Trip Report South Beach weekend
Dec 14th, 2005, 01:43 AM
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Trip Report South Beach weekend
My husband and I spent 2 nights at the Park Central Hotel on South Beach in Miami on Dec. 10 and 11 2005. We are in our fifties and had business in Miami on Monday so we went a bit earlier to enjoy a weekend getaway.
We arrived at the Miami airport around 11 a.m. on Sat., then caught the rental car shuttle to the offsite car company. All the car companies operate free shuttles from the airport to their various yards. You get the shuttle by going to the center median outside the arrival gates and then you flag down your particular van as it comes by. The drive took about 10 minutes to get to the Enterprise yard from the airport.
They had our car ready and we were driving to South Beach about a half hour later. They have printed directions which were very good and we had no problem finding the right roads.
The Park Central is located on Ocean Dr. across the street from the beach. I picked this hotel based on lots of reviews on tripadvisor.com and will write a detailed review there. We were very happy with the hotel. It was under $200 for an ocean front room and we enjoyed our stay there.
Our room was ready when we arrived so we were able to put our luggage away immediately. Then we needed to deal with the car which we'd left out front. You can self park at a nearby garage for $10 per day or use their valet parking service for $25 per day. The garage is about a block away, an easy walk so we chose to self park. Before parking the car we drove up Collins Dr. (the road that parallels Ocean Dr. one street back from the beach) quite a distance to get a feel for the island and then back down Ocean Dr.
We stopped for lunch at Jerry's Famous Deli on Collins. We found a parking space on the street with no trouble. The food was mediocre and very expensive. The service was slow and not very attentive. Wouldn't recommend this place.
After lunch we wandered down Espanola Way which is a pedestrian mall that had other restaurants and some flea market type booths.
Next we went back to the hotel and got ready for the beach. The hotel has a deal with the people who rent the chairs and beach umbrellas so included with your hotel stay is a chair and pad on the beach. The umbrella costs $10 per day which you pay to the guy on the beach. The chairs are available from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm The hotel also provides beach towels.
The weather was very warm and we stayed on the beach until about 4 pm then went back to the hotel and swam in the heated pool. My husband swam in the Atlantic but it was too cold for me. The hotel pool is small but was fine for us. There were never more than a couple of other people in the pool when we were there.
We had dinner reservations at Wish for 7:30 but were ready early so we took a walk down Ocean Dr. and watched the people and took in the scene. Lots of action, music, restaurants along the way. The restaurants all have outdoor seating and each one has someone who will try to get you to stop at their restaurant..sort of like running the gauntlet. If you don't want this you could walk on the other side of the street along the park. We enjoyed being on the action side of the street though and the lights wrapped around the palm trees and the decorations for Christmas on the shops and restaurants were fun to see.
Wish is located about 2 blocks from the hotel so we made our way there eventually and were seated in the garden by the fountain. This is absolutely one of the top restaurants I've ever been to...it is expensive (about $25-30 per entree) but they do everything right. Very good experience and I'd recommend Wish to anyone. Very nice for a romantic night out.
Sunday we walked 7 blocks north along Ocean Dr. to get breakfast at the Front Porch Cafe. I'd read about this place and thought the reviews sounded good. We weren't as impressed as some folks. The quantity of food is a lot and was pretty good, but it was really more than we wanted. For example the egg breakfast was 3 eggs plus a lot of other food and coffee and orange juice for $10. The price was the same whether you got 3 eggs or fewer. I just wanted a simple breakfast with one egg toast and coffee but that seemed hard to do. If you did it a la carte the price was higher than getting all the food. I will compliment their fresh squeezed orange juice. If you go there don't miss it.
Back down to the beach for a few hours and then we got the car and drove to the area of the Lincoln Rd. Mall. This is another outdoor pedestrian mall that runs for many blocks. There is a big market on Sundays and we enjoyed browsing along looking at all the junk mixed with antiques, plants for sale, soaps, etc. There are restaurants with outdoor seating scattered all along the mall. This was a good thing to do on a Sunday afternoon. We found parking on the street but needed quarters for the meter which proved challenging to get, so you might want to keep some available for parking.
