MIAMI

HEY, GUESS WHAT, WE WENT TO MIAMI!

If you follow along on IG, I bet you’re rolling your eyes ???? Been a big time oversharer but ya’ll, we really lived our best lives on that trip!

Landed mid-day and since we wouldn’t be beaching it, we booked an inexpensive room at Hotel Croydon. Didn’t expect much but it turned out to be really great! Beautiful roof top, heated pool, close proximity to beach- would recommend for sure.

Dinner that night was Joe’s Stone Crab but since they don’t offer reservations we killed time during the dinner rush at the The Tavern patio- the fun restaurant connected to the hotel that’s open 24hrs and has free drinks from 7p-8p.

Stone crabs!  They’re as good as they are pretty~very filling meat, mild-not too oceany taste. Definitely would eat again. In true Jess and D fashion, we did our “researching” while partaking, Googling the lowdown on the crustaceans at the dinner table and turns out the fisherman (crabmen?) remove the claws and throw them back!  As of 2016 it’s unknown if the crabs are in pain from this process but I’d put my money on- yea. Even if you do grow your arms back-chances are if they are removed-you’d feel it. We appreciate your arm donation ????

How we typically do a trip is we split up our hotel stay with a high option and a low option to allow not only variety but also get a taste for the good life while not emptying our bank account in the process.  For a 5 night trip, we wouldn’t normally change hotels 3 times but with the mid-week holiday, it threw off rates so we moved around accordingly.  Our higher end hotel was The Confidante. I was every bit as smitten as I figured I would be.  The color scheme was very on brand, my “brand” that is!

Got this new Cupshe bathing suit for the trip. Don’t usually go for halters since I have a long torso they hurt my neck but the pain of this suit was (mostly) worth it.  Couple years ago I wouldn’t have even thought of a one-piece and I don’t think it’s my age because I’m as happy if not happier with my body now as I was in my mid-20s I believe it’s that the fashion world realized they were missing an opportunity with them and they’ve gotten so much cuter in recent years.  Agree or was I under a rock?

It’s so hard for me to sit still-like-damn near impossible. Dustin could chill by the pool or beach for hours meanwhile I’m like “what’s next???” I tend to go go go and this trip we both were like “lets be lazy and not pack in every single day with activities” and I gave it the ole college try but in the end was my “lets gooo” self.  There were a few things we had loosely planned on doing and didn’t fit them in to enjoy some down time like the Everglades and Coral Gables but we plan to do these next month when we go for Ds bday over Labor Day ✅✅✅

The only non-selfie photo we have of us ???? How it usually goes “hey you mind snapping a photo of us?” hands kind stranger huge camera “oh um, how…do” “ok, press this button — not that, that-ok yea, that one” *click click* “this photo ok?” “(thinks: sure….) says: yea, thanks it’s great!” and we take what we get ????

After our two and a half glorious days at the Confidante, we moved over to the lower budget spot-The Seagull Inn- no link because I don’t recommend. They are going through some renovations so check back but as of now, the only redeeming quality is the proximity to OTHER places. We spent as much time away from it as possible.
First up was sweating our way through the streets of Wynwood Arts District checking out vibrant murals from artists from all over.

Adulting ????

Speaking of boobies, Miami has the largest erotic art museum in America and it’s worth a visit if you’re up for blushing!

That’s my motto????

This wall was tucked away beside a bar where we sought shade – if I had to pick – this would be my favorite! Yes, I did an outfit change, and only lasted in these skin tight jeans for the Lyft ride back ????

The art was next level. There’s lots of galleries to pop in and out of but what really caught my eye was a shop called Plant the Future. The concept of the brand is fusing art and architecture with nature.

As a self proclaimed crazy plant lady, I thoroughly dug (plant PUN!!!) the concept ????

Our club night was later at LIV, featuring AKON (yep, still at it!) so we went back to nap and prepare for a late late night out~

Per the advice of friends we hit up The Broken Shaker

Turns out tequila and cinnamon DO taste great together!

Millennial pink matching~

Broken Shaker is connected to a Freehand Hotel, a reinvention of the former Indian Creek Hotel, connected to surrounding attractions like a garden they grow some of the food in and 27 Restaurant.  We were so pumped on its vibes we plan to stay here for our next visit -more pics to come!

Did a little buzzed shopping at Golden Bar-which isn’t actually a bar but a really great boutique in S. Beach. I got the below cover up and Dustin got a button down I can’t wait for him to wear: spoiler- tacos and avocado print!

We wanted to stay as far away from the Seagull as we could so we spent Saturday hotel hopping. The W is right next door and had a great bar called Irma’s- friendly bartenders and the decor was dreamy.

May have made our way from the bar over into the main pool and side heated pool for a dip. Gotta be slick because it’s only for hotel guests but if you play your cards right, aka spend a lot at the bar, you can pop in~maybe.

Sorta did the same thing at 1Hotel. Except we actually booked a spa service (more details below) and it came with beach chairs for the day. Well, the ocean was littered with seaweed so we wanted to poolside it. Again, ordered beverages from the bar, sat our stuff at a reg table and moseyed over to the pool. No one said a thing. This was my favorite of the hotel poolside drinks: a frozen mezcalrita!

1Hotel was by far my favorite. I was oO’n and Ahh’n at every turn.

Inside on the 3rd or 4th floor is, PlntHouse. Talk about freaking out over some decor!  We had breakfast here one day and I couldn’t get over the size of the above staghorn fern!

The two days we were technically booked at the Seagull we spent at every other fancy hotel within a 2 block radius.  Most of that time was at 1. If we could afford the $600 a night price tag, I would LIVE THERE.

Lobby bar had a happy hour that was alright. Still $$$ but we made some friends and hung out here for our last night.

☝ BEST SELF ☝

So yea, we loved our first time in Miami!

Tips n tricks~

• Book a hotel with a beach chair included, Confidante day chair rental vs just booking the room was a no brainer
• July-August there are a slew of spa deals, we took advantage and got a crazy cheap massage and I got a facial at 1Hotel- which also gave us beach chair day passes
• Pre purchase club admission – we did this for LIV and got in breezy and paid the same amount versus Dustin paying more because he’s a dude. We heard the rate will go up or just be up to the bouncer and you can get royally screwed
• The trolly is FREE. But pay attention, we got a little turned around
• Keep in mind, Lyft and Uber drivers typically do not speak English-was a non-issue most of the time but if they are confused on your location there could be a hiccup there
• Look into happy hours, we bought drinks RIGHT before one started and kicked ourselves because you’ll want to take advantage of any $aving$ while there