Miami
The Everglades
Saturday, 18 June 2016
Whilst visiting Miami we took a day trip to the Everglades.
We paid $45 dollars for a tour that picked us up from our hotel. The trip takes about half a day, and you have the option of a morning tour and afternoon tour. We went for the morning so we still had the afternoon to do other things.
The trip included an airboat trip and an alligator show.
The airboat tour was brilliant. I was happy to be sat on the end of the row, so I had a good view. Our captain was called Tanya, and she took us on a trip around the waters, on the hunt for alligators. Now and again she went really fast, which was so much fun, and nice and cooling when it was getting super hot. I did lose my hat at one point but luckily it only flew to the back of the boat. And, we did get to see alligators! In fact we got really close to them. It took a while, and I was starting to thick we weren't going to see them. But then they seemed to be everywhere! The tour guide was great, and made sure people on both sides of the boats got a good look.
The alligator show after was a bit bizarre. It consisted of a woman dragging an alligator round by its tail, and at one point, putting her head in it's mouth, whilst insisting that the alligator was not drugged it was just familiar with her. It was pretty uncomfortable to watch, and I didn't enjoy this part. There was an opportunity after to get your photo taken with a small alligator with it's mouth taped shut, however I thought that was kind of cruel, so kept away. I was also super hot and excited to get back into the air conditioned bus.
The place had a souvenir store, a food bit (didn't have chance to see what kind of food but I assume the normal burger and chips etc.) and toilets. Pretty simple, but going on the tour you did not have time for any more.
I definitely recommend this day trip to anyone going to Miami. It was very interesting, and there was lots to see on the boat tour. There were other forms of wildlife seen on the boat tour such as different birds and fish (I know, not as exciting as the alligator), and the tour guide sure knew her stuff and gave us some interesting facts.
Before you go on the air boat tour, you get your photo taken, which they then print and let you have for free at the end - i thought this was pretty god, as I was expecting them to charge about $20 for it.
Miami
Wednesday, 15 June 2016
I recently went to Miami for a week, and it was incredible. Miami feels like paradise. It is a mixture of a city and a beach and the weather is fantastic.
We stayed in the Red South Beach Hotel and were there for 6 days in total.
Miami had always been on my wish list. As you may have noticed, I love visiting America. I think this is due to my obsession with American TV growing up. I went to Orlando when I was 15, so this wasn't my first time to Florida. Miami was very different though.
We did so many different things whilst there, such as a trip to the Everglades, a baseball game, a bus tour and a boat tour. My favourite part of the trip was the sightseeing bus tour and I would recommend this to anyone who is travelling to Miami. The city is so big and there is so much to see, the hop on hop off tour is a perfect way to see as much as possible in an easy and convenient way.
There were 4 routes, and the ticket lasted for 48 hours - and we didn't even complete it all in that time. There were still places I would have liked to have gone and if we had been there longer, I would have considered buying another 2 day ticket. The buses also have a tour guide, who shared loads of cool facts about the different areas.
Some of the tour highlights were:
Bayside
This was the main bus stop where all the routes start. This area is home to the Miami Heat stadium - much to my boyfriends delight. There is also a small shopping complex with numerous restaurants including Hooters, Chilli's, Five Guys, Bubbu Gump Shrimp and Hard Rock Cafe.
There is a small selection of shops, some market style, and some actual shops such as Express, Gap, Footlocker and Guess. Bayside also has a harbour, and it's where you go to start all the Biscayne Bay boat tours - another must do. On these tours, you can see all the homes of the rich and famous - not sure how true these celeb tours actually are, but there are some beaut views and perfect photo ops.
Coconut Grove
Another beautiful area of Miami, big houses, beautiful scenery and a place you can dream of living in. When driving through, look out for the peacocks strolling through. One of the stops is another small shopping area, where you can find The Cheesecake Factory - home of the best cheesecake in the world, and also some delicious food. I had an amazing Californian Cheesesteak sandwich and it was probably my favourite meal I had in Miami. This was followed by a huge chunk of salted caramel cheesecake, which sadly was so big I couldn't finish it. The choice of cheesecake options is amazing, you won't be able to pick!
