Been meaning to blog about Miami! Had such a great time. Much needed vacation. Even though I had gone to California the month before. But it was nice b/c I’ve actually really been missing SoCal, haven’t been there in a year! Crazy. So I loved going to Miami and being by the beach.
Robes and I were there for 4 days, Aug 3-6th. Flew from NY around 12p, and got to Fort Lauderdale around 3p. Then took a Lyft to Miami which was about 30 min away so not bad. Then got to our AirBnB in South Beach. Everyone I asked that had been to Miami suggested to stay there, and it was great b/c we were literally 2 blocks from the beach! The best.
DAY 1 – Cuban Food, South Beach, and Ocean Drive
First thing we did was eat Cuban food since the area we stayed at called Espanola Way had many Cuban restaurants. We ate at this restaurant called Havana 1957.
The street was so nice and actually made us feel like we were in Cuba.
We had drinks of course! We also ordered this famous chicken dish, their most popular item on the menu suggested by our server. I also ordered another chicken dish with rice and plantains that was also very good.
After we ate we walked to the beach. So nice, and so many palm trees! I’ve seen many palm trees in Cali, but Miami definitely beats it.
After the beach we walked down Ocean Drive which had many other restaurants. Each restaurant was so nice I wanted to go to all of them lol. We actually stopped by Fat Tuesdays which I was so excited about! B/c of Fat Tuesdays in Vegas. I thought they were going to have the tall yard, but they only had the small bottle. But I was still excited about it and sent snaps to all my friends back home lol.
Robes didn’t bring his camera at night, but at night time we went to the bar above called the Clevelander, also recommended by a lot of people. It was a chill bar with a small dance floor so we got drinks and danced for a while. We ended up going to another bar that was on a rooftop and spent the rest of the night there, then headed back home.
DAY 2 – Morning at the Beach and the Ritz Carlton
The next day we woke up early to go to the beach.
There were many chairs and umbrellas out on the beach, I had never seen that before just set up already. We just relaxed on the chairs for a while just livin’ the life lol. Until we found out we actually had to pay for the chairs. Robes had to go bathroom so he asked this worker that passed by where the bathroom was, but then the guy ended up telling us the chairs were $10 each and the umbrella $15, so $35 total! We were not trying to pay that so just got up and went to some other chairs lol. We knew there was a catch. So anyone that goes to Miami please note!
But honestly the workers don’t even care. We sat there for a long time and no one said anything, only when we got their attention. But we still had a good time. After a while we went into the water. The waves were strong and the water was so salty lol but we had a lot of fun. Spent about an hour in the water and then got out.
After the beach we decided to eat at the outdoor bar of the Ritz Carlton. We sat at this nice couch area that was close to the beach walkway. We had drinks and bought chips and guac. We relaxed there for a while enjoying the beach view.
So after we ate the coolest thing happened. We were trying to find the exit from the Ritz Carlton, and ended up following these people past this gate, they were guests there b/c they had a key. We thought we were exiting, but ended up finding the Ritz Carlton pool! It was so nice! We said to each other, “Yeah we’re staying here lol.” The pool also had a nice beach view. This was the start of us going to many hotel pools lol. Another note when going to Miami: just sneak into all the hotel pools! Foreal Miami is so chill. Unless you give the workers a reason to go up to you, they don’t go around checking if you’re a guest. This definitely made our vacation more fun.
So stayed at the Ritz Carlton pool for a while. Robes has the iPhone 7 which is waterproof so we were able to take some pics in the pool. Love the pic of us below <3.
The only thing was that when Robes went to buy us drinks, I think he bought 2 margaritas, the total ended up being $80 haha. So basically you can sneak into expensive hotels, but then they get you with the expensive drinks lol. O well. Again we were just livin’ the life. Stayed there for a couple hours, then got hungry and left.
We walked down Collins Avenue which is one of the main roads where a lot of hotels are. Miami reminds me of Vegas! But more beachy. Collins Avenue is basically the Strip in Miami. Above is the SLS Hotel. We tried to get into the SLS Pool Party there, found out it’s the biggest day club in Miami, but ended up not going b/c cover was $100 for girls and $150 for guys. First of all I’m not used to paying for clubs, always got in free in Vegas lol. And second, was not down to pay that much so just went to eat.
