When I was on Spring Break in Fort Lauderdale many years ago (1989), a buddy and I decided we’d drive down to Hialeah and lose a few bucks on the horses. I don’t know if we took the shortest route or not, but all of a sudden we were in a part of town where EVERYTHING was in Spanish. Everything. And the locals were giving the two college kids in the late-model Toyota Celica with Virginia plates the real hairy eyeball. We were seriously scared.
Worst part, we got there, and it was closed. I think they were running at night. I would’ve have driven back down there at night if you’d paid me and given me a winning trifecta pick. We contented ourselves with losing money at the jai-alai place instead.
}:-)4
I doubt it. Hialeah never had lights, SFAIK.
As to the neighborhood, that was frequently one of the ways of running the place down in favor of Gulfstream. I really never noticed much change from the late 60s to the 80s when I was last there. And once one is inside the hedges the outside world disappears anyway.
ML/NJ
I’ve been all over Hialeah from high school days on (early ‘60s). I got new tires on my pickup at Wally Mart there yesterday. Language barrier - yes, but I’ve never had an evil eye cast my way - ever. Day or night.
That having been said, driving* in around Cubans will make you crazy - they have hair triggers on their adrenalin glands. Rule one: Never, for any reason, use your turn signal - it means you’re from out of town and don’t know where the hell you’re going ;o)
Up until the late ‘60s, Hialeah was redneck city. The “Latinos” (Cuban immigrants, really) began displacing them.
Remember the “Will the last American leaving Miami please bring the flag” bumper stickers? By the time Jimmuh Carter’s Mariel boatlift was over, there wasn’t a redneck within 50 miles of Hialeah - they’d all moved “up North” to central Florida. BTW, here’s a good Mariel/Miami immigration summary:
http://www.miamibeach411.com/news/fleeing-cuba
* Do-gooder Dade County Sheriff E. Wilson Purdy encouraged this. See my post #17 at:
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2802934/posts