Whenever I pictured Miami in my head I always pictured a city with pink buildings. Flamingos. Teal oceans. Neon lights. And Don Johnson in a white suite cruising Ocean drive.
The sky is pink in the mornings. The buildings are not.
There are no real flamingos, but there is flamingo paraphernalia everywhere.
The ocean is most definitely teal. And beautiful.
There are plenty of neon lights, but Don Johnson was no where in sight.
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I spent a lovely few days on South Beach in Miami with my dear friend. Once again, a split decision of “wanna go” and a “sure!” was all it took. It doesn’t take much for me to be persuaded to go. Anywhere. Needing a break from the cold and the hustle and bustle of Christmas, I hopped a plane and headed south.
South Beach is a place where all the hotels have names from past. The Clifton. The Marlin. The Betsy. The Carlyle. The decor matches. As do a lot of the people visiting. Walking ocean drive, you can see coffee drinkers, mimosa sippers and cigar smokers in fedoras and Bermuda shorts for blocks and blocks, sitting on the porches of the old hotels. Surrounded with outdoor curtains with bold, Floridian palm leaf patterns. Yellow walls. Breeze blowing. No particular place to go. And an old Cadillac with its top down waiting for them at the curb in case they do want to go. The streets are filled with walkers and bikers and dogs and lizards. Men in suites and men in speedos riding ten speeds. Women in formal attire and women in sequin studded bikinis and feathers. You can see it all right there. Day or night.
That’s the great thing about cities.
Nobody cares how you dress.
I walked 15 city blocks barefoot and didn’t get one single strange look.
We went to art districts, explored buildings with incredible architecture, ate cuban food, ate food that looked like it came from the bottom of the ocean but tasted like heaven. We were treated to real Miami personalities. Excitable. Boisterous. Willing to share what they love about their city. Waitresses unafraid to tell you that what you ordered was the wrong choice. Try again. Drivers who leave you in the rain, in your red cocktail dress with your heels in hand, water up to your calves because they don’t want their car wet. Tattoo artists with infectious smiles. We walked and walked and walked. We drove and drove. We were treated to a show, an overload for the senses, but one of the most incredible groups of talent I have ever seen. Mirrored dresses. Mirrored floors. Music belted out, played and danced to, all while flying in the air, twisting and flinging. We saw parts of the city, concrete jungles, full of condos. Thousands and thousands and thousands. We spent time next to the ocean with nothing but blue for miles and miles and miles.
We drank soooo much coffee.
A successful trip for sure.
Places to go and things to see in Miami
(also a fantastic place to eat)