I forgot what the name of the place was, but we ended up eating at a restaurant across the street from the SLS Hotel. We ate these really good burgers. Afterwards we were tired so went back to the AirBnB.
DAY 2 Night – Dinner at Yard Bird Southern Table & Bar
At night we had a nice dinner at this restaurant called Yard Bird also highly recommended by friends. The food was so good! We also dressed up. Very good southern food.
These were the deviled eggs appetizers we had. Delicious.
Another appetizer we had were these sliders.
Then the main course was this chicken and waffles dish that we shared along with some spiced watermelon. So good! Reminded me of Roscoes Chicken & Waffles back in Long Beach, CA but have to say this was better. I ate the spiced watermelon which had an interesting taste. Robes doesn’t like spicy foods so they were all mine lol and they were pretty good.
I remember not wanting to drink too much at dinner b/c we had drank a lot during the day haha. But just had a wine for myself and Robes had a couple drinks.
DAY 3 – Brunch, Jet Skiing, and More Hotel Pools
This was our last full day in Miami. We were excited b/c we had booked jet skiing! Woke up and had a nice breakfast again at Espanola Way.
We liked how the bread came in this cool can.
Breakfast was very good along with bottomless mimosas.
Jet skiing was so much fun! I’ll try posting videos later. We both had never done it before and it was so worth it. We jet skied around Star Island which is where a lot of rich and famous people live. Must be nice to live in one of those houses! This was my favorite part of the trip. Robes drove most of the time, below was a pic taken when we finished. We rented one jet ski and switched off. Definitely would do it again. Also it was cool b/c we were only supposed to be out there for about an hour, but ended up jet skiing for almost 2 hours b/c when we went back to the dock the workers weren’t there. So we just jet skied longer until we saw them.
After jet skiing ate at another restaurant in one of the hotels on Collins Avenue. Below were our appetizers, calamari and crab rangoon. 
For our main course we shared a ribs and mac & cheese dish. Bomb.
After eating we once again found more hotel pools. We ended up finding our favorite pool at the National Hotel below. So nice! This was a very long pool that had a nice feel to it. And there were not many people so it was nice and relaxing.
Robes took some pretty cool pics in the pool. He got excited b/c of the background and went into the pool with his camera, being careful of course lol.
One of the biggest things about being with this guy is he is always taking pictures of me lol. At first I wasn’t used to it, but now it’s normal. He always tells me to stand here, or pose here, and now I just say okay lol. Photography is one of his hobbies that he recently got into this year. And hes’ pretty good at it, I know a few people in photography and I think he has a cool style.
He posts a lot of pics on me on his IG. There have been times when his friends have met me and said, “I feel like I already know you through Robes IG” lol. So funny, but also so sweet. I love him <3.
We stayed at this pool for a long time. We actually came back again the next day. After a while we finally got tired and went back to the AirBnB and get ready to go out at night.
DAY 3 Night – Wet Willies, Steak & Lobster Dinner, and Full Moon at the Beach
Spent our last night in Miami walking down Ocean Drive. First stop was this bar called Wet Willies which is very well known. The drinks remind me of Fat Tuesdays. We had drinks here and then walked around more.
For our last dinner in Miami we decided to have steak and lobster at this restaurant called CJ’s Crab Shack. It was pricey, but once again we were just livin’ the life lol. SO GOOD. Everything we ate in Miami was bomb.
After dinner we went to the beach. We found out from an Uber driver earlier that day that during full moons there people like to go to the beach. I think b/c there’s more light so it feels safer. And he was right b/c there were quite a few people that night when we got there.
Don’t have pics, but the beach was nice and relaxing under the moonlight. That was a great way to end our vacation. We stayed there for a while and then headed back home.
DAY 4 – National Hotel Breakfast and Pool, Then Back to NY
The next day we checked out of our AirBnB and went back to the National Hotel. We decided we were going to eat brunch there, then afterwards hangout in the pool until it was time for our flight later that afternoon. Didn’t take pics on this day, but just relaxed and enjoyed our last day in Miami together. The breakfast was nice with an all you can eat buffet.
After breakfast just stayed at the pool. We had all of our stuff with us, but it worked out b/c we just left them at these chairs near the pool and no one said anything. We were there for a couple hours, then showered in the bathrooms inside the hotel, and then headed to the airport back to NY.
-Carolyn
Carolyn Grace 