It's been a trip that I've been looking forward to for weeks, the light at the end of (actually it's more an 1/8th) the rotations tunnel. I've never been to Miami, much less Florida, and I was beyond stoked when we finally settled on Miami as our break destination. I have a friend who lives in West Palm Beach, but she was going to be in Tampa the same week, so I wasn't going to be able to meet up with her.
The Company
Aside from me, Krystal and Nikolai (also known as Krystolai), Sara Nik, Amy and Walter, Jeremiah, Francis (Jeremiah's friend), Trevor, Devon (Trevor's friend), and Kirtan (Devon's friend from NY) made up our liver-wrecking crew as we hit Miami Beach by storm! We haven't seen each other, at least all of us, since we went our separate ways for rotations.
The Accommodation
We wanted to have a reasonably affordable hotel and at the same time, be as close to the "South Beach" scene as possible, and so we settled on Hotel Shelley, and it wasn't a bad choice at all. Sure, the hallways smell a lot like urine, or that the showers don't have a door and every time you take a shower, you create a mini-puddle. True, the rooms were a bit small, especially when you're cramming in 4-5 people to a room, but it wasn't too bad. Hotel Shelley is an Art-Deco building close enough to all the hotspots in SoBe. But the best part about Hotel Shelley, aside from its convenient location? Open Bar from 7-8pm every night, which we took full advantage of. We immediately bonded with JC, the 40 year old bartender (who looks like he's in his late 20s/early 30s) father of two (22 and 17 years old) and Gladys, who also bartends across the way at Lily's.
The food
Apparently, Miami Beach is known for its burgers! Actually, they were not, but it would seem that way, since I'm pretty sure I ate a burger (or four) a day while I was there; Krystal even brought some FatBurgers on the plane ride home. But the best burger EVER (yes, even better than In n Out – I know, sacrilegious!) has to be Five Guys Burgers and Fries! The meat is delicious, plus you get to put a lot of good toppings (grilled mushrooms, grilled onions, jalapeño peppers, and others) for free, and the fries were amazing!
We only really ate out as a group twice, once when we got lunch at a pita place (which was awesome) the day after we got in, and the other time was when we went to Sushi Samba Dromo. Coordinating feeding time with eleven people is a bit hard, especially when you wake up at different times of the day. That and achieving steady state of inebriation throughout the day was apparently higher on the agenda for the week.
The leisurely activities
The weather was quite balmy, mostly in the mid 80's, with a relaxing breeze from time to time keeping things nice and cozy. My only slight complaint was that at times, it was a bit cloudy. But for the most part, it was perfect beach weather. Relaxing in the afternoon while soaking up the rays, with a cold brewsky and checking out the scenery: a guy can get used to this.
And speaking of the scenery, man, was it a sight. There wouldn't be such a thing called a "South Beach Diet" for nothing, right? Like my friend said, when you live in a beautiful beach town like Miami beach, there's that internal and external pressure to look your best, whereas if you live in a colder area, evolutionarily speaking, you're probably more inclined to have "insulation". But what a beautiful sight! There are guys showing off in the pull up bars doing god knows how many pull ups to impress the adoring crowd. Not that I'm the one to complain.
The Life Lessons Learned
- Be careful of your belongings – South Beach can be particularly treacherous when it comes to belongings. Case-in-point: someone from my group got their purse stolen, while another lost their phone while cavorting around the beach at night.
- The best way to cure a hangover is to drink another drink – hahaha
- Though to prevent wicked hangovers, it is probably wise to eat something beforehand, and especially avoid anything longer than a 12-hour fasting period.
- Having things open until 5am can be a lifesaver
- Along the same topics of a lifesaver, don't underestimate the life-saving power of a floatie
- Sometimes, the best conversations you'll have with your friend is while eating questionable Cuban food at the airport.
- It doesn't matter where you are – Miami Beach or Beaver Meadow, PA, as long as you surround yourself with good company, you're bound to have a good time.
- What happens in SoBe, stays in SoBe, except if you took photos/videos. Those ridiculous photos/videos will live on in digital format forever in ignominy.
I live for the nights that I can't remember with the friends that I will never forget. Can't wait until our next week break in August. Did anyone say EuroTrip?
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