The vaccine for COVID-19 changed a lot of things in the last few months. Places all over the USA are opening up, including New York City this past weekend for Pride events. And Miami has been opened up for a while.

I didn’t feel comfortable going out fully until about one month ago when two of my friends visited. In anticipation of their arrival, I put together an itinerary of activities based on their requests. We were all eager to not only spend time together but to also go out like “normal" and explore a city—the city of Miami!

For me, I am basically still new to Miami since the pandemic hit only a few months after my arrival. So this was a really awesome 4-day adventure around Miami including a hotel stay at Miami beach, tons of great food, awesome rooftop bars, and so much more.

Our experience serves as a guide for any vaccinated visitor or staycationer in Miami!

Weekend Planning

When I travel, I barely make plans ahead of time. But for my staycation with friends I made an actual itinerary. An itinerary becomes necessary when friends you haven’t seen in 1-2 years are coming into town. They were only staying for 4 days and had specific places they wanted to see and do.

So their requests and my own minimal knowledge of Miami informed the itinerary I made. And, of course, I made a map:

I love a good map. The map is exhaustive for lots of great things to do around Miami. We barely did even a fraction of this. Nevertheless, the map helped me visualize and realistically plan for such a short time together. I think both this map and the itinerary I created helped my friends think more realistically about the time, too.

Initially they wanted to see and do so much! But then they realized how limited our time was. And they wanted more beach time than anything. So here is what we got up to after I made edits to include more beach time: The Actual Itinerary.

Feel free to use the map and itinerary to plan your own trip or staycation!

The Matcha Machines

I’ve been friends with Dasha since as far back as 2009 when we worked together at my first job in graduate school. Through her, I met Helen a few years later.

I got closer to Helen when I moved to Long Island in 2016. This is when we started a group chat called “matcha machines” because we all like to drink matcha lattes. When Dasha moved to Colorado, this was one way the three of us kept in touch—we shared photos of our matcha lattes with each other.

Helen and I had plans to get many more lattes together but then I was offered my job in Miami. I was really grateful to get to spend more time with Helen this weekend since our growth as friends was cut short by my move.

Of course, when the pandemic hit, matcha lattes stopped for all of us. But our conversation kept going! We were excited to all finally reunite and drink matcha together.

Kendall Neighborhood Highlights

The first stop on our Matcha Machine Miami tour was my neighborhood—Kendall. Kendall is an area of Miami nestled against the Everglades. It’s made up mostly of shopping plazas, 2-story condominiums, and suburban neighborhoods.

I live in one of those condos in Northern Kendall. We had plans to stay at a hotel at Miami Beach but I love and miss hosting! So this first night was spent at my place.

After picking Helen up from the airport on Friday afternoon, we spent some time chilling at my place by the pool.

Later on, we ordered delivery from Taco Genius—a Black-owned restaurant I ordered from often during the pandemic.

Their tacos and bowls are some of the freshest and most tasty I’ve ever had. Their food always comes crispy and fresh tasting even after the long, humid drive through Miami to my neighborhood.

We killed some time wandering around the Coconut Grove area of Miami in the evening before picking up Dasha from the airport in Fort Lauderdale.

Back at my place, Dasha and Helen both enjoyed spending some time in the hammock on my balcony. It was so good to spend time with both of them now that we were all vaccinated. Masks off, laughter, and great conversation—a great start to the weekend!

The next day I made us a big breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and fresh fruit.

After breakfast, we hopped on Zoom to meet some of our friends. Dasha and I would meet with a bunch of friends for virtual dance parties during the pandemic.

Many of us used to go out in New York to dance together pre-COVID-19 and before many of us moved. Our friend Eda lives in Ireland now, Dasha in Denver, and me in Miami. So this was actually a great way just for all of us to see each other, coordinating between different time zones. Random people always pop into the dance party in between other things they have going on.

This was the first time we were meeting mostly from the same time zone with Dasha on the east coast again. One of our friend’s recently had a baby so even the baby showed up to dance this time!

After the dance party, we walked to Kendall Hammocks Park. This became a favorite of mine to walk to during the pandemic. This was my first time showing anyone from outside Miami since I discovered it. I was so happy to get to show it to these two.

They had been obsessing over my pictures from the park for the last year. I think it lived up to their expectations!

