How can you go wrong finishing a 3 week US trip in Miami?!!
Our last leg and it was time for some R&R with S’s parents who conveniently live in Miami – the coast closest to home. We have been to see them many times over the years so it is familiar territory for us. Yet these days even having a chilled out time before we left involved making sure the Things were stimulated and burnt off enough energy each day!
So here is what we did:
Things to do
Pool and beach
You can’t think of Florida without conjuring up images of turquoise waters and sunshine. With Thing 1 still sick we decided to stay out of the pool which was a huge shame as I know they would have enjoyed it immensely. Still at least we have a pool where we live – it would have been even more annoying coming from the UK! They still had a good paddle and a play in the sand a couple of times and there is a lovely playground where they were able to run off some steam.
State Parks
There are so many state parks in Florida so S’s parents took us for a day trip to Key Largo. We had a short sunny walk in Dagny Johnson State Park (the Things were NOT keen on walking and proceeded to argue the entire way around about the sticks they were collecting) followed by lunch out. The weather in Miami hadn’t been as nice so it turned out to be a great move.
A night out!!!
I was lucky enough that our trip to Miami coincided with an Ecuadorian friend also being in town instructing at a local kiteboarding place. We headed to Wynwood Patio for a bit of dancing to fun Latin music. So much more authentic than the places we go to in the Middle East (which are more ‘professional’ and serious in the dancing sense). It was such a super fun place!
Shopping
I feel no trip to the US is complete without a good shopping trip and I had been organised enough to think about the benefits of leaving this activity until our last leg to save us from lugging stuff across America and on flights with less generous baggage allowances. Usually my mall of choice is Aventura which is an hour away but, with time not on our side, this time we headed to Dadeland and managed to do a decent amount of damage and just a few hours. The best bit? Staying with grandparents meant free babysitting so S and I got a shopping date and 3 uninterrupted hours of hanging out with each other.
Family
Well this was what we had come for! Having got our fix on one side of the country, it was great to see the Things grandparents. We also managed to get up to Boca Raton where MY grandfather lives to see him as well.
Visit the Keys
It’s been ears since we’ve made it down to the Florida Keys but Let’s Travel Family has and helpfully made a list of fun things to do in Key West with kids.
The best thing
After all the experiences and food and friends and family and travel… what was their favourite thing? Plugging in granddad’s electric car at the end of the day. #simplepleasures
Amazing places to eat
Boca Raton
Seasons 52 was just amazing. We shared some of the flatbreads, I had the Maui tuna crunch and S had the blackened mani mani tacos. Everything was really really good. They also had a decent kids menu available on request.
Key Largo
The Fish House serving, well, fish. Its a no frills place with maps for placemats and statues of pirates all over the place. It was the perfect place to cool down after a long (20 minute) ‘hike’ through the state park.
Find me on: Web