Little Havana
This is an area we didn't get to explore properly, but I wish we did. It is home to the Cuban community of Miami. As you drive through, you are hit by a delicious smell coming from the numerous food places. If I ever go back, I will definitely head there for a meal. We got off here as it was the closest stop to Marlins Park - home of the Miami Marlins Baseball Team. we were however warned that the neighbourhood was not the safest to walk through, so we got our first Uber to the stadium for a Baseball game.
Art District
Driving through the art district we saw some amazing graffiti art work on the buildings. This is another area we did not have enough time to explore as I think if we had got off at the art district stop, there would have been lots to see. Lots of people got off here, and the place seemed very busy, so I think there was a lot more there than you see driving through. I did however, get some great photos of some brilliant art.
South Beach
This is one of the main tourist attractions in Miami. The bus takes you nice and close to the beach, and you can go to places such as Lincoln Road Mall - so many shops!!, and Espanola Way - a spanish style street with numerous restaurants. We went to a lovely Italian restaurant, where I had a delicious Carbonara accompanied by Cosmopolitans. The prices were a bit higher than other places, but the atmosphere and tasty food makes it worth it. South Beach is also home to shops such as Sephora and DASH. Along Ocean Drive you can find famous places such as The Clevelander and The Sugar Factory. The tour also takes you past some famous hotels and past Millionaires Row, which is 'supposedly' homes to stars such as Justin Bieber, David Beckham and Simon Cowell. South Beach and Ocean Drive also have some amazing art deco style buildings that make the place even more beautiful.
Miami - Red South Beach Hotel
Tuesday, 14 June 2016
So last week I went to Miami! What an amazing place.
We stayed at the Red South Beach Hotel. It was more mid-beach than South Beach so it was a bit of a trek when we wanted to explore, but Ubers became life/feet savers.
We upgraded our room so we had a bigger bed, as neither me or my boyfriend are great at bed sharing. The room was well air conditioned - another life saver, and there was a en-suite, wardrobe, fridge and safe. Also a TV and dressing table. There was an iron and ironing board - but please, we were on holiday - so I pretended that didn't exist.
As you probably guessed by the name, the theme of the hotel is the colour red, so the hotel and rooms have a nice red decor.
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| Bedroom |
We didn't pay for an ocean view room - which I believe was an option (I guess this would be the higher rooms) but we could just see it through the buildings. We mainly looked out over a main road - Collins Ave, which could be a bit noisy at night - a lot of racing cars and sirens. But this didn't bother us too much. What was annoying though was the other people staying in the hotel. We were often woken up by shouting, and people walking down the corridors talking loudly and playing music at 5am - but hey it is Miami, a lot of people go there to party, and I expect it's the same in most hotels.
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| View from room - window was a bit dirty! |
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| Hotel pool area |
The hotel also had a nice pool area with a restaurant. The restaurant offers room service - although we didn't take advantage of this. We did however have the most delicious mushroom pizza there. Service was a little slow, but they made up for it with the delicious food. One day we even had a pizza out by the pool while we were sunbathing - heaven.
I'm ashamed to say I never actually went in the pool as the only time I went down it was pretty busy and I was too engrossed in my book. There were plenty of sun loungers for sun bathing and the hotel offers beach towels to use by the pool or the beach.
The beach is literally two minutes away. Cross the road, and walk down a small street and you are there. There were plenty of places to hire sun loungers and parasols - $35 for 2 loungers and a parasol for the day. As you can imagine the beach was beautiful. There was a path so you can walk all the way along it. A lot of people were jogging along the path - crazy people - I could barely walk in that heat.
The hotel also offers tours to different places around Miami, such as the Everglades, the Mall, the Sea Aquarium and many others. Obviously these are at a cost, but the prices seemed reasonable. This is booked through the concierge at the front of the hotel.
Over all we were happy with the hotel and would probably stay there again. The staff were friendly and the hotel had everything you need for a holiday in Miami!
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