But more glamorous reasons, transcending the traveler's penchant for balmy bay winds and such, is in the reputation a place like Miami Beach, Florida has for featuring popular TV programs and series and hosting films which have a Miami Beach, Florida setting.

The first long-standing show of the past is of course the Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas original "Miami Vice" version, which highlighted the Miami Beach, Florida scenes, ocean- and landscapes, and even southern fashions of the seventies and eighties-the open necked t-shirt and sports coat and shoes without socks look that spread through the land as fast as Disco gold chains and polyester did.

But in the same genre, thirty years later, the even more influential Miami Beach, Florida show is CSI: MIAMI. The hang-dog heroic, the neo-Clint Eastwood with an intellect of David Caruso's character leads the team into the Miami Beach, Florida luxury homes, onto the speedboats and yachts, and through the hippest of clubs of the famous party town. The details are fascinating; the scenes are riveting.

So maybe the crime statistics-implied-are too off-putting for one to think of actually taking vacation at Miami Beach, Florida....

Then the cinematic way to go is by old films and newer non-detective/mystery/crime story themes. That is, maybe one can understand the local offerings, the schools, the libraries, the networking possibilities, the real estate, by watching "Police Academy" or "Bad Santa" or "Wild Things."

Maybe one can get a sense of the aesthetics, the social climate, and the politics of Miami Beach, Florida in a movie such as the new "Miami Vice" or the older, more non-fictionalized "A Sculpture of Love and Anguish: The Miami Beach Holocaust Memorial."

Or, maybe one can appreciate the straight up beaches and wind in the palms atmosphere in films like "Always Something Better;" "Black Sunday;" or "The Godfather" or "The Crew."

Sure, it may be an odd, quirky way to go about looking for real estate in Miami Beach Florida or deciding on the ideal vacation hotel or venue.

Then again, it might be a more realistic impression to closely watch a show than to read a pamphlet or two...and besides, how do you think 3-D advertising got its start?