While my friend Shannon and I spent the majority of our vacation in Madeira Beach, we did take a quick trip to Miami. The drive from Madeira was easy minus the fact that once we got to Miami we spent an hour trying to find South Beach (um, yeah). The highways are so well-maintained (tolls everywhere!) and the drive across the Everglades was pretty cool even though we spotted no alligators and almost ran out of gas. Oops.

Once we arrived in South Beach we spent most of our time at the beach. It’s a much wider beach than in Madeira and the water is more clear. We loved the fact that our hotel offered chaise lounges and umbrellas for its guests. This definitely made our time at the beach that much more comfortable.

beach chairs before they get their blue cushions

Being a fan of architecture, I was excited to take photos of all the art deco buildings that South Beach is famous for. Unfortunately, we used up all the sunny time at the beach and when we did finally get to the sight-seeing portion of our two-day trip, we got rained on. I only managed to snap a couple of photos.

We did have lunch at the very art deco Jerry’s Famous Deli. The inside was awesome – and very red and gold. The light fixtures got my attention as did the menu. I didn’t have much energy to read through it all (it was vacation, remember?) so I settled for a BLT and lucky for me it was good.

at Jerry’s Famous Deli

The trip was much to brief so I’m definitely looking forward to going back on day in the future. Have you been to Miami? What are your favourite places to visit?

Photos by me.