Going to Miami. Help?

In My Humble Opinion
1

These threads are always fun, and I finally have a chance to start one :smiley:

Just as in the title. We’re going on a cruise in about three weeks, and it suddenly transpires we will also be spending a week in Miami after. I’m a bit planning OCD and want to see EVERYTHING, which really isn’t doable, obviously. So, I turn to doper wisdom: what is an absolute must on a first visit to Miami?

We love museums and exhibits and culture-stuff. Husband (OMG, first time I wrote that. This isn’t a honey-moon, it was planned before the wedding came up, but we did just get married) loves great food (cooking and eating), so should we eat anywhere in particular? Any type of food we should sample? Low-brow is fine, I’d love a good diner.

Is it really as kitchy as it looks on TV :smiley: ? I’d love it if it was.

What’s the weather like now?

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First off, congrats on the marriage!

Miami is big. I’m about an hour north in the Fort Lauderdale area…if you make it up this way, I might be able to give some advice. I’ll throw some random thoughts out for discussion points.

South Beach (the beach) is quite famous. Be warned that many sections allow topless sunbathing. It should be plenty warm and sunny by the time you get here. It’s 10:30 in the morning right now, and 84 degrees outside.

South Beach (the club scene) is also quite famous. I haven’t been down there in quite a while, but I think it will range from “this place is pretty cool” to “I can’t even get in because I don’t know anyone famous and the lines are too long.”

There is a South Beach Food and Wine festival - you aren’t going to be here during it, but maybe reading up on the festival will give some ideas on restaurants.

Joe’s Stone Crabs is pretty famous, both for the stone crabs and the Key Lime Pie.

Generally speaking (outside of high end specialty restaurants…and even then, sometimes), we’re really good at seafood, and Cuban/Hispanic/Carribean dishes.

There are places to go kayaking - there is a Doper who works at a place that’s just a tad south of Miami.

I’m not familiar with the museum scene in Miami. Would you be interested in sciency museums or artsy museums?

If you give me a specific time frame, I’ll try to poke around and see if there are any special events that might be fun.

So if any of those sound at all interesting…let me know, and I can ask/poke around for more options.

And again…if you want to make the drive up to Ft. Lauderdale, I can go through stuff up here a little more. Maybe even meet up at something fun, if timing works out.

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Bring an umbrella. When I was there a few years ago there was a huge downpour every afternoon. That was in August. November may be different.

4

A trip to South Florida isn’t complete without either a trip to the Keys or to the Everglades. I recommend the latter. You can check out the national park (Shark River Valley), where there’s a tram ride and everything. Or you can do one of the many private airboat tours.

You aren’t going to find much architectural splendor in Miami. But Coral Gables is one area (besides South Beach) that isn’t full of strip malls or plain cinder block buildings.
Things to keep in mind:

Most Miamians are bilingual, but you may find yourself in areas where this isn’t the case.

Traffi in Miami is absolutely no joke. Whatever your worst experience with traffic has been, magnify it by 100 and that’s what you will find in Miami during rush hour. Avoid S. Kendall Drive if you can. And make sure you have a good map or GPS while driving around, since the streets are as far away from a grid layout as you can get.

Eat at least one meal at Pollo Tropicale. Don’t skimp on the curry mustard sauce.

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Let me show you around Boston sometime. :wink: And yes, I’ve experienced Miami traffic.

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Have you lived in it? I’ve lived in Atlanta and northern NJ. By far, Miami traffic was the worse. It was one of the reasons that compelled me to move.

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That’s great advice in the summer, but not needed this time of year. It hasn’t rained in a week, and it’ll be even drier a few weeks from now. I’d be surprised if an umbrella was needed.

To elaborate - English and Spanish. The ones who aren’t bilingual are likely to speak one of those. There are definitely pockets where you can have trouble communicating if you don’t speak Spanish.

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Miami weather = awesome.

Current 10-day outlook:

What did I tell you about the weather being awesome?

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Well, there’s boatloads of completely awesome Art Deco buildings in South Beach, but I am a huge fan of the style.

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Restaurant-wise, while Joe’s Stone Crab is famous, it was also one of the more disappointing restaurant experiences of our lives. Also expensive. We’ve been far happier at Nobu (which is situated near a seriously cool cocktail lounge) and OLA.

