How to Spend a Weekend in Miami, FL
Recently, my friends and I, took a trip to Miami, Florida. It was super fun, short, and quite the experience! We were only there for three days. We stayed from Thursday (late Thursday night) until Sunday evening. Even though it was a short trip, it was still loads of fun. So, here’s how my friends and I spent, 3 days in Miami, Florida.
This post is all about Miami, Florida, things to do, where to eat, how to get there, where to stay, and much more.
This post is about Miami, Florida.
Miami, Florida:
How to Get There
To start off, my friends and I, are from different parts of New York. My one friend is from Long Island, and the rest of us are from the Albany area (upstate/capital region). Since one of our friends had to work Thursday, we left at 10:50pm and did not get into Miami until 2am (I know pretty late). However, even though this was a late flight, it meant, we had all day Friday to explore.
We flew out of LaGuardia, and into Miami International Airport. Even though we flew Frontier, there are tons of direct flights with Southwest that go directly to Miami and many other parts in Florida from New York. While my friend was working, my other friend and I, drove to Long Island. Then from Long Island, my friend’s parents drove us to LaGuardia Airport, which was a big help, because then we didn’t have to pay for an Uber. You could also take the train down from Albany. Then, take the subway or Uber to the airport if you just wanted to go straight to the airport.
Once We Got There
Since our flight was so late, the airport really wasn’t crowded at all. It was pretty much just us, the other people on our flight, and employees there. This was really nice. Because, it made going through security a breeze. And many of the food and drink places were still open, which again was nice. Then we got on our flight and went to Miami.
Once we landed, we walked to the lower level, where arrival pickups are located. And we ordered an Uber, to take us to our AirBnB. We stayed at an AirBnB that was in-between South Beach (the main beach, where Ocean Drive is located) and Wynwood (a great town in Miami), especially for going out. We Uber to our AirBnB and to everywhere else, because we did not rent a car. Looking back, we should have stayed in South Beach, because that’s were most of the sights were located. And then we could have just walked, instead of Ubered everywhere. We only went to Wynwood for the nightlife.
However, if you want to rent a car and drive in Miami, I’m just warning, I have driven in Miami previously, and it is wild. Seriously, the driving there is so stressful. The traffic is pretty bad, especially during the day and rush hour, at night (except for Friday & Saturday), it’s not too bad. Pretty much the vibe there is I don’t care, and that’s how I’m going to drive. Thus, you always have to be on the lookout, for careless drivers. I really only suggest driving there, if you’re going to take a trip to Key West or another city in Florida. I really did not enjoy driving in Miami. It just created unwanted stress to my vacation, so I don’t want you to have to go through that either.
Day One
Okay, so after we got into our AirBnB and slept, we spent Friday, on the beach, with some drinking, and with some sightseeing. We took an Uber to South Beach for a late brunch at the Local House. Then we hung out on the Beach for awhile. After the beach, we went to cool down at one of the restaurants/bars on Ocean Drive and got massive Pina Coladas. I forget the name of the bar we went too, but there’s a ton of them on Ocean Drive. They all pretty much serve the same thing, so you can’t go wrong.
A really good bar/restaurant that I will mention is, Drunk Bitch or Bacon Bitch (real name). It’s a little off of Ocean Drive, but really cool. It does get super crowded though, when we went on Friday around 2ish, the line was out the door. So, just keep that in mind if you want to go.
After that, we went to a souvenir shop, and got some pretty basic tourist souvenirs. And then we headed back to our AirBnB for a quick nap. We had dinner plans at Malibu Farm but decided to order in, because our naps lasted longer than expected and we wanted to have a decent amount of time to go out and pre-game.
Once we ate and pre-gamed a bit, we took another Uber to Wynwood to check out the bar seen. From the locals we met in Miami, they suggested going out in Wynwood ALWAYS over South Beach. They said that South Beach was way too touristy and cheesy. Thus, we went out in Wynwood for both nights and had a great time. Some places I highly suggest going to our the Booze Garden, Brick, Racket, Vandalo, Miami Mojito Company, Baronesh, Gramps, Lagniappe, and The Dirty Rabbit.
We hung out mostly at the Booze Garden (they have great, strong drinks). Then we went to Gramps (more of a sit down place), and then The Dirty Rabbit (bar/club). We actually went out pretty early Friday night. We got to the Booze Garden around 9:30pm. Even though this was early, it was nice, because there were no lines, once it hits about 11-11:30pm there are lines at EVERY bar. So, I suggest going out a little early, and trying to get to a bar, that you want to stay at for awhile by 11pm. We didn’t get back until 2 in the morning, which isn’t too bad, especially compared to our Saturday night.
