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Gracias Miami
After almost 4 years, we left Miami last December. In the end it was a quick decision — which we took back and forth for almost a year.
We arrived in Miami just after getting married and now leave a family of 4. Both Roberto Andrés and Bettina Maria were born at Mercy Hospital in Coconut Grove — a few miles from our apartment.
Miami for us was an acquired taste. It’s known for it’s party scene and latin influence — two things that aren’t necessarily attractive in a new city when a) you’re already latin, and b) not crazy about $40 drinks at 3AM.
Still, you need to be spoiled to complain about a city in which a 20min drive takes you to a sandy beach.
A few of my favorite plans:
- Go to Joe’s takeout (use their parking) and get some crab legs (if in season) or lobster rolls, then walk down and have a picnic at South Point park.
- Head up to 73 st (parking along the beach or big public parking), buy some cachitos and natural orange juice at Moises and then chill at the beach — without the crowd.
- If you rather visit a calm beach, that’s not as nice but more club like, go to Key Biscayne (park here while house is still in construction). For extra points get some sandwiches at the Golden Hog.
- Dinner at NIU, for a date or double date with friends, this was my favorite restaurant.
- Park on 25th SE Rd Brickle Ave, rent citybikes and ride down to Monty’s. Get a block of fries. Then walk to Grove Bar Grill for some beers and live music by the shore.
- Need ribs? Flanigans at Coconut Grove is your friend. Half the price and the wait as Hillstone, and almost as good.
- If your feeling intelectual, head to Books&Books in Coral Gables for some coffee and book watching. Then grab any of the artsy movies at the theater across the street.
- Netflix and chill ordering from Pieducks, my favorite NY-style pizza. Something better? Mister-O1. Want an actual Sicilian pizza? Fratelli La Bufala at Miami Beach.
- When in doubt, Alice park by the Key Biscaine bridge was our go-to park during weekdays.
A friend’s dad always says: the best thing about Miami, is how close it’s to the US, which is hilariously accurate. The culture ss a soft landing if you come from Latin America, but it’s consistently among the top 10 most expensive cities in the US. The end result for me was a great experience to look back to, but difficult to make work when you look ahead 5 - 10 years with an open spreadsheet. This in the end, was a big factor in our decision to move.
Where did we go? After a month-long visit to Caracas, we arrived in Costa Rica the first week of January. A few notes on our new pura vida lifestyle soon.