Our first trip to Miami didn’t quite go as planned. We landed checked into our hotel, and then, the area was hit with a category 2 hurricane. We decided to try our luck at visiting this area again after moving to Florida.
South Florida was part of David’s work territory initially, so we took advantage of it by making it a destination for several weekend getaways. We’d head down on Friday, stay the weekend and I’d head back to Jacksonville on Monday morning while he stayed and worked the rest of the week.
The Wynwood Arts District is one of my absolute favorite places to go in Miami. It’s an area of town that is up and coming, from the amazing street art, craft breweries and niche restaurants to the high-end shopping in the Design District, Wynwood has a lot to offer. Some of our favorite destinations include Wynwood Kitchen and Bar which is right next door to the amazing Wynwood Walls. The outside tables are great for taking in the ‘walls’ while enjoying delicious food and drinks. We were lucky enough to catch the Peter Tunney Experience left over from Art Basal 2014.
Speaking of drinks, Wynwood Brewing and Concrete Beach Brewing are great places for grabbing some local brew and Kush is hands down the best place in town for a burger. David really loved the sign you see right when you walk in that says, ‘Sorry, we don’t serve Corona’ and ‘Good beer ain’t cheap. And cheap beer ain’t good.’
Another Miami favorite is the beach – in South Beach of course. While it does get quite crowded, the water and sand are quite an exquisite shade of blue and white. And when you are tired of the beach, you can easily walk to the nearby restaurants and shops.
Downtown Miami is another great place to visit. The waterway that runs through the middle of the city next to the high-rise buildings is stunning. A downtown favorite is Vintro Kitchen. The food was delicious and the atmosphere and décor was right up my alley.
We also visited the Miami Seaquarium which was an interesting experience. We did see the Orca show which was quite astonishing. We were also met with protestors upon our departure. The entire thing was quite confusing since the aquarium was no longer bringing Orcas into captivity and the captive whale was well into its 40s and would never survive if released into the wild.
We also had a chance to get up close to several animals including a three-month-old baby tiger cub at the Zoological Wildlife Center. This place was super cool! It’s reminded me of the wildlife encounters we’ve could typically only experience outside of the U.S.
We visited the Perez Art Museum which was nice, but certainly not one of my favorites.
Just as often as we visited Miami, we also typically stayed a night in Fort Lauderdale. We love walking up and down Las Olas checking out the different shops and restaurants. Cheese Culture was one of our favorite places to grab a cheese board and a bottle of Prosecco before dinner. It unfortunately, closed a few years ago. Some of our other favorites include Truluck’s Restaurant, Café Europa, Rocco’s Tacos & Tequila Bar, and Macabi Cigars.
We also enjoyed an afternoon spent at Funky Buddha just outside of the Fort Lauderdale area.
Bottom Line:
There are some many different things to do in Miami – most of them beyond the typical party scene that is associated with South Beach. Don’t get me wrong, South Beach is gorgeous, but there are a lot of other great areas in south Florida.
Habitual Tourists 
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