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Oh gods, I did not mean to abandon this thread! I just got terribly swamped at work, and then I got hit with a really bad bout of 'flu. I’m so sorry, and thank you to all who have replied, it really helps.

Both, please! We’re geeks :slight_smile:

We’re in Miami 7-9 of november, then it’s the cruise thing, then more Miami on the 16-24th.

I’m totally confused when it comes to what is where, but apparently our hotel is in Ft. Lauderdale, or maybe not. Gallery One? The Galleria? I had nothing to do with that part of planning, so I’m completely lost, but it looks like a hop skip and a jump from the little dot on the map to where it says Ft. Lauderdale. Then again, I am not used to american scale…what looked like a pleasant hours drive to me is apparently a day trip in real life :smiley:

Joe’s Stone Crab is on put on the list, and I’ve never had Key lime pie, so that’s a given. I’ve had Key Lime Pie ice cream and that was good, and I’m all about the sweets.

Duly noted. I am not used to umbrellas (it rains sideways here, umbrellas are worse than useless) but will bring one. And giant yellow plastic hats.

Ok, nix the umbrellas and hats. I guess we can buy them if there is sudden storm (you americans really don’t know how to take money for stuff, so I’m bringing an extra bag for shopping anyway).

Airboats is on. Atleast I think so. Sister-in-Law has apparently gone ahead and organized “a trip on a giant inflatable boat to look at the alligators” :eek:

SiL is Il Grande Organizer for that sort of thing. Although Shark River Valley sounds like our thing, I’ll look into it.

That IS awesome! (It hailed here today. Brrrr! Anything above wet crudd is a bonus).
Although I’m fairly certain my native name would be Burns To a Crisp, so I’ll have to bring the giant hat anyway.

I do not speak spanish, so thanks for the warning. I do a fairly decent Tourist Spanish - “Sorry I don’t speak spanish”, “Where is the bathroom”, “How do I get back out of here?” and “I’m stupid and lost - please help me”. Not sure if that helps any.

As am I. Brilliant.

Duly noted.

Thanks so much guys. So it’s food, alligators, driving with GPS in horrible traffic and enjoying the awesome weather. Sounds great :slight_smile:

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Make sure to party in the city where the heat is on.

All night on the beach till the break of dawn.

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We’re Norwegians. I just had a look at their menu. Those are university cafeteria prices to us :smiley:

(Want to give an american the shock of their life? Bring them to a MacDonalds or Burger King in Oslo).

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Ok. I’ll do a little research. Off the top of my head, there is the Museum of Art - Fort Lauderdale - not far from where you are staying. Also near there is the Museum of Discovery and Science.

The Galleria is a somewhat upscale mall. Gallery One is a Hilton hotel near it. You’ll be pretty close to the beach. And to my regular bar. Your hotel is in Fort Lauderdale.

Joe’s is a classic. It’s also a bit pricey, I think. Key Lime Pie, however, is very tasty. There are other places to get good Key Lime Pie, if Joe’s doesn’t work out. But the place is pretty famous.
I’ll do some thinking and research and stuff, and write more later. As I mentioned above, you’ll be near one of my regular haunts. PM me if you want to get together for a beer or something while in town.

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This popped up in my local online paper today. It’s a list of a bunch of different things to do in the area - they call it a list of things every South Floridian should do once.

If anything in the list looks interesting, let me know, and I’ll try to provide some additional color about it.

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Oh my, that is wonderful! Thank you so much!

Lion Country - is that a real large safari park thing? I’ve never seen a giraffe up close, that would be neat.

The venetian pool looks nice.

The jungle queen - is that a riverboat ride? Where does it go?

Vizcaya museum and gardens - what is the museum part? Art gallery? Mansion? The garden looks neat.

Bonnet house looks trippy :smiley: but what is it? An open house thing?

That kitchen sink ice cream thing looks awesome - except no four of us likes the same thing, and we cannot share (we’re horribly childish, I’m afraid).

Moonfest - I can’t decide what it is. Costume party? Music Festical? Do Drugs and Go on Stage Party?

A real live Drive In! Wow!

