Miami, Florida

Travel Dates: May 2021

Hotel: JW Marriott Miami

The hotel’s location is why we chose to stay at JW Marriott Miami. It’s in Downtown Miami, so still close to restaurants and bars, and there’s even a CVS right across the street. We didn’t want to stay at Miami Beach because it would be crowded and loud. Also, being in downtown was a midway point to get to Wynwood, South Beach, and the Everglades National Park.

The downside of the hotel is the parking–valet parking is $51.68 per night. What I recommend is using Spot Hero to find other, cheaper parking garages nearby. For one night, we actually did a mix of street parking (which you pay via your mobile phone) and garage parking at the Conrad Hotel (we had a discount using Spot Hero).

Food:

Coyo Taco is Miami’s take on Chipotle, but even better! We had their chicken burrito bowl. grouper salad, and duck tacos. All were delicious and came with amazing sauces. There are a few locations throughout Miami so if you’re craving Mexican fast food, this is definitely the place to go.

Versailles is a well-known Cuban restaurant in Miami. They do not take reservations so be prepared to wait. We went on a weekday in the afternoon and it was still pretty crowded. We ordered a cuban sandwich, roast beef tongue with plantains, and a pitcher of mojito. They were all very good–the cuban sandwich was very cheesy, the beef tongue was extremely tender and made with a delicious sauce, and the mojito was very refreshing (the pitcher version comes with sugar cane).

Sanguich de Miami is another stop for cuban sandwiches. The size of the sandwich is on the smaller end, but the meats are very tender and flavorful. For an extra $1.30, you can get all the sauces which were very good complements to the sandwich. The line here is also long, so I recommend ordering online beforehand.

We enjoyed both cuban sandwiches at Versailles and Sanguich. The difference is Versailles is slightly cheaper than Sanguich and the sandwich is larger at Versailles. But if you really want more flavorful meats, Sanguich may be better. Otherwise, you can always try the two since the restaurants are not too far from one another (6 minute drive).

KYU is a modern Asian-style restaurant mixed with BBQ. Reservations fill up quickly so either plan ahead or I recommend going there for lunch, right when they open. For drinks, we had Raging Geisha (whiskey cocktail) and Guatemalan Tradewinds (tiki inspired, rum cocktail), and liked the latter better. The tiki drink was more refreshing and a little bit on the sweeter end; it also comes with an extra shot of mixed rum. For food, we had roasted cauliflower, beef short ribs, and duck breast. If you like goat cheese, I highly recommend the cauliflower because there is a goat cheese “sauce” that is mixed in. I was a huge fan of the beef short ribs as they were very tender and came with 3 delicious sauces: hot/spicy, BBQ, and sweet soy & garlic. The duck breast was nice as well, if you like duck.

Broken Shaker is an outdoor cocktail bar that is basically a backyard. The drinks were okay and in my opinion, the place is better suited for small groups (~4 people). If you do decide to check this place out, I recommend making a reservation beforehand.

Activities:

Shark Valley Tram Tour in the Everglades National Park – by far our favorite part of the Miami trip. It costs $30 per vehicle to get into the national park and then $27 per ticket for the tram tour. The tour is 2 hours long and it’s highly recommended to make reservations online as seats do sell out, and the tours are only held four times a day. The tram tour takes you around the 15 mile loop, or you could rent bikes or hike instead…although hiking could be arduous. We recommend the tram tour because the guides talk about the species in the Everglades, the history, and they also make sure to stop whenever an alligator or other animals are visible. We were up close to many alligators, and also saw a mother bird feeding her young. It’s like a safari but for the Everglades.

Miami South Beach – after going to Clearwater and Key West, Miami beach was just mediocre. They do have a Muscle Beach where you can work out, and the colorful life guard stands are cute to see. We also walked along the Art Deco Historic District, which was interesting to look at the architecture of the buildings.

Wynwood Wall – outdoor graffiti museum that costs $10 per ticket. It wasn’t worth it for us to spend money so we just walked around in the area, where you can still see some graffiti on the walls. Overall, I say you can skip this unless you’re looking to take pictures for Instagram or if you’re a fan of graffiti art.