So, when I saw Brazil was playing Colombia in a soccer friendly hosted by no other than Miami in July I thought... hey, why not? A call to one of my closest friends, a hotel booking and I was back in the road. I hadn't seen Miami before. I had heard from many people I would like the place, especially their food and latin influence, and for those of you who’ve read my other post you already know how much I enjoy trying new food, but aside from the game I truly didn't know what else was there to see in this city. I wasn't sure what to expect but nonetheless I said, let's go!
Hard Rock Stadium (#HardRockStadium)
First anecdote of this trip, my friend and I decided to stay in a hotel that according to the GPS was about 20 minutes away from the stadium. We soon learned that in a city like Miami on a Friday night 20 minutes can easily become more than an hour. In fact, we ended up reaching the stadium after an hour and forty five minutes.
Lucky for us, we left the hotel about an hour and a half before the game was supposed to start and, although we missed the first 15 minutes of the game, we arrived just in the nick of time to witness the first goal. I can't express in words the euphoria and excitement it brings to watch these players score a goal live. I'm used to watching soccer on TV since it's one of my favorite sports to watch but to actually see it live is just another whole exhilarating experience. Off course I ended up jumping out of my seat excited to celebrate as well as other fans when that first and second goal came. Hooray for both teams. As for the parking in this stadium, it was pretty easy and well accessible inside the field. A couple of guides allowed us inside and guided us to our parking spot. All in all, I had an amazing time watching these two teams playing against each other.
The Salty Donut (#TheSaltyDonut)
The next morning we did a quick stop at a place called The Salty Donut at Wynwood. Now, let me enlighten you on this place. First of all, I am not a donut person. I do love desserts but a donut wouldn't be my first choice. We came to this place because it was recommended to my friend and he told me he could not go back home without eating a donut from this place. We arrived around 9:30 in the morning which was totally perfect timing because around 10:00am in the morning the place started to get packed and the line to order reached outside the doors. As soon as we walked in I could feel the coziness of the place and enjoy the smell of fresh brewed good coffee early in the morning. Loved the ambient and although on the picture it looks a bit small it has an outside area to sit as well and relax while enjoying your #donut and #coffee from this place.
This place specializes in artisan donuts. And when I say they specialize in it, it means their donuts are unique and amazing. I couldn't even decide which one I wanted when I first saw the variety of originally crafted donuts they had inside the shop. They even had ones that I couldn't even thought were possible but apparently according to my friend they are delicious. For those of you who love to adventure like me when it comes to new tastes, this is the right donut place to try. From their creative Maple and Bacon donut to their Guava-Cheese more known donut, they have a vast variety in which anyone can find one to fit their cravings. My friend and I ended up picking these two and added a Lemon one which was a seasonal they were offering for summer as a third one. Needless to say, the flavor of them just melted into your mouth. They were delicious.
In fact, the last day of the trip I ended up going back to the place and buying some more to take back to my co-workers the next day and by noon they were already gone. Yes, they are this good! Trust me, this is definitely one place you don't want to miss when you visit Miami.
Wynwood Walls (#WynwoodWalls)
After having breakfast, we decided to visit the artistic district of Wynwood Walls. I had heard about this place from some family and friends, and also when I researched things to do in Miami this place came up in all of my searches. Some pages had pictures that helped me chose to visit this place, others just descriptions of what the place is like but have to say don't regret it at all. I was amazed with the creativity of these artists. When we entered the place we found ourselves in a place surrounded by the inspiration and messages of many artists who expressed themselves through the creativity of graffiti.
To our enjoyment, we had the pleasure of experiencing two expositions from two great artists who were exhibiting that day. One was by a great Brazilian artist named #Kobra who with his pictures illustrated many differences in ethnicity. It was breathtaking to see how this artist portrayed his point of view through art. Then the second one we had the pleasure to see was an exhibition by #PeterTunney This one was an eye turner. It was very interesting to see the way he used magazines, newspaper, many articles that had to do with the media to express his thoughts. Since the media for me is one tool of knowledge, it was more amazing to see him grasp this concept and put it out there as art. I have to say my friend and I ended up loving both exhibitions very much.
Little Habana (#LittleHabana)
After an amazing time scrolling down the artistic district we ended up visiting Little Habana. As we walked down famous #Calle8 street we noticed the big latin influence around this place. Coming from a latin family, it was very refreshing to be able to transport myself to those days were we could just walk around the street and greet whoever was walking right next to you as if you had known this person from before.
The street itself had a warming glow to it as you could see a guy walking on the sidewalk with his cigar on hand, small little shops and restaurants surrounding the street, and a small Placita set in a corner for people to play dominoes and chess in a nice family environment. I can't leave the sound of salsa songs that accompanied my friend and I as we visited various shops around and took pictures of this famous street in Miami. Later that night we visited a pub called Ball and Chain were a couple of Mojitos and many couples dancing salsa in the back room of the place made our day at Little Habana complete.
Lincoln Road (#LincolnRoad)
Now, when I told my friend about visiting this place he was a little hesitant about it since he knows my love for shopping but in the end he ended up agreeing to visit it nevertheless and I'm very happy he did so. Lincoln Road is more than just a shopping street. Now, I'm not going to lie to you, it does have many stores square after square but it also has restaurants, dessert places, and exhibition galleries among those stores.
To park, we had to pay to leave our car in a space they have right behind this street. We put money into the parking meter for two hours since we thought that would be enough time to see this entire street but after going in and out of the stores and galleries the sun started to set and we discovered another side to this road. Some restaurants had tables and chairs placed outside in the street decorated with hanging lights from the trees or table lamps that brought the place to a nice cozy state. When my friend and I started to see the change in ambient we decided to stay a little longer and try one of these restaurants so we ended up adding more time to our parking meter. We chose to try a place called La Cerveceria de Barrio. We tried the live guacamole with chips and the queso fundido they had on their appetizer side of the menu and, since we were still under the happy hour time slot, we decided to try the Margaritas.
Now, don't let the lemon fool you, this by far has been one of the best Margaritas I've ever tried. We had walked into this place just to have one drink and a couple of appetizers but, since the Margaritas were so good, when the waiter came back and offered us the second one at happy hour price neither of us could say no. So, instead of the ticket to pay, we ended up enjoying our second drink, spending more time walking around, and having a nice time in Lincoln Road. If I ever were to live in Miami I can imagine myself coming to this spot after working hours just to relax in a nice happy hour with friends talking the night out.
Everglades (#Everglades)
Last but not least, we ended up going to the Everglades. Our hotel was about forty minutes from the place but it was a nice experience. Being born and raised in an island, we don't see gators around so the trip for me started a bit scary but it ended up being well worth it. We decided to take one of the airboat tours offered by Gator Park for only $30.00. Our guide was very instructive and answered all of our questions regarding alligators. The ride lasted around thirty minutes but it was enough to see the alligators up close which was truly amazing.
Overall my friend and I enjoyed this trip to Miami very much. We only went for a long weekend but I think we maximized our time and were able to see many places in only three days. I do recommend all of these places I have mentioned on my blog and hope that if you ever decide to visit one of these places you get to enjoy it as much as I did. We ended up staying at the Pullman Miami Airport Hotel which I also recommend since it's close to every place we visited. The farthest place was the Everglades which, as I mentioned before was about forty minutes away, but the rest of the places were within fifteen to thirty minutes. Now, time to plan my next trip!
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