I have to give a plug to the Roma Gelato place on 9th street between Ocean and Collins. This place makes their own gelato (Italian ice cream) and it is like the gelato you get in Italy, which seems hard to do. I've tried gelato at other places in the US and it just hasn't been right. Roma Gelato has a lot of different flavors and I highly recommend this place.
Drove back to the parking garage and back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. First we had a glass of wine from the bar at the Park Central, which was expensive ($22 for 2 glasses of wine) We couldn't find a nice place to sit outside as the Park Central folks were preparing the tables on the porch for their dinner service so we took the wine glasses to the front porch of the Avalon annex which was very close and sat on their couches. Nobody told us to leave and we had a nice time watching the people go by.
We decided to eat at a Fish called Avalon which is in the hotel 3 doors down from the Park Central. We sat outside again and had a very nice meal there. The presentation was beautiful and I would recommend this restaurant. It is also expensive with entrees around $25 and I didn't like it as well as Wish but both were good. If you are only going to splurge one time I'd go for Wish.
Monday morning we had to check out early to make our appt. in Miami at 9:30 am. We were a bit worried about the drive so left at 8:30 am but it only took us 15-20 minutes to get to Coral Gables.
After the appt. we went to the Fairchild Botanical Gardens. This was a really excellent choice. From Dec. 3 until May 2006 there is a show of the glass art of Dale Chihuly. These are fantastical glass pieces of all colors and shapes that are placed all over the gardens. They seem to be growing out of the plants. Really worth seeing and I think kids would enjoy this also. Our daughter would have loved walking around trying to spy the next piece hidden in the garden. The gardens have suffered from the recent hurricanes but are still beautiful. There is a tram ride that leaves on the hour to drive all around the gardens and they give a commentary. Then after that you can walk around the grounds on your own. There is a restaurant there but we didn't eat there.
Back to Coconut Grove to meet up with a relative and we had lunch in a restaurant in CocoWalk. She recommended The Cheesecake Factory which we'd never heard of and is a chain so we wouldn't have normally gone there. But the meal was great so if you happen upon this restaurant it would be a good choice.
Left Coconut Grove at 4 pm to drive back to return the rental car. The traffic was quite heavy and we got into a few very slow moving areas on the way back. I'm glad we left at 4 as our flight was at 6:45. We made it back to the rental place by 5 and got a ride with the Enterprise folks to the airport with plenty of time to spare. They were very accommodating at Enterprise as the shuttles were filled up when we arrived so they took us to the airport in a car.
We had a great weekend. Two nights at South Beach was just about right. I wouldn't have wanted to stay longer but really enjoyed our time there. The place was clean and felt very safe to walk around at night in the areas we went.
A couple of other notes: European travellers should not assume that cars will stop for pedestrians at the "zebra" crosswalks like they do in England and Europe. Be aware! Also, most (maybe all) restaurants on South Beach add a 15% tip to your bill so be sure to notice that when you add any further tip.
We arrived at the Miami airport around 11 a.m. on Sat., then caught the rental car shuttle to the offsite car company. All the car companies operate free shuttles from the airport to their various yards. You get the shuttle by going to the center median outside the arrival gates and then you flag down your particular van as it comes by. The drive took about 10 minutes to get to the Enterprise yard from the airport.
They had our car ready and we were driving to South Beach about a half hour later. They have printed directions which were very good and we had no problem finding the right roads.
The Park Central is located on Ocean Dr. across the street from the beach. I picked this hotel based on lots of reviews on tripadvisor.com and will write a detailed review there. We were very happy with the hotel. It was under $200 for an ocean front room and we enjoyed our stay there.
Our room was ready when we arrived so we were able to put our luggage away immediately. Then we needed to deal with the car which we'd left out front. You can self park at a nearby garage for $10 per day or use their valet parking service for $25 per day. The garage is about a block away, an easy walk so we chose to self park. Before parking the car we drove up Collins Dr. (the road that parallels Ocean Dr. one street back from the beach) quite a distance to get a feel for the island and then back down Ocean Dr.
We stopped for lunch at Jerry's Famous Deli on Collins. We found a parking space on the street with no trouble. The food was mediocre and very expensive. The service was slow and not very attentive. Wouldn't recommend this place.
After lunch we wandered down Espanola Way which is a pedestrian mall that had other restaurants and some flea market type booths.
