Welcome to Miami...

We were long overdue for a W&L girls reunion, and after much debate on locale, Kara finally won with her choice of Miami Beach. We planned our trip for June 24-24, 2011- a long weekend in South Beach! I have never been, and while Miami isn't on my travel wish list, it was sure to be a great weekend with my favorite girls. The 6 of us settled on a boutique hotel in the Art Deco area of Miami Beach called The Blue Moon Hotel. When the trip got closer, we soon found out Elizabeth was pregnant, and would not be able to make the trip. Slammed with work, Rebecca also had to bow out so the magnificent 6 shrunk to 4.





I met Kara on Friday evening and quickly realized that we did not fit in with the South Beach crowd. Perhaps we were better suited for West Palm or Naples? Due to bad weather on the east coast, Audrey and Allison had delayed flights and Audrey didn't make the trip. Allison arrived at the hotel at 4am! So, Kara and I spent Friday evening walking the most touristy strip, up Ocean Drive past restaurants that started to look the same. One after another, we were stopped by hostesses with eastern European accents who did their best to convince us that we should eat at their establishment, and they each had an offer for us - 20% off all drinks, 30% off dinner, etc. None of which we fell for, but ultimately our stomachs won and we stopped at one that felt the least touristy. I cant even remember the name of it, but the food wasn't memorable and the drinks were too big!

Saturday we spent a couple hours at the beach but it was very hot so we decided to walk around town and grab lunch and window shop on Lincoln Lane. The street is blocked off to pedestrians and is essentially an open air mall with restaurants sprawling on the sidewalks. This was a great opportunity for people watching, and we were amazed by the colorful array of personalities, ethnicities, and wardrobe choices that pranced in front of our front row spot on the promenade!




We decided on the Big Pink for dinner, part of a family of restaurants that came highly recommended. We should have selected one of the sister restaurants, as this diner had a menu the size of my bed, with every dish under the sun - obviously they had no specialties.

We left dinner hoping that we would have better luck on our 3rd night! We had been told that Nikki Beach Club was THE place to see and be seen, so we walked over there around 10pm and it was empty. Well, maybe 10 people leftover from afternoon drinking, but that was all. We quickly found out that Nikki Beach Club has events on Sundays and that is the day to go!

Strike 2.

We asked the bartender for a recommendation and she looked us up and down and said "try the Delano Hotel". Bingo. It was the most spectacular hotel I have seen in a while. The lobby was a bar in itself, with well dressed men and women sipping cocktails and eating sushi. We made our way through the lobby and out back down staris that descended into a large backyard of palm trees, lifesize Chess sets and finally, a pool with lounges and bungalos and a tikki bar. It was wonderful. We sipped our mojitos and danced in the shallow pool and lounged on beds. Until the thunderstorm came and we luckily made it inside before we got soaked!




Sunday we spent most of the day at the beach, despite heavy clouds and a looming thunderstorm. We rented an umbrella and it was very peaceful with the breeze from the ocean. We made a reservation at BLT Steak for dinner, knowing that we would be happy with our final dinner choice, and also aware of the price we would pay for it! It was absolutely delicious! The wine was overpriced, beginning at $12 a glass, upwards of $20! The steak was perfection. All three of us ordered the small filet, an appetizer salad and plenty of sides to share. And the sauces..oh the sauces!




After dinner we moved outside to the patio for dessert and coffee. What a wonderful meal - so wonderful that we decided not to try out a club, but instead return to the hotel!

I very much enjoyed being with Kara and Allison, but wish Audrey, Elizabeth and Rebecca had been with us. I did not love South Beach, and probably will not return, but it was a nice escape from the ordinary, and definitely an adventure!