After a whirlwind 10 days in the Bahamas (read about my time in the Bahamas here if you missed it!) I hopped on a plane to Miami. Miami is a 40 minute plane ride from the Bahamas so it only felt right that we hopped over whilst in the area. Miami is a place I've never really researched but I've always wanted to visit. Unprepared, we hopped on our plane ready to see another state. An old friend of mine lives there and he promised to show me around, let's see what happened...let's just say, I'd move there tomorrow.
As soon as we plonked our bags down and got off the plane we grabbed the first ice cream we could find
They're not lying when they talk about Miami being hot - within seconds it was melting and oh what a shame, we had to demolish it almost instantly.
We arrived quite late in the day so after walking around, we sat down in the first Mexican we could find (I am obsessed with Mexican food so devoured this)
Naturally I went for fajitas with all the trimmings - you know what they say, if it aint broke don't fix it - I know I'm always happy with fajitas so why change my menu choice?
Jack went for the lobster enchilada which was sizzling and delicious. I sent a quick text to my friend (Piero) and told him I'd landed - we didn't have any set plans but he promised to show me around at some point during the week so I didn't really know when I'd get to see him. Within 30 minutes he, his beautiful wife and his gorgeous dog were sat sipping the night away with us.
I was so happy. Make up less, carefree and happy. This exact moment is probably the most carefree I've felt in a long time. Nothing is better than catching up with an old, amazing friend whilst stuffing your favourite cuisine in your face and exploring an incredible state. I met Piero when I was a Samsung Global Blogger at the Olympic Games back in 2012 and we've stayed in touch ever since - It was such a dream come true to be able to reconnect with him in real life and I am so grateful that the internet has allowed us to stay in touch and meet back up after all these years.
The following days were filled with walks along South Beach
South beach is the coolest beach I've ever seen. I've visited some beautiful beaches recently but they've all been so different, I love that - you can go to 10 beaches and I guarantee they'll all be different, beaches are about way more than white sand. SB has such Miami vibes, it's bright, happy and you get views of the city behind you too. It kind of reminds me of Barcelona in that respect.
We stayed on South Beach, Collins Avenue to be precise - it's where you'll find all the best hotels for food, night life and the beach. South Beach is basically a really really long strip of hotels with the beach behind. We chose to stay in the Riu and I have to say it was 1 million times nicer than the Riu I ended my Bahamas trip in. This Riu was modern, clean and just perfect really.
On day two, we strolled the whole way across the beach to South Pointe Pier (on Piero's recommendation)
It was such a long walk (it took us over 2 hours but we were stopping quite a lot along the way) but it was so nice to just keep walking and seeing all the different blocks and all the insanely beautiful hotels. Miami certainly know how to make luxury hotels - every hotel along the beach is bright, white, beautiful and so modern and luxurious. It's nice to walk along the beach just to peer into all the stunning hotels.
I took my favourite white two-piece for an outing.
It got way too hot so I stripped off into my bikini top - I hate walking around in just a bikini top but most people were topless so I figured it was okay. My bikini is from Triangl but Missguided do a really affordable and pretty much identical one here.
That H&M beach bag came every where with me on my trip - perfect for fitting everything in.
You may remember this board walk from my working out with adidas on South Beach blog post - read that here if you missed it! Miami beach's board walk is beautiful and basically connects the hotels and the beach, it's inbetween both. So many people run across is every morning. I want to live in Miami and run across here every morning!
As we strolled some more, we noticed that the colour of the beach huts/chairs changes at every block - very artsy and so beautiful. One thing we noticed pretty much 5 minutes into our trip is how clean and contemporary Miami is. When can I move there?
Sunbeds at the beach can cost anything really but the really fancy ones could cost anywhere from $50 so we were told.
I took my LVNDR sunglasses for a spin too. Miami was seriously so hot but we didn't have time to tan, we were there to explore.
We continued to walk
I popped into the Ritz to grab some wifi (naughty)
For lunch we decided to detour down some pretty back streets. I was really worried about visiting Miami because if you Google 'is Miami dangerous' you'll be told that you'll be shot as soon as you leave the airport - thankfully that wasn't the case, as long as you stay in the touristy areas, you're fine. I felt extremely safe the whole time.
There are artsy buildings everywhere you turn. I love this top but it's from Canada, you can get a similar one at ASOS here - it goes with everything!
At one point, I wondered if I was back in Cuba with the colour popping, old fashioned buildings nestled along the streets.
Palm trees line the streets giving it such an American yet tropical feel.
I found my dream car. If only I dared to drive on the other side of the road.
It was time for lunch - a few lovely people on Instagram (@emshelx - come say hello!) recommended that we eat at The Big Pink restaurant, I've never seen a menu so big and usually that means the food wont be too great as they don't specialise but oh gosh the food was insanely good.
When in America, you've got to try the diners and the burgers; after all, America do insanely good burgers.
I ate a fair bit of Jack's with him because let's face it, it's big enough for two. He went for the double burger with crisps, mac and cheese and god knows what else.
It hurts my arteries to even look.
I went for the veggie burger (I am seriously addicted to well made veggie burgers at the moment) oh gosh it was heavenly
A few more miles, and we had arrived
South Pointe Pier is a great place to see the vastness of South Beach and to really get amazing views of Miami
Before we walked back, we grabbed a smoothie
part way back, I think I was suffering with way too much Miami heat (I was actually scared I had heat stroke) Jack captured me slowly dying on the grass haha. It was time to call it a day (at least my shorts were nice though haha).
Wow, so there we have it - half of our trip to Miami done! I still have the final part of my trip to share with you so do keep an eye out for it. Let's just say, I fell in love with Miami. I'm starting to realise that the places I visit with the least expectations actually always turn out to be the best places. I want to go back to Miami right now!
Have you ever visited Miami? Would you like to visit Miami?
Lots of love, Em x
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