I had always imagined Miami to be the city that never sleeps, full of wild parties, white beaches, and beautiful people. Turns out, that was a pretty close assumption.
But...there is also a whole lot more, like amazing food, culture, and it's a great place to live an active lifestyle. We had the best time and really enjoyed Miami even more than we thought we would have.
We have a friend who has lived there for a while now, and we decided since we were going to be so close already in Palm Beach, we would test out the Miami waters as well and were not disappointed.
First let me tell you that we consumed some of the best food and I have too much to share with you to squeeze it in this post, but don't worry I'll post another day...
The first day we arrived, we had a chill day because our friend Sean is a professor and had a couple of classes to teach. We grabbed yummy lunch, sat by the pool and watched boats passing by, grabbed a cocktail on the balcony (which has an amazing view) and watched the sunset before heading to dinner that night and hitting a couple of Sean's favorite bars.
The sunsets from Sean's balcony are amazing! We had a beautiful view every night. After the sunset, we showered and headed to dinner before meeting up with Sean for cocktails. We went to a bar called the Sandbar (which literally has sand floors) and then headed to maybe my favorite bar called Lou's Beer Garden which is tucked away secretly and has the best atmosphere.
And I'm aware about the shine on my tooth and our red eyes, the lighting was not the best in the Sandbar. What can ya do?
On to Lou's Beer Garden...it feels kinda magical in my opinion.
See what I mean? If you are in Miami, you need to come here. It's in North Beach and really low key, just my kind of place.
After dinner earlier that night, we had passed a Crossfit gym and decided to do a pop in class the next morning because we both like to exercise a little on vacation (basically so we can eat more). So that is what we did, and it was a great way to start off the day.
And even better than that, one of my best friends happened to have an eight hour layover in the Miami airport, so Katie and her fiancé Jeff came and met us for lunch! It was such a great surprise. We visited until they had to return to the airport which was not enough time, but at least we get to see them in May for their wedding!
But anyhoo, after that we ended up at the pool and hung out there for a few hours soaking up some rays and then headed to dinner that night.
And that picture right there sums up the workout...we were whooped and dripping with sweat! It felt good. I'm also sure I'll probably get in trouble for posting that picture of Canean, who was not in the mood for a photo op at that moment. Ha! I think our lunch was well deserved after that calorie burn session, I'll tell you that much.
For dinner, we dined at the coolest sushi restaurant which I cannot wait to tell you about! Great end to the day!
I could get used to that view.
The next day we had kayaking plans which Canean and I were really excited about, until I woke up the next morning and couldn't get out of the bed because my upper body was so sore from crossfit! Y'all I'm not even playing when I tell you that I have never been this sore in my life. And I'm a pretty in shape person who works out on a regular basis, but this worked muscles I don't use on a regular basis I suppose. Kudos to those of you who are regular crossfiters because it's no joke! So to make a long story short once I rolled out of bed and had to have Canean help me change (because I couldn't get my arms above my head), and then we went kayaking. I figured it would probably be good to work out some of the soreness, which is usually the case when you are sore.
Well as each morning and day went on the rest of the trip, my arms swelled up (like a friggin balloon). Canean thought it was funny, I, of course did not. What girl is happy about her arms swelling twice their size? But all is well and my arms have returned to normal size now and I survived big arms and all!
What was I saying? Oh yes, on to the kayaking. It was just beautiful and there was something very vulnerable about being out in open waters in a tiny kayak. I'm not going to say I was scared of a shark attacking, but I was very alert! I know, ridiculous...
We had plans on kayaking around some little islands for about 3 hours, but due to the nature of my arms, we only lasted, or I only lasted about an hour. And then it was time to lay on the beach which was about all I could imagine doing.
For dinner, we decided to cook at home because we were all pretty whipped from being outside all day. It was a Japanese and Korean dinner that Sean specializes in because he used to live in Japan for 5 years. I'll tell you all about it I promise!
That hubby of mine is kinda hunky huh?
Oh man, I miss the beach. Look at that water. It's my happy place.
Our last day happened to be my 30th birthday, and so I got to decide what we were going to do. The boys wanted to go bike riding, but my arms were in such bad shape I couldn't imagine doing anything with them, but I managed to go on a run by the beach which was actually perfect. Then I headed to the beach without the boys because all I really wanted to do on my birthday was read a book and listen to the waves with warm sun on my skin. The guys met up with me later and we stayed until I was forced to head back to the condo to get ready for our dinner reservations.
We ate one of my most favorite meals EVER! It was a Greek and Turkish restaurant and I can't wait to share it with you! Before dinner though, here's a couple of pics.
I had the most amazing birthday week. Getting to see two of our close friends and getting to do some different things while we were there, it was perfect. AND we were at the beach! It was much needed after being away from Canean for so long...it was just what both of us needed.
The food edition will be next, and you are going to want to read it.
Trust me on this.
