Miami, Florida Travel Blog
From the food, to the drinks, to the views, Miami definitely lived up to my high expecations (even in the middle of a pandemic). Miami was filled with intense latin culture, hence as to why some hispanics call it “the capital of Latin America”.
We originally flew into Fort Lauderdale because 1. The flight prices are much cheaper than flying directly into Miami and 2. It is only a 30 minute drive to Brickell, Miami, which is where we stood. Brickell, Miami is about a 15-20 drive to the famous South Beach strip.
Brickell is known as the city’s financial center, with high business buildings and luxurious condos. There were tons of small restaurants, pharamacys, and marts within walking distance of our apartment, which we rented with Airbnb. With me being a city girl at heart, Brickell was the perfect combination of city life and island life. The city was clean and you can feel and see the difference in the pace of lifestyles between New York City and Miami.
Honestly, the views from our apartment building was my favorite part of the trip.
Our first night, we stood in Brickell and went to this cute restaurant and bar called Barsecco. Don’t get me wrong, the atomosphere in this place was AMAZING, the dim lighting, chandeliers, vine covered entrance, I absolutely loved it all.
But, the food was not worth the extravagant views. I had to season our guacamole with more salt and lime because it literally tasted like I was eating air (blanddddd). I give the food a 2/10. The drinks however, were nice and strong just the way I like it. I didn’t get anything too fancy, just a vodka and ginger ale while my friend got an aperol spritz (champagne with orange liquor). Drinks I’ll give a 9/10, just because they weren’t light with their liquor count.
Barsecco gets an overall 6/10….they need to step their chef game up.
Our next stop was South Beach and the amount of things I’ve heard and things I’ve seen about South Beach made me not even have expectations going into it. It was also a Friday on Halloween weekend so I was mentally preparing myself for what was to come. To my surprise, the beach was beautiful, calm, and quiet, yes QUIET. If you know me, you know I bring a speaker with me everywhere I go. I was the only person with a speaker blasting Bad Bunny at 12 in the afternoon with a drink in my hand. The water was gorgeous, no seaweed and not too cold. Right before the beach, there is a nice walkway/bike path, an outdoor gym, and a bunch of volleyball courts.
And of course the Miami strip, with stores after stores after stores, bars after bars after bars. Although we didn’t spend much time stopping in the stores (our suitcase was literally at 49.5 lbs….we couldn’t afford to put another pair of socks in there if we wanted to), there were plenty of luxurious stores and luxurious sports cars going up and down the strip.
We didn’t know exactly what bar to stop and eat in because the options were endless and they offer you different drink deals as an incentive to choose to dine with them. We ended up eating at Ocean 7 Cafe because they were playing good music and I am a sucker for a spot with good music. They were having a 2 for 1 “big drink” specials. If I had to guess, I would say one big drink is about 6-7 regular size drinks and they off a variety of types and flavors from mojitos, to coladas, to daiquiris. Their drinks were also made with Cruzan rum, which is supposed to aid in your hangovers (and it definitely did because we had to get up at 5 am for our flight the next morning). Drinks I give a 10/10 because they were strong and we only paid $40 for 2 big drinks. For dinner, I ordered a paella, which is yellow rice with different seafood. They also added a cute sparkler! The food was definitely a 10/10 as well! The taste and size were up to par.
Overall, Ocean 7 Cafe gets a 10/10 for good food, good drinks, good music, and a good ass vibe.
Of course, due to what is going on in the world, most, if not all the night clubs were closed, but we were able to live up our experience to the fullest. The few days we were in Miami solidified that we will be going back again soon!