Dear Spring Break Girlies,
I moved to Miami when I was seven and didn’t leave until I was 20, all the while gathering opinions and tidbits of knowledge. This, along with all my enduring of the humidity, has culminated at this moment when I impart my knowledge to you.
Yes, Miami Beach is going to be busy.
First of all, parking is going to be a nightmare and it’s not going to be cheap, so if you’re going to go, it’s usually worth the Uber. However, if you’re staying nearby, there are some free options. Within “Miami Beach,” aka South Beach, there’s FreeBee, an app where you can call an electric vehicle to pick you up and drive you to the location of your choice at no cost to you. In my experience, wait times can be kind of long, but if you’re not on a deadline it’s a great option. Another option is the Trolly. The Trolly is free and I’ve always found it easy to use and super convenient, but it is more rigid as it’s on a specific route.
Second, it’s nice to walk around South Beach if you’ve never been, and it’s pretty quintessential to the Miami vacation. It is all the palm trees, cool cars, city bustle and art deco you could ever want. Plus, depending on how the crowds are, it can also be fun to play beach volleyball or frisbee and meet new people. So, if you’ve never been to Miami, I’d recommend you do one excursion to South Beach, but, if you want to attempt a relaxing day at the beach, it’s not your best bet. Luckily, there are a bunch of other beaches you could try. In order of distance from South Beach, there’s North Beach, Bal Harbor, Sunny Isles and Key Biscayne. To give you an idea of that range of distance, North Beach is about a 15-minute drive from South Beach and Key Biscayne is around 30 minutes. I can’t promise that you’ll have any beach to yourself, but they should be less packed than South Beach.
Get Cuban food!
Miami is 480 miles from Tallahassee and 264.43 mi from Cuba. So, yeah, get yourself some rice and beans or something. You can go for a pretty nice sit-down dinner without breaking the bank at La Carreta or Versailles, some super tasty and popular options. If you’re looking for some really affordable, authentic food without any frills, get some Palacio De Los Jugos or one of my personal favorites, El Nuevo Siglo. I can’t guarantee that anyone there will speak English, but if you point to what you want on the menu, you’re sure to get a tasty meal. Finally, for just pastries and coffee, hit up Pinecrest Bakery. You can’t go wrong.
You’re probably going to Wynwood.
I agree that you should go to Wynwood. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a neighborhood with a ton of ever-changing murals and artistic graffiti. It’s really cool, but people generally don’t experience all of it. A lot of people pay to get into Wynwood Walls, go to a coffee shop and leave. My advice doesn’t stick to Second Avenue. Explore what all of Wynwood has to offer. Keep in mind, though, that there are some sketchy areas when you veer away from the tourists, so explore during the day. If you’re totally lost and you don’t want to be alone, you could take a walking tour. Some of the artists will serve as guides for a price. You can also research what events are happening while you’re going to be there. Usually, you can do a graffiti experience, which I’ve never done but seems cool, and there are a lot of bars that have events on certain days. If you show up to Wynwood Walls with no further knowledge, you probably won’t enjoy it to the full extent it can be enjoyed. Read up and shape your own Wynwood experience. Or at least leave Second Avenue.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a giant ferris wheel?
So, this suggestion is a little touristy, but thoroughly enjoyable. SkyViews is an observation wheel that gives you an awesome view of the Miami skyline. Plus, the ferris wheel feature is located inside Bayside Marketplace which, as the name suggests, is a marketplace (or essentially mall) by the bay and a popular spot for tourists and locals. SkyViews, however, hasn’t been around for very long so it’s not that well known. If you want something low-key to do during the day, I recommend you check them both out.
Whatever you do, I hope you have a great time! Please stay safe, I know you know, but if you choose to drink, don’t drink and drive, always keep your drink with you and try not to create another variant of COVID-19.
Sincerely,
Miami Local
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