Hi friends, welcome to my Miami series! This trip is about as spontaneous as I can be. About two weeks before our migration south, Jon found out he had to attend a two-day work conference in Miami. I wasn’t planning on going, but when Jon said he was staying at the Four Seasons in Brickell, my interest was piqued. We decided to fly down early and to have a day of relaxation in Miami Beach. We booked our hotel two days before our flight, extremely last minute for me. Unintentionally, our trip coincided with spring break and St. Patrick’s Day. Thankfully for us Miami Beach was having a “spring break breakup” and had streets blocked off, a curfew of 12am, beaches closed at 6pm, you couldn’t buy alcohol from a store after 6pm, and police were monitoring almost every intersection. This created tons of traffic, but Miami felt very tame and quiet. We appreciated this because our room was on the first floor, so we would’ve heard a lot of noise at night without the curfew.
Jon and I stayed at the Marlin Hotel and it was perfect for the night. It was two blocks from the beach, had good reviews, and they provided beach chairs and umbrellas. We got to the hotel before check in so we dropped off our bags and made a beeline for lunch (I’m going to do a separate post on all the food) and Walgreens for some sunscreen. While we waited for our room to be available, we found a shady bench on the esplanade and people watched. Like NYC, Miami Beach is full of characters too. 
Once our room was ready we reorganized and then headed to the beach with an umbrella and beach chairs from the hotel. It was very relaxing listening to the waves crashing, feeling the warmth of the sun, and sticking our toes in the sand. We would’ve stayed longer, but we had dinner plans with Jon’s coworker and her husband.
The following morning Jon and I grabbed some delicious Cuban iced lattes and walked along the beach. A perfect start to the day!
We had to check out of our room but could still use the beach chairs, so Jon and I headed back to the beach. It was a little too windy for the umbrella so I used the towel to guard myself from the sun. I sunburn easily so the beach isn’t always the most relaxing place for me. This explains why we go to cities and on hiking trips.
It was pretty hot (mid 80s) and if we still had access to our room I would’ve went in the water to cool off, but I couldn’t show up to the Four Seasons looking like a wet dog.
We were only in South Beach for about twenty-four hours, but it was nice to relax on the beach and replenish our vitamin D levels for a short time. We didn’t realize how much we needed some R&R. Stay tuned for all the Miami eats!