You already mentioned Shark Valley and Joe’s Stone Crab.

Peanut Island sounds neat, I like bunkers. Is it as kid-centric as it sounds?

Month Long RenFest!? Is it in november?

Biltmore…is that the big old house some crazy rich person built and never lived in, with like 87 elevetars and ice on tap?

Snorkeling with Jesus!

What on earth is Billie’s Swamp Safari? A “Wrestle Your Own Alligator”-setup?

Flagler Museum looks sweet, is it all like the picture?

Ancient Spanish Monastery sounds just like our thing. Is it really ancient and spanish, or is it just called that?

Is the South Florida Fair open in November?

Fantasy Fest looks awesome! When is it?

Le Tub…I love the idea of a restaurant who’s comercial photo is to toilet seats :smiley:

What is the Stranahan House?

Winterfest boat parade looks very pretty, but it looks like december thing.

Butterfly World!

OMG! Pirate Festival! With a rat!

Airboat ride is already on.

Jungle Island…you have a lot of animal themed stuff. I like it.

The japanese gardens look nice.

Feed the Tarpon!

What is the Breakers?

There is no way we can do all of this. Madness! Madness.

(And I just realized I’m treating you like a travel guide. I don’t mean to! Please ignore anything that’s a bother, please!)

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Heh…it’ll take me a little bit to dig into all of these…but I[ll comment on a few off the top of my head right now. :slight_smile:

Pretty much. It’s a drive through area…stay in your car, look at the animals. I haven’t done it in ages, but I have friends who have recently…I think. I’ll try to remember to ask at the office tomorrow. Web site here.

Yep. It goes down the New River. See all the insanely wealthy houses. It might not mean as much if you don’t recognize the local names, but we have some big names there too…the guy who started Taco Bell used to own one of the houses, for instance. The whole thing is a bit touristy…I think they take you to a private “island” (if you ignore the fact that it’s really connected to land) for lunch, too. Web site here.

It’s a big house on a huge lot of land. Lots of art. Lots of history. I took a girl on a first date there once. It’s around the corner from your hotel, too. Web site here.

Is that a reference to Jaxsons? They have smaller servings. It’s kinda cool, but if you aren’t dying for ice cream, you can find other things to do with your time. Then again, you’ll be here long enough to do alot… Web site here.

Yep. It’s connected to a HUGE flea market, which won’t be open when the movies are playing. They have something like 14 screens for different movies, too. Web site here(click on Movies).

Looks like February/March. Sorry.

Three or four hours drive, if I remember correctly. Friends of mine did it last year, on the way back from the keys.

It’s a trip out to the everglades. Airboat rides, etc. I think you said you had something like that planned already.

We have a Spanish Monastery here? <google…google…> Apparently we do. It’s in North Miami, which is about an hour south of your hotel. It’s old, but it was moved here in the early 1900s. Web site here.

The Fair is in January. Fantasty Fest just happened - it’s just before Halloween.

Some people say they have one of the best burgers in America. And it’s a classic location. Not far from the ice cream place above. Web site here.

Old historic house on Las Olas Boulevard - that’s kinda a ritzy shopping/restaurant district, down the street from a bar district, in Fort Lauderdale. 10 minutes from your hotel. The Stranahans are considered the founders of Fort Lauderdale. Web site here.

Yep.

Haven’t done it, but I have a friend with season passes. If you want to know more about this, I can hook you up with her e-mail address. Web site here.

During the summer, they do “Sushi and a stroll.” It’s supposed to be great. I keep meaning to get up there. Web site here.

No worries. It’s fun for me to look up some of this stuff.

18

Since it has switched from Miami to Ft Lauderdale, I’ll add some trip advice. We usually try to stay at the Gallery One when we hit town. Nice big rooms, with a large bedroom, separate living room, usable balcony and a kitchenette (stove, microwave, mini-fridge, dishwasher). It sits on the intercoastal and is a few short blocks to the beach (you have to walk over the intercoastal bridge in case anyone has mobility problems). We’ve always been very happy with our stays there.

