Travel Diaries: Miami

Welcome to my Miami travel guide, friends!!

I just got back from a little last minute getaway down to the sunshine state and am feeling so relaxed and rejuvenated! Getting some warm weather and ocean exposure is definitely major key for surviving the brutal Chicago winter, not that I have much to complain about, I came back and it was a high of 78 degrees… in March. My fam joked that we flew in circles for three hours and landed right back in Miami.

I’ve only been to the city once before, almost 5 years ago to the date for my high school senior year spring break. I can tell you that I will most definitely be coming back sooner than that next time! The flight is honestly super easy, just about three hours from Chicago, and I ended up flying on one of those discount airlines, so my ticket was only around $200. I flew down on a Monday and stayed through Thursday- It felt like the perfect amount of time! I mean, technically I could’ve stayed for two weeks had that been an option… However, it does make it a perfect long weekend destination when you’re looking to have a little fun in the sun without having to do any heavy lifting (both price-wise and time-wise!).

The Carillon Miami Wellness Resort 

We stayed at the Carillon Miami Wellness Resort, which is a former Canyon Ranch. The coolest part about the Carillon and what ended up working out so perfectly for my family, was its wellness center, that integrates spa, fitness, and health. My mom and I are huge fitness fanatics and love trying out new workout classes, so we knew a big part of our trip would be centered around working out and having healthy, yummy meals. The hotel has one main restaurant as well as a little coffee bar and a juice bar. The breakfast menu was fantastic and featured plenty of fresh, delicious, nutrient dense options, such as the vegan sweet potato and forest mushroom hash, the muesli, and the chia seed pudding. They also had great coffee and smoothies and juices. Our hotel room turned out to be a pretty decent sized suite; we had two queen beds and then a separate living room area with a kitchenette, island, sofa, and a balcony with chaise chairs. It was a very generous amount of space for the three of us- We really lucked out!

The Carillon houses its own two-story indoor rock wall overlooking the ocean, and there are several studios scattered amongst the resort that hold the over 200 classes that are taught each week. The hotel spa area is open to all guests, and features several different “treatments” you can experience without having to book a pricey facial or massage. There is a steam room, a sauna, an igloo room where you choose a scent and then get blasted with icy cold mist. There is a foot bath station, and a special rainfall shower with options like “topical monsoon.” They also have these curved, heated, full body chairs that you throw a towel over and then lie on top of… Seriously heaven.

We spent a significant amount of time at our hotel for our meals, doing different workout classes, and hanging out by the pool. We also picked up some snacks at the Publix right across the street and kept them in our little fridge. It was really nice being able to have some fruit and yogurt and bars to have really quickly if we were going to an early class.

We were fortunately able to try out a pretty good variety of classes. I have such a curiosity when it comes to fitness classes, and group workouts have easily become my favorite was to burn it out!! Back in Chicago, I am a pure barre addict, and try to go every day if I can. It’s gotten to a point where it’s so engrained in my schedule, I have so much fun and get to feel so strong when I’m there. Plus, it gives me a chance to reaaally mentally check out and forget everything that is going on in my life, which is sometimes very much needed. I know, I feel like the worst kind of person going on about how much I love exercising. F me, I know guys, I know.

Our first day in Miami, we hit the ground running with three classes throughout the day. The first class we did was called “Buff Ballet Booty,” and had some elements of Pilates, Barre, and Zumba. We did lots of plies and a leg series. We ended class with a good 5 min of intense ab work. And we danced around trying to mimic the instructor while hand clapping to Lady Gaga. It definitely turned out to be a decent cardio workout and had some really challenging moments during the strength work. It had a little bit of everything which kept it super engaging and fun!

Next up, my sister and I tackled the rock wall. I used to compete in rock climbing when I was a kid, and my sister has had a ton of experience with rock climbing through an outdoor ed gym class she took, so needless to say, we knew what we were doing. We were climbing alongside this dad and his two teenage boys, and they just could not for the life of them make it up that wall and then fall gracefully down without any issues. They kept saying we were like spider monkeys.

Doing this for an hour seriously KILLED my forearm muscles, though. The next day, I literally just tried to open a door and got the worst charlie horse and my arm was just freaking out and I was in a ton of pain. It was the weirdest thing. I also noticed that it really did get my heart rate up!

We ended the day with a TRX Cardio class. I had never done TRX before, but knew it looked right up my alley. I looove really intense workouts and the suspension bands look hella intriguing to me. For this class, we did a few strength rounds with the suspension bands and then would do a round of cardio interval moves like grapevines, suicides, mountain climbers, etc. We did tricep work, pull ups, lunges, squat jumps, and a ton of work for the inner thighs with the bands. It was seriously no joke!!

