It took two photos of the lovely Van Dyke Cafe. This is the first picture. I call it Miami Vice. The second picture is the one I posted as a travel photo, Miami Nice. It was April, 2007 and I was with Penny in Miami Beach visiting a friend from University. He took us for a walk on the Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach. There were a lot of interesting sites along the way. The Van Dyke was the one place that was storybook beautiful. Years later I decided to print one of the photos. Like in the movie Blowup, I zoomed in on both photos and was shocked by what I discovered. Below is a closeup of the man crossing the street.
At first I thought the man in the white t-shirt was reaching for his wallet. Looking more closely I saw that it was a gun. I have seen lots of pistols in back pockets and this is definitely a gun in his hand. I’m thinking he was an undercover cop but perhaps he is a neatly dressed Good Guy. Either way, we were close to danger and had no idea.
In this photo the guy with the gun in his hand is to the right of the entrance behind the hedge. It appears that his right arm is still in the same position. It’s an interesting story but I’ll never know the ending. On a final sad note, I Googled the Van Dyke Cafe a couple of years ago. It is listed as closed, permanently. At least this lovely moment is preserved.