After some time at the pool, we called up a few friends to meet us at my favorite ceviche restaurant nearby. Two of my coworkers joined us. Another former co-worker of Dasha and mine recently moved to Miami and also joined us!

I had not eaten at Pisco y Nazca in so long! It was great to get a group together and actually eat indoors for the first time.

Staying at Miami Beach

We checked into Palihouse just before midnight. This made for a slightly awkward check-in experience since the lobby was dark and there was only the bartender and one staff member there.

The area around Palihouse and most of the mid-beach hotel area is riddled with construction. For instance, the road in front of Palihouse along the creek was closed so it almost looked closed down that late at night. But we managed to get one of the best rooms in the place as a result.

We had a king bed room with a kitchenette and rooftop balcony on the top floor. I slept on a comfy cot. The entire hotel is in a restored art deco 1940s hotel with a very unique design. The hotel has a pale pastel color palette, bohemian-style mix-and-match prints, and beachy vibes throughout. The theme was in every last detail including the hotel staff. They all wore white shirts with navy stripes and scarves, like a preppy sailboat crew.

Dancing on our hotel balcony with an LED light display I brought along.

We really loved staying at this hotel. The aesthetic was perfect for our weekend.

We felt very old timey and chic staying there—so much so that we practiced early-20th-century-style transatlantic accents all weekend. We couldn’t stop doing it and laughed so much!

Beach Time Is The Best Time

As requested, we got in lots of beach time. The hotel provided an umbrella and chairs and transport to the beach each day. We used my beach blanket and umbrella because Palihouse was usually out of loaner umbrellas each day by the time we made it down from our room.

Typically, I like to go to the beach at North Beach. That’s the local’s beach. South beach is usually too busy and filled with tourists for my liking. The beach area opposite Palihouse is technically mid-beach. It’s halfway between south and north beach and the whole barrier land mass is considered Miami beach!

This mid-beach area has all the really nice hotels lining it. So you get tourists who are mostly well-off travelers. There’s a lot of people with hotel beach chairs here!

Regardless, I liked it. It was so peaceful!

I barely have any photos at the beach. I guess the beach is commonplace for me now so I don’t take pictures of it anymore. Instead, I took lots of photos of Dasha and Helen because I was missing them so much!

One experience that I don’t normally have, however, is nighttime beach experiences. Since we were staying right there across the street from the beach, we were able to visit the beach at night.

Technically the beach is closed for swimming because there are no lifeguards. But lots of people go out onto the beach at night. When the moon is out, it’s so bright it’s like being out there during the day except you can see the city skyline and beach all lit up.

I really love the feeling of being on the beach there at night. Listening to the waves but only being able to catch the moonlight off of them is like a whole other level of peacefulness.

Rooftop Views And Vibing

Dasha and Helen both requested rooftop bars on the agenda. I was definitely down to explore some because I always loved rooftop bars back in New York. You can only really enjoy them for a few months out of the year in New York. In Miami, rooftop bars are great all year round as long as it isn’t raining.

The weather was perfect the entire weekend that Dasha and Helen were visiting. So rooftop bars were the perfect thing to do for dinner and/or drinks.

The first we went to was Astra in Wynwood. We managed to snag seats along the side edge of the building so we could catch the views. I loved seeing the murals and street art below.

A woman went around taking photos of different groups around the rooftop. Apparently she offered these up in a frame for a fee. I was surprised to return from the bathroom to find Dasha and Helen bought our photo for me! I love it!

The photo now sits on my bookshelf at work.

We tried to go out in Wynwood after but there wasn’t much going on in the area on a Sunday night. The places that were full of people had a dress code and wouldn’t let me in with shorts on! I made note for future outings.

On their last night in Miami, Dasha, Helen, and I walked down from Palihouse to the 1 Hotel. This entire stretch of beach is covered in very high class hotels and we were on our way to visit one of them.

The 1 Hotel’s Watr rooftop bar is one of the nicest rooftop bars I think I have ever been to! We looked up the prices of rooms there and they were around $800 per night. Phew!

This felt reminiscent of a budget travel hack of mine—stay at a more affordable hotel then visit and take advantage of the nearby luxury hotels by day. I did this in Bali. I stayed at an affordable guesthouse and then went and swam in all the infinity pools at the fancier guesthouses!

