I can’t believe that it has already been a week since I returned from my vacation in Florida. If I had the time to, I’d fly there again immediately. At least spring has finally made it to New England, too. Or at least I hope it won’t snow again any time soon. It would be nice to keep or even improve my tan. Maybe I should consider a weekend trip to Florida, I mean just in case?! But for now the memories must suffice. So here are my top 5 activities I did during my vacation:
Spend time on the beach
My friend and I stayed in Miami Beach, and the beach there, South Beach, is great. It is wide, pretty quiet, and just beautiful. I heard that especially the beach in Miami is more of a party beach, but that wasn’t the case at South Beach. People here just sunbathe, meditate or stroll around. The sea was as clean as the beach, and warm enough to swim.
Just one piece of advice: use sun block. A lot. Maybe even more. On the first day I fell asleep on the beach, and my back burned badly. It took days for my skin to recover.
Go on a hop-on hop-off tour
On one of the days the wind was quite chilly so that we decided to do some sightseeing. We chose the Big Bus hop-on hop-off tour, and thus got to see not only Miami Beach, but also the city of Miami. A boat tour was included as well, and we enjoyed seeing the skyline from the water. Miami definitely is too big to be explored on foot which is why those bus tours are simply great. We got off the bus several times to explore some parts of the city even more, like Little Havana. Also thanks to the tour guides we learned quite a bit about the history and culture.
Take a road trip to Key West
I’m definitely going to write a post just about this trip, but let me tell you that this was my absolute highlight. We had rented a car to drive 170 miles from Miami Beach to Key West, and it was totally worth it. I drove through a tiny part of the Everglades, over little islands, and long bridges. The climate changed to tropical, and we couldn’t wait to finally arrive in Key West, and swim in the sea, which is even warmer down there. Here our journey was the destination, and we went there and back in one day. But I hope to go and spend more time on the Keys one day.
Eat Cuban food
I didn’t know that there are so many Cuban immigrants living in Florida. But my friend had gotten a whole list of good Cuban restaurants from her roommate. We first wanted to try only one, but ended up eating Cuban food almost every day. Because it is that good. Seriously. They know how to cook vegetables and meat. And desserts as well, oh my god. Also the servings are decent, and prices are always acceptable. I loved the plantains, and even the rice was delicious – I usually don’t like rice very much. I really want to learn how to make plantain soup soon.
Just relax
After all this was my vacation, and every now and then I just need to get enough sleep, good food, and sometimes just sit in the shade of a palm tree. Miami Beach is the perfect place in order to do so. In between I took walks to cafes and restaurants, had a look at Ocean Drive, and did a little shopping tour. There are also many bars and night clubs if you want to go out, but since I stayed for five days only, I decided that some quiet time was more important to me. Miami Beach is definitely a place I want to go back to for another vacation. Even though I love exploring new places, I am very happy to go to the same place again and again in order to relax.
Have you ever been to Florida? What did you like best?
© janavar