Keep in mind, I only visit once in a while, Digital is the new Analog lives there, so take his advice over mine!
Long advice section follows:

You’re at the quieter end of Fort Lauderdale (which we prefer, and we do our fair share of partying) with only a few bars/restaurants, but it’s a fun corner, slightly less touristy. Toward the beach you have The Parrot Lounge (I’m assuming this is Digital’s hangout) which is a friendly, slightly divey bar right next to 2 or 3 tattoo parlors. We spend most of our time here! Across the street is a 3 level bar/nightclub place called the Sandbar. This place is okay with a younger but mixed crowd, sometimes with a DJ. The rooftop has a decent view of the ocean. There’s also Primanti’s, which is a 24 hour sandwich/pizza place (they put french fries on the sandwiches), a nice ice cream parlor (Yo Mama’s), a thai restaurant, a nice sidewalk cafe (Ocean View Delight - breakfast, Middle Eastern) and some new agey Middle Eastern place that just opened (drink your chakra juice, it cleanses the soul).
Taxis are plentiful but learn to use the very cheap Sun Trolley during the day (absolutely download their free tracking app). There are also these weird electric carts that are free, but work off of tips (they’re fun).

It’s about 2 miles to the more popular area of Ft Lauderdale (near Las Olas), which is just jammed with restaurants and bars. For detailed reviews, I would check TripAdvisor’s Ft Lauderdale forum. If you want to hit a fun dive with some interesting characters, check out the Treasure Trove.

If you head to the Galleria Mall next door, there’s a few upscale (but chain) dining choices like The Blue Martini or Truluks. Both have amazing happy hours on both food and drinks. Since you should have a kitchenette, there is a Publix grocery store across the street where you can stock up on supplies (food, wine). They also have very cheap beach items should you want a raft or something. The hotel does not supply beach towels, so we improvised by taking one of the spare blankets. There’s also a Starbucks and a little cafe that has quiches and such for breakfast near the Publix.

There is a water taxi that stops at your hotel. It’s about $20 a day per person unlimited use, and it will take you to the different beach areas and out to the Las Olas strip. On the way there you will get to see the homes of billionaires (you might want this over the Jungle Queen, as you get to see many of the same things (and they do narrate the trip), but this is practical transportation). Check TravelZoo for a half off deal. We like getting off for a meal at the 15th Street Fisheries. It’s an okay place, but it sits right on the water (the water taxi crew usually has discount coupons!).

The Las Olas strip is block after block of swanky shops, restaurants, and bars. Again, I would look at the TripAdvisor Ft Lauderdale forum for specific advice. Keep in mind you will see Las Olas Blvd at the beach, but the main area is a couple miles inland, so you’ll want to take a taxi, water taxi, or Sun Trolley out there.

Since you have some time, remember that Key West is about a 3.5 hour beautiful drive away! You could spend a few days there.
Oh yeah, and if you’re out at night and the streets near the beach seem kinda dark, it’s not your imagination. There are lighting restrictions to help protect sea turtles. At first you think you’re in an abandoned area, but it’s kind of nice once you get used to it.

Some links:

[ul]
[li]Ft Lauderdale Forum - Trip Advisor[/li][li]Las Olas Blvd[/li][li]Sun Trolley[/li][li]Water Taxi[/li][li]Galleria Mall (Next to hotel)[/li][li]Parrot Lounge[/li][li]Primanti Brothers[/li][/ul]

Have fun! Let us know if you have anymore questions.

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Le Tub’s reputation for one of the best burgers anywhere is well documented, but be prepared for a pretty long wait and not-the-friendliest service, or so I’m told.

Expect to wait at least an hour also at Joe’s Stone Crab, unless you’re having lunch or a very early dinner.

In general, do make sure you get yourself some stone crabs, key lime pie, and some good cuban food at least somewhere while you’re here.

Another interesting eatery is The Rustic Inn, where patrons pound blue garlic crabs into submission/crackin’ good eatin’ with wooden mallets. It’s in North Hollywood, not too far from your hotel.

The Venetian Pool is impressive and unique. The water will be cold (it’s even cold in the summer), but hey, you’re Norwegians ;). The aforementioned Biltmore Hotel is very close by.

Villa Vizcaya is beautiful also, although I personally haven’t visited (my wife and daughter went recently and loved it).

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I’m Digital is the new Analog, and I approve this message.

This too. Both are accurate.