The 1 Hotel is absolutely beautiful. From the lobby design to the rooftop lighting and pool—wow! We couldn’t stop taking pictures of the place.

The music and atmosphere was great and we managed to have a great conversation with our super down to Earth server. My friend Kim was with us, too. All in all, we had a really nice time with great drinks, appetizers, entrees, and dessert.

All Of The Food

Speaking of food… here is all of it from the weekend! Starting with the Watr Rooftop food.

I had the Watr Bird cocktail—rum, pineapple juice, lime juice, aperol, and cointreau. For the entree I had Chicken Yakisoba Noodles. We also ordered a bunch of desserts including mochi ice cream and lucuma tres leches mousse.

We were laughing so hard about there being “chilled watermelon” on the menu. This made Dasha order it, too! It just seemed so posh. The watermelon really came out on ice and it was so sweet and actually really good served cold! (lol)

On another night, we went to Esotica. Helen originally picked this restaurant because of the Art Deco meets Hawaii aesthetic of the place. The menu which was a mix of Miami and Hawaii is what drew me to the place!

We visited here after we went to the Beyond Van Gogh exhibit because it was within walking distance in downtown Miami.

The food here was great! We shared two different types of poke bowls.

Back at our hotel one morning, we ordered a big breakfast to eat poolside.

Palihouse’s eggs we done perfectly and the bacon was crispy and not overdone. I really enjoyed my bearclaw. We had such a nice time taking a slow morning before heading to the beach.

One of the benefits of staying with a local is you don’t only have to depend on restaurant and hotel food. Since I am a charcuterie board master now, I decided to do a mini one for my friends during their stay.

I set up a spread on one of our beach chairs and we went to town.

Okay, I mostly went to town on it but I think they enjoyed it, too! :)

We had lots of leftovers from this spread so it was a great snack in the room midday or even late at night. We had so much fun in the evenings back in our hotel room. There was always lots of wine, munchies, and laughs!

Last but not least, we went to a cute little café called Pura Vida for brunch on their last day. We had not ordered matcha lattes yet so of course we had to do that. I also had a really yummy açaí bowl there for breakfast.

Exploring Miami Beach and Bayfront Park

We did some additional wandering around Miami. This included some additional exploring of Miami Beach hotels, including Miami Beach Edition.

I went to the Edition for a full moon party on the beach back in Fall 2019. I had such a great time there and it was also the first time I got a glimpse at the really neat spaces inside the hotel. For instance, they have a bowling alley and ice rink in the hotel basement!

The basement was closed when we went so we went outside to explore instead. There are beautiful lit walkways to explore behind the hotel before the beach.

In addition to two big, beautiful pools, the Edition’s outdoor spaces have lots of cute little nooks to cozy into. For instance, we loved this little meditation area we found with pillows and blankets set up on the sand. We plugged in the lights and took some nice photos in the spot. We probably could have come here with some wine packed in our satchels and hung out for a while.

It seemed no staff or anyone would have cared or bothered us.

Our hotel was right across from the Faena hotel. Dasha and Helen really wanted to go see their famous Golden Mammoth. Designed by Damien Hirst in 2014, this gilded, sculpted skeleton of a mammoth stands at 3 meters tall and is on display outside the hotel in a giant glass and gold box. You can see it from inside the hotel as you exit out the back.

I dropped Dasha and Helen off to take photos of it before we left the area for Pura Vida. It was a last, quick, touristy request and I was happy to oblige!

We also stopped by Bayfront park to explore the artwork and gardens around the Perez Art Museum of Miami (PAMM) and the Frost Science Museum. The architecture of the buildings in this area is awesome! Although we didn’t have time to go inside for any exhibits at the museums, the outside artwork and visuals were nice to take in on this walk after brunch.

In Conclusion

I had an incredibly restorative weekend staycationing in my own city with 2 great friends. I hadn’t seen them since before the pandemic and now we were all vaccinated.

I feel very grateful to be in a country where the vaccine was made accessible to me and them. We all have been living solo and working super hard throughout the pandemic—Helen as a doctor, Dasha as a therapist, and me in higher education supporting students. We all deserved this weekend to relax and spend time together.

I can’t wait to do more of this now that it’s safer to be around people and out in the world! I look forward to traveling more and sharing what I do next!

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