Miami, a city truly unlike any other! It is our home away from home as my husband was born and raised there and his family still lives in Miami. We don’t go longer than a couple months without a visit. Some visits are more tourist-like than others. For this past Labor Day, we spent the weekend in the Magic City! It was a perfect mix of family time as well as exploring the amazing city! I thought I’d put together a fun itinerary for how to spend 24 hours in Miami. I highly suggest more than one visit and for longer than just a weekend. There is always a celebration, festival or special event happening in the area. This is just my suggestion for getting to know the city, a first date with Miami if you will!
Miami is known for so many things, the list is endless! One of my favorite ways to explore any city is through its food! And Miami is no different! My first suggestion is to take in a meal that has a significance to the area. Every culture has restaurants in the Miami area. I suggest having your first meal that way. We love Cuban food and often dine at La Carreta or Sergios. There are multiple locations of each of these restaurants. But you could find any type of food that you are interested in trying. Most of these restaurants have menus available in English as well so don’t let that intimidate you. If you do end up at La Carreta, my go to is either fried pork chunks or the palomilla steak with chopped onions and parsley. Also there’s something about an iced tea with a few limes squeezed in that just tastes extra refreshing!
One problem that you can easily incur while in Miami is becoming overwhelmed with all the choices of how to spend your day. Once you visit, I know you’ll be back. Miami is an incredible place with limitless fun! My recommendation is to head Downtown. There you will be greeted by the most stunning blue waters! There is truly nothing comparable! Downtown Miami offers multiple museums. We visited Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) and enjoyed ourselves
As part of the experience, PAMM had the Silver Clouds exhibit which debut in 1966. This was a revolutionary interactive experience at the time of its debut as he used a light weight metalized plastic film. The floating clouds reflected the lights so beautifully off of the walls as they moved across the room.
The Chromosaturation exhibit by Carlos Crus-Diez was one that you have to experience! The floors and walls are completely white. The exhibit has one main color light source per room. It’s recommended that you spend at least 2 minutes per room in order for your eyes to adjust to the light color. As you move through the exhibit, it feels as your mind is playing tricks on you. What was once a green lit room, now has shades of other colors coming trough that weren’t there before. At the end of each room a free hanging cube hovers which shows the merging and marrying of colors.
Next up, we headed over to Bayside. This is an outdoor mall that offers shopping, restaurants, bars, live music, exhibits and an observation wheel. There are also many boat companies that offer tours throughout the day and evening. Prices for the boat tours are reasonable and a relaxing way to take in some incredible views! Bayside is also perfect for grabbing an icy beverage (may I suggest a mojito) and listening to some live music while taking in all the views.
After shopping and exploring Bayside, it was time to eat again! We strolled up to Margaritaville and were pleased to find that there was no wait. We were seated upstairs with incredible views of Biscayne Bay. They have a large and creative drink menu. These drinks were actually tasty and well crafted, not just sweet and sugary tasting. The food options are what you would expect.
We were hungry and the food was good and did the job! Between all the walking and exploring, we were tired and ready to end the day.
The following day was Sunday so we took the morning slow and had an early lunch at Tacos and Tattoos. This restaurant had been on my radar for a while now. It is located in a strip plaza. It is not a large restaurant. But on a Sunday, there were tables available. We fell in love with the vibe in this restaurant. Though it is nowhere near Wynwood, it had all the vibes as such! Great 90’s music, vibrant paintings and a fun staff! For being a small sized restaurant, their menu was very extensive. We started with fried cheese with honey and cilantro. This is not your greasy fried cheese sticks that you dip in marinara. No, this is a gooey cheese pan fried to a crispy goodness! Tacos and Tattoos is a true Mexican restaurant that offers authentic meats. Their carne asada crispy tacos topped “street style” which is cilantro, onions, crema and queso cotija were beyond delicious. Oh my, I would drive 3 hours just to eat there again! And next time, I’m saving room for their space cake dessert. It’s deep fried zebra cakes!!
I was also impressed with their bar and beverage offerings. Very detailed drinks made well! I had a spicy mango margarita on the rocks that was a perfect balance of fruity and spicy served with a fine salted rim. I also had a passion fruit margarita that was the best margarita I ever tasted. What can I say, It’s hot in Miami and I get thirsty! This passion fruit margarita was just full of flavor and the sweet sugar rim along with the blueberry garnish was absolute perfection in a glass!
Even though we were happily stuffed when we left, we had to stop at Pinecrest Bakery to bring home some delicious pastries and croquettes. And of course we needed a cafe con leche for the drive back home. Miami has so much to offer for all age groups and interests. This was just one way on how to spend a quick 24 hours in this gorgeous city! But truly the options are endless! The best part is that we get to keep coming back to this city that has stolen my heart!
