There's much more to South Florida than the neon-hued nostalgia of Miami Vice and pink flamingos. In fact, what used to be a relatively sleepy beach-vacation destination has awoken from its humid slumber, upped its tempo, and finally earned its place in the Palm Pilots of cutting-edge jet-setters worldwide. But don't be fooled by the hipper-than-thou celebrity-drenched playground known as South Beach. While the chic elite do, indeed, flock to Miami's coolest enclave, it is surprisingly accessible to the average Joe, Jane, or José. For every Phillippe Starck-designed, bank-account-busting boutique hotel on South Beach, there's a kitschy, candy-coated Art Deco one that's much less taxing on the pockets. For each Pan-MediterAsian haute cuisinerie, there's always the down-home, no-nonsense Cuban bodega (a small corner grocery store, usually with a walk-up window for ordering) offering hearty food at ridiculously cheap prices.

Beyond the whole glitzy, Access Hollywood-meets-beach-blanket-bacchanalia as seen on TV, Miami has an endless number of sporting, cultural, and recreational activities to keep you entertained. Our sparkling beaches are beyond compare. Plus, there's excellent shopping and other nightlife activities that include ballet, theater, and opera.

Leave Miami, be it for the Keys, the Gold Coast, or the Treasure Coast, and you'll expose yourself not only to more UV rays, but to a world of cultural, historical, and sybaritic surprises where you can take in a spring baseball game, walk in the footsteps of Hemingway, get up close and personal with the area's sea life, soak up the serenity of unspoiled landscapes, and much more.

Forget what you've heard about South Florida being Heaven's Waiting Room. That slogan is as passé as the concept of "early bird" dinners (which you can still get--they just no longer define the region). In fact, according to some people, South Florida is heaven. So what are you waiting for?