We did a class called “Killer Core” that yeah, was also no joke, and indeed killer. We did a ton of work standing holding sandbags or dumbbells to do crunching moves, and this really got my heart rate up. This was totally a full body workout, it engaged way waaay beyond simply the core. That said though, I loved this class! It was super quick paced set to fab music, and it was really really challenging. I felt great after this one.

I also had a great time doing a mat Pilates class on my last day before heading to the airport. I absolutely love starting the day with an early am workout! This one was definitely not easy, but had a lot of stretching and encouraged deep breathing and was overall very relaxing. We used resistance bands to do some arm work and did tons for the glutes and abs.

I had a ton of fun getting to do the classes with my mom and sister; the three of us always have a fab time together. Having the trip centered around the classes might not be everyone’s first pick of how to spend their time on a beach trip, but for us it was perfect! I felt so rejuvenated by the end of the trip; I just felt like I really got to take care of myself and put me first, you feel?

Food 

Okay, onto probably the most important part of a trip… The food. My family are HUGE foodies, so we take our restaurant choosing very seriously. We do a ton of research and won’t just go anywhere to eat. That said, we hit it out of the ballpark with all of the places we ventured off to; however, it was very hit or miss with the food at the hotel. Overall, the breakfast was good and the lunch menu was overpriced and uninspired. The sweet potato and Peruvian potato hash (below on the left) also had edamame, cherry tomatoes, sprouts, squash, and forest mushrooms, and was out of this world good. So healthy and plant-based, but packed with flavor and satisfying texture. My mom and I ordered the muesli almost every morning to share, and it was fantastic. I need to make it for myself! It’s similar to overnight oats; it’s rolled oats soaked in yogurt with pieces of diced apple, almonds, and berries. SO freakin good. They also had bomb juices and an avocado toast that was no bueno 🙁

Lunch was pretty meh. We ordered the spinach and pomegranate seed salad with seared scallops, which was very underdressed and not tossed. It didn’t have like any pom seeds on it either, but the scallops were good.

This mango shrimp salad could have been good if there were more shrimp, more of the other ingredients… It’s just kind of lacking.

These were good!! We were fans of these raw vegan tacos. My fam will often be into this kinda food, ( they claim I’ll like all of the super weird vegan-ish things), and this ended up being a hit. It had a guacamole, a vegan cashew cheese, and to be honest I have no idea what everything else is or was supposed to be. It was good though, very hearty!

Ono Poke Shop

Oh my god you guys!! This adorable little shop has made me become full on obsessed with poke. What I had here was one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted. Ono Poke is right by the Wynwood Walls, which is the one destination we had planned out beyond places in our hotel’s neighborhood. To be honest, the area surrounding Wynwood is definitely kinda sketch… Like drive right through and don’t stop and you’ll be fine, but just be mindful. The good news is that once you’re in the touristy part, you’re totally fine and the area is super packed with people and safe. The poke shop is literally walking distance, so we Ubered here from our hotel to eat. They asked howe we heard about them and I told them I had found them through Instagram, when a blogger posted about them. My mom mentioned I was a blogger too and they were super excited and promised to make my bowl super pretty so I could take pics. Which of course I was already super excited to do, I mean, how fab are these walls?!

Of course, on this day, day three, my new Canon Powershot died and I hadn’t brought the charger cause I’m real dumb!! So, I was pretty bummed I couldn’t use it for this day.

These were soo so wonderful and delicious and fresh. I got the most amazing tuna with a spicy soy sauce drizzled on top, white rice, avocado, edamame, onions, sesame seeds, ginger, pickled cucumbers, jalapenos, tempura flakes, eel sauce, and spicy seaweed salad. Guys, this was SERIOUSLY the bomb dot com. So flavorful and colorful and fun. We got these iced can matcha drinks on the side that we were also super into. They were playing rap music I was really vibing with and overall it was just such a great experience. Def go here if you are checking out the Wynwood Walls.

Scarpetta at Fountainbleu

I have to say, the infamous Miami Fountainbleu is actually really really cool! I most definitely see the appeal; it was fun hanging out here for the night. It kinda had a Vegas feel to it; the place was huuuge and had several restaurants and shops and Liv nightclub all housed within its walls. We ate at at Scarpetta, this trendy Italian place. We ended up being so impressed by the food. We ordered some burrata and tomatoes to share as well as some amazing tuna tartare. That’s been one of my go to orders recently for some reason; if I see it on the menu I always want to get it! This one was delicious. I also had a near perfect mohito, a drink that I seem to only enjoy if it’s made right in Miami. Everywhere else never seems to have their flavor proportions right! For my entree, I had this fantastic piece of fresh halibut on a bed of toasted breadcrumbs. SO good. They also had fantastic bread to start.

