With two of my friends in tow, I ventured to the magic city known as Miami, Florida. From the drinks to the food and the all around atmosphere, my trip to Miami was everything and more.
Now to truly comprehend the magnitude of this trip I have to break it down in two sections: Vacation & Adventure (Trust me it’ll make sense as we go along lol).
Vacation:
We landed on a Wednesday. The weather was humid yet rainy and I was just happy to have made it onto land safely after a turbulent plane ride. After waiting 2343455234134124 years for our Uber, we finally ride off to South Beach where we decided to clock in a couple days of relaxation and fun before focusing on the real reason we were in Miami. We stayed at the Mondrian South Beach Hotel and after searching through the European styled room, I quickly took the bed in the den because of the lovely view and because I CALLED IT FIRST! When we were settled we decided to end the day by checking out a popular Latin dance club known as Mango Tropical Café. The music, performances and overall ambiance of Mango were electrifying.
On Thursday, I decided to go off alone to Tao Spa Miami for a deep tissue massage. It was THE BEST MASSAGE I’VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!! (My masseur actually cracked my fingers and toes…that’s when I knew it was real lol). Later in the evening we decided to head back to Ocean Drive and had dinner at Havana 1957. After dinner we stopped at Wet Willie’s for a frozen fruity cocktail and after some nice conversation with some charming British navy men we headed back to Mango Tropical Café for one last hooray in South Beach. That night we salsa danced the night away and roamed the streets of Ocean Drive laughing our butts off.
By Friday morning it was time to head to our next location, but before leaving South Beach for good we decided to do some bougee living and lounge by the Mondrian Hotel pool, which over looked the ocean. Our last little bit of relaxation before heading to our next adventure.
Adventure:
Finally we’re at the adventure portion of this post (took long enough).
The main reason my friends and I left home to live it up in Miami was for Miami Carnival. For those of you who are not familiar with Carnival it is basically a festival that celebrates the culture and heritage of the Caribbean. Multiple forms of carnival are held in different countries and cities all around the world, so this being our first carnival we decided to start with Miami as sort of a trial run before going to Carnival festivities outside of the country.
By Friday evening, we headed to a location to pickup our outfits for the two main carnival events (J’ouvert & Mas), finally got a rental car after getting the runaround, and headed towards our second and final hotel.
On Saturday we cut and styled are designated shirts and went to J’ouvert. J’ouvert is a big dance party usually held in the street during Carnival; in our case it was held at Central Broward Regional Park. The environment was live…everyone was having a great time. Paint and foam filled the air as everyone danced through the park. A preamble to Sunday’s festivities.
After J’ouvert we decided to go to another event hosted by some promoters in the evening called “Viva La Carnival”. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize we were dealing with a Fyre Fest situation. Let me breakdown what we went through real quick. As we arrived to the designated parking area for the event we are turned around by security and told to park at a Home Depot because there’s no space, and a shuttle will be picking us up from there to take us to the party location. We park at the Home Depot with close to a hundred other partygoers. We waited and waited and WAITED AND WAITED, but a shuttle never came. We then decided to Uber to the location (as did everyone else waiting), but we could not find the location to the party. After a few minutes driving aimlessly we found an unfinished rocky one-way road that led to the party, but we had to get out the car and walk because the road was full of cars. We walked and walked and walked and walked and walked some more and walked a little bit more then we walked again. The entire time we’re walking in darkness and there’s no sound to lead us in the right direction. The stones on the floor bruised our feet, but we kept walking even after exiting partygoers let us know that the party was a dud. Half way through the walk we hear talks of the police kicking partygoers out of the Home Depot putting our rental car in jeopardy. We then realized we just wanted our money back and we were not stepping foot inside the supposed party. Luckily for us our car was fine, but our night was ruined.
Thankfully, Sunday was right around the corner and the main event was here! We prepared for Mas by putting together our outfits, feathers, makeup, and facial & body jewelry and headed to the Miami Dade County Fairgrounds. We decided to play Mas with One Island Band in their Neti-Neti section. When I say play Mas it means that we decided to participate in the parade through one of the masquerade bands (in our case One Island Band). These masquerade bands are all competing to be Band of the Year. So, we walked and danced through the fairgrounds until it was time to cross the stage with our band and each of its sections (which is an all day affair). When we finally crossed the stage, we danced like crazy for the judges and had a ball. (FYI- One Island Band won Band of the Year again for the third time in a row!). By the end of the day, we were sore and tired and could barely get to our car, but we had an amazing time. As we packed our bags and began our travel back home we definitely began to experience Carnival Tabanca after everything was said and done (Carnival Tabanca – sadness over the end of Carnival).
Overall, My trip to Miami was an experience that I will never forget!
“So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun” –Ecclesiastes 8:15 NLT
OH MY GOD, Becky! 
I love your blog!
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Thank you so much!
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