Day 1
Summer is coming to an end, and to close it off properly I figured a nice trip to Miami FL would be a great idea. On day one, I headed to pick up my friend Jenn right after work in the morning. If you don't already know Jenn who Jenn is to me, she is my old coworker turned into one of my best friends. We have been friends for about 7 years, and this is our first time actually going on a trip together. We went to the airport and grabbed a quick breakfast from Salt Lick, before our 9:45 a.m. flight took off. Our first stop was in Houston for a one hour layover, and then we finally landed in Miami at 3 p.m.
From the airport we took an Uber ride to the Delano Hotel. Once we dropped our belongings off, we decided to walk to the beach, which was right at the backdoor of our hotel, to enjoy the water and lay in the sun. I hadn't slept all day so after a good twenty minutes or so I actually fell asleep, and baked a little longer in the sun. The sight of the open water and beach was beautiful though, and after hanging out on the beach for a while, we decided to walk around the art deco district. Art deco district is a part of Miami beach that is known for none other than its unique art deco style buildings. One of our first stops was at Mamma Mia, a gelato cafe. If anyone know me, they know I have a love for gelato, and this was some of the best I have ever had in America. I chose to go with the Strawberry cheesecake and Oreo flavors, and it was silky smooth, and delicious.
After some great sights we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before heading out to Yard Bird for dinner. Yard Bird is a farm to table restaurant serving up piles of southern inspired food, and also a variety of bourbon. After skimming over the menu Jenn and I decided we would have the half chicken, spiced watermelon, mac n cheese, skillet cornbread, and waffles and it was soooo good. We also enjoyed the deviled eggs which was topped with caviar. It's rare that I go to a restaurant and actually like the southern cooking, but Yard Bird was an awesome choice, aside from the spicy watermelon, chill out with the spice guys. After the delicious dinner we walked off the gluttony and headed home to rest up for day 2.
Day 2
After waking up on day two, we first decided to eat breakfast at the hotel. For breakfast I decided to go with none other than the French toast, and a side pile of bacon. Other than being over priced, I was kind of disappointed with the meal overall, as everything is served a la carte, I could just be used to a set meal kind of deal though. The french toast was a bit like a soggy piece of toast more than anything, but I guess what else could you expect from hotel french toast? Breakfast was followed with our first and awesome Uber ride of the day from Nikola, who had just came off of a 3 month vacation. He told us hilarious stories about his past failed relationships, and how he had moved from New Hampshire to Miami for a change of scene.
Our first stop would be to Little Havana. If you are not familiar with what Little Havana is then allow me to break it down.................. It's Cuba. Not for real real though, Little Havana is a part of Miami that is strong in its Cuban roots, full of restaurants, cafes that sell Cuban coffee of course, and don't forget about the Cuban cigar shops. Our first scene was the Little Havana Cigar Factory and then the Cuban Museum. Although I know little to nothing about cigars aside from the fact that you smoke them, I enjoyed the cigar factory. It was full of a wide variety of cigars a smoking lounge, and also souvenirs. Our next stop was the Futurama art gallery. This was probably one of my favorite sites while visiting Miami. Futurama is full of various arts, such as paintings, hand made jewelry, sculptures, and my favorite photography. Before we left Jenn bought a bunch of the hand made jewelry, and made a particular artist very happy.
Next we made a pit stop at Ball and Chain for a drink and live music before continuing our art venture with an Uber to Gramps, near the Wynwood art district. Gramps is a popular bar in the Wynwood area, and I decided to try out the cold Soto Sake, which I normally only drink hot, but the Soto was pretty good. After a few drinks, we walked around Wynwood and took photos of the art displays and graffiti just like all the other tourists. Plenty of visuals later, we grabbed an Uber to the Bayside marketplace. More specifically, the American Cuban Cuisine for a Cuban sandwich and a few drinks, before venturing off to the Miami boardwalk. I took a few minutes out to capture some video footage of the ocean and boats sailing in the water. I always have to find a point in all of my trips to capture some nature. During our adventure, we got rained on; it came out of nowhere. After a stroll on the beach we headed to the hotel for a quick nap and a shower, so that we could eat dinner at Chatto Matte. Now Chatto Matte is a Japanese and Peruvian style restaurant grill and sushi bar, and Jenn and I kind of went all out. We stuffed our faces with: Gyoza (fried dumplings), Miso soup, spicy tuna rolls, unagi (Japaneses for fresh water eel), and some kind of Peruvian pork belly dish. All in all the food was amazing. To end the night, we got a few drinks and listened to live music by Jared Dylan at the Regent Hotel, you should definitely check out his music the kids voice is awesome. After a loooooong day of adventure we headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest.
Day 3
On our third and final day, we woke up at 7 a.m. and got ready for our day. We decided to have breakfast at Social club; well brunch, considering I had a brisket grilled cheese sandwich. We then headed back to our hotel to grab our bags and go back to the airport, which we arrived at 2 hours early. Albeit being early, our flight was 30 minutes late. Since we only had a 30 minute layover in Houston, we had to rush to our connecting flight. We made it with only 5 minutes to spare and were the last ones to get on the plane. Regardless of the close call or rush, Miami was really dope. I’m sure I’ll be back.
* Have you ever been to Miami, or wanted to travel there? Let me know some of your favorite spots, or where you would like to visit in the comment section below.
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Useful links for Miami travel:
+ Yardbird
+ Gramps
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