What an AMAZING long weekend in Miami with my girls! The people in Miami are gorgeous, the food is so tasty, the beach and pools are beautiful, and the party scene is on point. If you know me very well, you know I love to dance especially to regaton music. Being in Miami, I was in my element. The music was playing everywhere and I LOVED every minute of it.
We came to Miami for my besties 30th birthday and it did not disappoint. It was the perfect location with the perfect group of ladies. Most of us on the trip were mamas so it was so nice finally being able to let our hair down and party without resuming to mom duty the next morning. We missed our babes so much but it was a much deserved trip that needed to happen.
Of course with our luck, we were stuck at the airport for 8 hours before leaving DFW at 1am to head to Miami due to the rainy weather. So what do you think we did??? Bar hop at the airport of course! What great stories I could tell from this portion of the trip but I’ll save all that for another time.
Once we arrived to our hotel in Miami at 5am, we took a powernap and hit the town!
Welcome to Miami! (cue the Will Smith song)
Where we stayed:
Ok folks, if you’re looking for a hotel right on South Beach the Delano Hotel is a MUST! Such a gorgeous 5 star boutique hotel right on the beach and next door to a famous Miami SLS pool party. They have an outdoor restaurant and bar with pretty views of the pool but the drinks there were sooo expensive. I’m talking $19 a drink $75 a pitcher. But that was everywhere we went on South Beach. Now let’s talk about their pool area for a sec shall we? They had hammocks, large wooden chairs, large chess game, and their landscape was gorgeous. Now their pool is another story…I mean, the perfect place for a photo op was at their pool. So gorgeous with palm trees surrounding the entire place. They even had beds to lounge on free of charge. I would stay here again next time I come.
Places to eat:
Always my favorite part to talk about when doing these travel guides is food. We were very fortunate enough to have been in Miami during Miami Spice Month. It was so much fun dining at nice restaurants eating 3-course meals for half the price. If you are ever in Miami during the month of September, you are in luck as most places offer this for lunch or dinner. As a HUGE foodie, I was in my element and took full advantage of tasting everything when given the opportunity.
LT Steakhouse: We went during Miami Spice week which meant we had a 3-course meal for about $50. I had the fillet with a truffle sauce and it was so good. We also had a mixture of appetizers and sides. Everything was absolutely delicious.
Dolce Vita: This place was so cute. This was the first place we ate at and located right across the street from the hotel. First off, they had the cutest old school car to right in the front. See the picture above of the car. We took pictures right next to it. Second, they had the Miami Spice Month offered here for lunch. Of course, I did the 3-course menu. Their salad, pasta, and pizza did not disappoint at all. Everything was delish. Their Chicken Milanese was a little bland with no sauce but still tasty when I had a few bites of it with a salad. But their eggplant pasta was divine. They also had great cappuccinos there which I ended with because I was in need of some coffee after a 3-hour powernap and landing in Miami at 5am ☺
R House Wynwood: This place was in an artsy part of town. We loved it. Again, with it being Spice Week, we had a wonderful 3-course meal. This is a must-eat place in Miami. Every single thing we all ordered was so good. I had their lamb and it blew me away. So good and highly recommend.
Naked Taco: This place was pretty good. We got a variety of tacos and of course had their guac, which was bomb.com. They had these ahi tuna nachos which was served on wontons and so good. Best part…they kept giving us free shots. Service was great and they had a rooftop bar that we went to after lunch.
Voodoo: We actually only stopped here to grab a drink and because they had a rooftop bar with a view of South Beach. But we got two giant drinks to share between 5 people and it was still a lot.
Prime Fish: Another amazing spot. They also had a Miami Spice month menu and we took full advantage of that. I had the Ahi Tuna as an appetizer and their steak for dinner and it was so delicious. Their drinks were on point and the location was gorgeous. We sat right outside under this huge tree with lights wrapped around it.
Puerto Sagua: You can’t go to Miami and not have Cuban food right? We got a good recommendation to this place located near the famous Ocean Drive and let me tell you…straight up authentic mom and pop kind of place. The best and most reasonable food we had the whole trip. We got a pitcher of Sangria for like $10 and it was AMAZING. This place did not disappoint. If you’re looking for a great Cuban place while in Miami, this is the place to go. The apps and main dishes we so so so good.
Rosetta Bakery: I felt like I was bake in Italy when I came here. Hands down coming back here next time. All the pastries and sandwiches served were OMG delicious. They’re cappuccino’s were great. We ordered about 6 different things to share and it was amazing. I can’t say enough good things about this place.
Pubbelly Sushi Brickell: We came here during happy hour right before our flight home and this place was another great find. It’s not in south beach but more in downtown and wow. It was located in this gorgeous outdoor shopping center and this place was another place I wouldn’t mind heading back to. If you love sushi, go here. A few people recommended this spot when we were walking around and we were so happy we listened to them. Great meal to end the trip with.
Things to do in Miami:
Wynwood Walls: This place was so amazing. We came here on our second trip to Miami and it was so cool. It’s a local area that is very artsy. They are known for all the graffiti art on the walls of buildings as well as amazing music and food. I recommend everyone taking the trip out here to check this local spot out. Great places to eat and amazing pictures. The bar scene was cool. Check it out during the day or night. Must-see place for sure.
The Palace: Hands down my favorite part of the trip. If you love going to drag shows, this place will not disappoint. The ladies there seriously danced better than what you’d find on dance shows on tv. It’s a brunch (food was actually really good) and a show. It’s all outdoors right on Ocean Drive and the ladies there can put on a show. Let me tell…they are dancing in the streets, stopping traffic, and everyone was loving it. I would do this a trillion times over because it was so much FUN!
Mangos: This was my favorite bar/nightclub. Of course, they had my salsa, merengue, raggaetone music playing but there was also entertainment. It’s a huge place. In the front they had dancers and singers, towards the back there was dancing but then had a live band that was AMAZING, then upstairs, they had bars and a few other rooms for dancing. This was my favorite place to go to and I would not only go back a dozen times, but I would recommend anyone looking for something fun to do. Side note: you can even pay to have a table to eat dinner and watch the live show. We were going to do that but had dinner reservations someplace else. But would do that next time I go.
Beach/Pool: The Delano was located right on the beach but also had a beautiful pool. We took full advantage of laying by the pool one day and on our last day, we enjoyed the beach. The water was perfect and the view at night was so picturesque. You can rent jet skis, and other beach gear/activities. Our hotel even had dedicated chairs by the beach at no extra cost and they had servers to order drinks and food. Get the truffle fries just FYI…
SLS Pool Party: This was located right next to our hotel and stopped by towards the end of the evening. Of course, by the time we got there everyone was wasted. But it was so much fun seeing everyone going crazy. We had fun of course, but wish we went earlier to see what it was like. This was definitely more of a party seen if you’re looking for some of that out here.
Club LIV: I am not going to lie, on our last night, we were sooo overpaying $20 per drink. But it just so happened, we were walking on Ocean Drive and a club promoter got us a table with drinks for free. So of course, how do we turn that down right? We were wanting to check out a club in Miami and a few folks we met by the pool bar mentioned Club LIV so it was perfect. It was a really nice club. We didn’t stay very long because clubs are really are thing, but we wanted to check it out, stay for a bit, and have some free bottle service. #winning
The perfect trip with the perfect people Can’t wait to do it again but excited we were headed back to see my boys.
XO,
Natalie