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48 hours in Miami taught me a big lesson: red eyes aren’t always worth it. To be completely honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to write a Miami post, since we were only there two and a half days, one of which I was completely sleep deprived. We flew out Wednesday at 11pm and arrived Thursday at 7am. Red eye? Honestly, never again. Hear me out though, yes, it was wonderful getting an extra day in Miami, but we were too tired to really enjoy it. Which, in hindsight, wasn’t well thought through, since our Airbnb wasn’t able to let us check in early. We booked that flight because it was the cheaper option, thinking, “Oh, an extra day in Miami!” because we LOVE Miami.
We tried to make the best of a sleepy situation. Our first stop was Suite Habana Cafe, a must! Best coffee in Miami. The owners are friendly, personable, and fantastic; they’ve created such an inviting space. We hung out there for a few hours, and actually went back the next morning. Everyone we met was warm and conversational. We ordered a few drinks and food items: 2 cafecitos (espresso and sugar), a café con leche, and a ham and cheese croissant. Zech also got a slice of bread, I just can’t remember what it was, but it had oats on top. The next morning we ordered cafecitos, a Bombón, and 4 vanilla lattes to go. They make their own vanilla syrup, and homemade syrups are a major bonus point in my book.
The rest of the day was spent at two parks. The first one we thought would have better ocean views, spoiler: it did not. However, we did get our steps in and gave plenty of pets to two German Shepherds. The second park was smaller but had a walkway extending over the water where you could see a marina. I got some great shots, I practice photography, so moments like that are always a win.
After killing a few hours, we got into our Airbnb around 3pm and passed out until 6 or 7pm. When we finally woke up, we decided to grab pizza. We chose Pizzaiola in Little Havana, and it was a great call! We ordered a meat lover’s pizza (with a side of hot honey) and a pepperoni calzone. The crust was thin and crispy. The calzone was one of the best I’ve had, normally I don’t enjoy them, but the crust here is thin and filled perfectly. It wasn’t like eating a loaf of bread, and it wasn’t overstuffed to the point where sauce and toppings are falling out everywhere, if that makes sense. NOW, the showstoppers were the desserts. Guava and cheese in pizza form? A solid 12/10, if you love guava and cheese, you will love this. We also grabbed the tiramisu, which was one of the best I’ve had. I’m no expert, but it was perfectly moist with a great cream-to-ladyfingers ratio.
Day 2 — our friends arrived (we were all boarding a cruise that Saturday). We picked them up after our Suite Habana run, two of those lattes were for them! We spent the afternoon at Bayside, where we ate at Sanguich. I’m not a Cuban sandwich expert, but the Cubano was the best one I’ve ever had. This was also the one time I didn’t grab something guava-flavored, though I hear their milkshake is a must-order! After eating, we headed to Pier 55 for cocktails. It’s kind of a tradition for Zech and me to get mojitos at Bayside. We then walked around Bayside Park and the market.
Later that evening we had dinner at Monty’s, it was good, but I wouldn’t call it a must.
Saturday we grabbed coffee at Alto Tostado Coffee Roasters, returned the rental car, then Ubered to the port where we boarded the ship.
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