Baoli

So I need to start this recap off with a funny story… This Japanese restaurant, Bâoli, had great reviews on Yelp and was my sister’s pick. She normally is fabulous with picking out new restaurants when were on vacation, so I trust her judgement. However, when we arrived, the place looked completely boarded up and shut down. No signs, the door was locked. When we called, they confirmed the street address, which was exactly where we were. There was this sketch hallway with a door at the end of it… But it had a different street number above it. Not that we were going down there anyway. Turns out that that was indeed the entrance. Ha. So, were a bit thrown at this point, so when we arrive and the restaurant is totally outside with no coverage, only these giant trees covered with twinkle lights. There were fans blasting and it was pretty cold, and like no one was there. So we were quite skeptical, much to the frustration of my sister, who was like omg sorry you hate the place I picked!! Well turns out we were wrong, because Bâoli was next level, serious business sushi.

My family and I are not huge sushi people and typically won’t choose to go out to a Japanese restaurant for dinner. This is probably because we normally don’t have access to phenomenal sushi, so it’s usually a pretty underwhelming meal. But EEE not here!! This was essentially artisanal sushi; every little detail was thought out. My sister’s roll had a layer of white bean paste on the seaweed. There was very little rice on the rolls, allowing the flavors of the fish to remain prominent. They featured the freshest and most flavorful fish, and an array of interesting flavors and textures. My roll had thinly sliced pieces of jalapeño, my faveeee.

For dessert we went balls out.

We ordered the matcha tiramisu and the nutella stuffed churros with matcha chocolate dipping sauce. Tbh, the matcha flavor was essentially undetectable, but these were still super yummy. I mean… those churros. C’MON.

This restaurant was also just a super fun and hip pick. We were seated around 7:30 and the place was dead; yet, there were a ton of staff on hand. All looking like models, dressed to the nines. By the end of our meal, around 10, the place had really picked up. Clearly, people start their nights way later here- the European way. They played really cool music, made a mean mohito, and just gave off a really cool vibe. And of course, the food was amazing.

The Salty Donut

We got lucky with this find! I hadn’t seen or heard of this place before, and it was actually our server at Ono Poke Shop that suggested we try this place. My family and I all agree that the best kind of donut is just a super sweet, melt in your mouth kinda situation, and these were pretty cake like. Still delicious, but cake like. And my mom said the little donut hole she got was very mediocre. My sister and I split a brown butter sea salt donut that I thought was really good. Some of their other donuts looked super interesting too.

Cecconi’s

We ended up at Cecconi’s by making a totally last minute reservation. I’m so glad we did, because this was a really special place to have my last dinner of the trip at. It was also a completely outdoors, uncovered restaurant, filled with trees and twinkle lights. They call it their courtyard dining room. The restaurant is open to the public but part of the Soho House Miami, a members only club that has locations around the world. We ate at their Italian restaurant. Again, I had a great mohito here, ahh, such a dream it was to drink so many mohitos, and great food. The tuna tartare had diced avocado and capers, which was an interesting spin on it. And it didn’t come with crackers! So, we ate it just with a fork.

So, my dinner definitely looked beautiful, but was lacking in the flavor department. I ended up dumping a whole bunch of red chili flakes all over to give it a kick. Maybe it needed more basil as well. I love me some lobster though, and carbs are by far my favorite food group, so this was overall a nice treat.

When in Flo Rida!

We had to get the key lime pie, and omg lemme tell ya, I think it’s as good as they come! It came with a little coconut ice cream on the side that was the perfect touch. The meringue on top was sooo amazing, as was the crust! This was a really nice treat.

What To Do 

Wynwood Walls

So, like I mentioned, the neighborhood surrounding Wynwood Walls is a little sketch and I don’t recommend stopping there. So, when you’re driving through, no need to wonder where the hell you’re going when your google maps is telling you you’re two min from your final destination…

I had heard about the Wynwood Wall outdoor art installation through Instagram; I had no idea that the graffiti was everywhere in the neighborhood!! It was a really cool thing to experience. Even the sidewalks had little sayings or pictures drawn on them. There was outdoor music, and so many people were just out and about enjoying the beautiful day. So many fun walls to take pics in front of!!

Everything about the neighborhood was just really quirky and cool. There were a bunch of hipster little boutiques that we went into that sold Spiritual Gangster, funky cards, candles, all sorts of stuff. There were a bunch of cute looking cafes and places to get a pitcher of sangria and eat and drink outside enjoying the live music. It took us about 25 min to get there from our hotel; however, we were there for a ton of time having lunch, walking around, and then getting a donut. Definitely worth making the trip out.

We saw this pupper while we were shopping in Wynwood, and we didn’t even converse with the owner, I think it might have been a kid. My sister and I were enthralled by this little dude. He just had great energy haha. He had the sweetest little smile and was so fluffy and soft. It’s the little things in life guys!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my travel guide, and thank you to all who read this whole post! I had such an amazing experience in Miami and highly recommend it as a destination for anyone looking to get some sunshine!