Day Two
So, our second day was a little rough. We were pretty tired and dehydrated from the previous night. We were planning on kayaking or paddle boarding at Crandon Park, however, we decided not to, and slept/recovered instead. But if you are feeling good, then I highly suggest paddle boarding or kayaking here, it looks super pretty. You could also do some diving with sea turtles, and or rent a yacht with 12 of your friends (pretty expensive but looks fun).
You could also chill at one of the beaches in Miami. South Beach is the main beach there, but there are other ones pretty close to Miami as well, such as Crandon Park and Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park (I talk about more later on). If you need any beach gear, Billabong and Tommy Bahama have great gear that I highly recommend getting towels, bathing suits, and much more from. Also, (I’m sure you already know) Urban Outfitters , American Eagle, and Free People all have great outfits and swimsuits for Miami vibes.
Okay, after some fun excursions (sleeping), we got açai bowls at OOH RAW! Then we walked to the Wynwood Walls, which are full of graffiti artists. They are really amazing, especially since they are all done from just spray paint.
After that, we quickly went back to our AirBnB and changed to then go see a Marlin’s game. We wanted to see the stadium. However, in my opinion, it was not the nicest baseball stadium. It was clean and very spacious, but it was an inside park, and I personally, don’t like the feel of an inside stadium. To me, that takes away from the event. However, the ceiling might have been able to open up, to make it an outdoor stadium, but I’m not sure. It was closed when we were there, and the weather was pretty good. So, again, I’m not sure.
After that we again, went back to our AirBnB to quickly change and go to dinner, which we had reservations for. I HIGHLY suggest making reservations to all restaurants you go to in Miami, because there’s so many people and places book up fast. The restaurant we went to was, Escotico. The drinks here were really good, expensive (like $15-23 a piece), but good.
We were planning on going out in South Beach later that night, but our waiter (who was local) suggested Wynwood again. He said South Beach was way too touristy and cheap. Thus, we listened to him and went out in Wynwood for another night. This was fine with us, because we had so much fun the previous night.
Thus, we went back to Booze Garden, we ended up meeting a group of people and spent the rest of our time there. We stayed until closing which was around 4 in the morning, then proceeded to go to Denny’s for “breakfast.” We did not get back to our AirBnB until 6:30 in the morning, yes you could say it was a long night.
Day Three
The next morning was rough again, to say the least. We had to check-out of our AirBnB strictly at 10am. And we didn’t back to our AirBnB until 6:30 in the morning. We quickly took a nap, and then somehow checked out at 10am. We took an Uber to the airport to store our bags. The airport does have a place where you can store your bags while you leave the airport. So, while our bags were stored, we then again, left the airport and did some more sightseeing.
We went to a garden, but I suggest going to The Spanish Monastery and or this cool Coral Castle. From Wynwood, the Coral Castle is about a 40 minute drive, so if you are on a time crunch, maybe this isn’t the best place to go. But, there’s still plenty of things to do.
After that, we went to a Drag Brunch at Sweet Liberty. Another good place to go to is R House. However, when we booked our reservations, we didn’t realize there wasn’t a show time when we went. So, if you’re going to book Sweet Liberty, make sure you make the reservation at noon. Noon is when they have one of their drag shows, they do have another one, but I’m not sure what time it is at. Or you could just book your reservation at R House. But again, I’m not sure what times their shows are at. So, just make sure when you make a reservation it’s at the same time a drag show is going on, if that’s what you want to see.
If you don’t want to see a show, another cool place to go to is Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. It’s about 30 minutes from South Beach. It looks super pretty and relaxing.
After our food, we went back to the airport for our 6:50pm flight. THANK GOODNESS we got there early, because there was a HUGE line at security. We were WAY behind the line that even started the WAIT line for security. I’m not sure if this is a typical thing at the Miami Airport. But if so, and your flight is later in the day on Sunday, I would get to the airport EARLY, so you can make your flight. Or you could get an early flight Sunday morning or a really late flight (later than 8pm) on Sunday, or go home on Monday.
Some other good places to eat that I did not mention above are, Broken Shaker, Dolores Lolita, La Mar, Seaspice, Mr. Baguette, and the Miami Diner. Some other cool places to drink at are, E11even (24 hour club, celebrities usually at), Area 31 (rooftop bar), Casa Florida, and The Deck at Island Gardens. And finally, some other good treat places are, AC’s Ices, Panther Coffee, Salty Donut, Midtown Creamery, and Icy-n-Spicy.
Overall Thoughts
Overall, Miami is super fun, honestly because there’s so many people, you’re bound to make friends somewhere. Also, the beach is great, and there’s nearby beaches if the touristy South Beach is not for you. I would NOT suggest bringing your family here, it is VERY much a party atmosphere, especially South Beach. Also, note that everything is SUPER expensive, food and drinks are VERY expensive. Thus, bring plenty of money when traveling here. But other than that, I had a great time and would recommend Miami to any partier or beach goer!
