, I spent one evening poolside at the Delano sharing drinks with former co-workers and people watching. The atmosphere is quite a hot one. Pretty people, scantily clad, standing in the shallow end of the pool and moving in time with the DJs beat under lantern light, while folks like me were perched or lounging poolside on the terry cloth covered pool chaise by day, beds by night. Contrast this to an evening in the wicker rocking chairs of the Claremont porch overlooking beautiful boats, evergreen covered islands, while watching shooting stars over Somes Sound to the tunes of waves lapping on the shore. I do give them both one commonality beyond the fact that they do have rooms and cottages for reservation, they both have impeccably manicured lawns for daytime use. The Delano offers a large chess board and the Claremont maintains what I believe to be the best location for a good croquet match. And so even in diversity there is commonality.