Next we went back to the hotel and got ready for the beach. The hotel has a deal with the people who rent the chairs and beach umbrellas so included with your hotel stay is a chair and pad on the beach. The umbrella costs $10 per day which you pay to the guy on the beach. The chairs are available from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm The hotel also provides beach towels.
The weather was very warm and we stayed on the beach until about 4 pm then went back to the hotel and swam in the heated pool. My husband swam in the Atlantic but it was too cold for me. The hotel pool is small but was fine for us. There were never more than a couple of other people in the pool when we were there.
We had dinner reservations at Wish for 7:30 but were ready early so we took a walk down Ocean Dr. and watched the people and took in the scene. Lots of action, music, restaurants along the way. The restaurants all have outdoor seating and each one has someone who will try to get you to stop at their restaurant..sort of like running the gauntlet. If you don't want this you could walk on the other side of the street along the park. We enjoyed being on the action side of the street though and the lights wrapped around the palm trees and the decorations for Christmas on the shops and restaurants were fun to see.
Wish is located about 2 blocks from the hotel so we made our way there eventually and were seated in the garden by the fountain. This is absolutely one of the top restaurants I've ever been to...it is expensive (about $25-30 per entree) but they do everything right. Very good experience and I'd recommend Wish to anyone. Very nice for a romantic night out.
Sunday we walked 7 blocks north along Ocean Dr. to get breakfast at the Front Porch Cafe. I'd read about this place and thought the reviews sounded good. We weren't as impressed as some folks. The quantity of food is a lot and was pretty good, but it was really more than we wanted. For example the egg breakfast was 3 eggs plus a lot of other food and coffee and orange juice for $10. The price was the same whether you got 3 eggs or fewer. I just wanted a simple breakfast with one egg toast and coffee but that seemed hard to do. If you did it a la carte the price was higher than getting all the food. I will compliment their fresh squeezed orange juice. If you go there don't miss it.
Back down to the beach for a few hours and then we got the car and drove to the area of the Lincoln Rd. Mall. This is another outdoor pedestrian mall that runs for many blocks. There is a big market on Sundays and we enjoyed browsing along looking at all the junk mixed with antiques, plants for sale, soaps, etc. There are restaurants with outdoor seating scattered all along the mall. This was a good thing to do on a Sunday afternoon. We found parking on the street but needed quarters for the meter which proved challenging to get, so you might want to keep some available for parking.
I have to give a plug to the Roma Gelato place on 9th street between Ocean and Collins. This place makes their own gelato (Italian ice cream) and it is like the gelato you get in Italy, which seems hard to do. I've tried gelato at other places in the US and it just hasn't been right. Roma Gelato has a lot of different flavors and I highly recommend this place.
Drove back to the parking garage and back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. First we had a glass of wine from the bar at the Park Central, which was expensive ($22 for 2 glasses of wine) We couldn't find a nice place to sit outside as the Park Central folks were preparing the tables on the porch for their dinner service so we took the wine glasses to the front porch of the Avalon annex which was very close and sat on their couches. Nobody told us to leave and we had a nice time watching the people go by.
We decided to eat at a Fish called Avalon which is in the hotel 3 doors down from the Park Central. We sat outside again and had a very nice meal there. The presentation was beautiful and I would recommend this restaurant. It is also expensive with entrees around $25 and I didn't like it as well as Wish but both were good. If you are only going to splurge one time I'd go for Wish.
Monday morning we had to check out early to make our appt. in Miami at 9:30 am. We were a bit worried about the drive so left at 8:30 am but it only took us 15-20 minutes to get to Coral Gables.
After the appt. we went to the Fairchild Botanical Gardens. This was a really excellent choice. From Dec. 3 until May 2006 there is a show of the glass art of Dale Chihuly. These are fantastical glass pieces of all colors and shapes that are placed all over the gardens. They seem to be growing out of the plants. Really worth seeing and I think kids would enjoy this also. Our daughter would have loved walking around trying to spy the next piece hidden in the garden. The gardens have suffered from the recent hurricanes but are still beautiful. There is a tram ride that leaves on the hour to drive all around the gardens and they give a commentary. Then after that you can walk around the grounds on your own. There is a restaurant there but we didn't eat there.
Back to Coconut Grove to meet up with a relative and we had lunch in a restaurant in CocoWalk. She recommended The Cheesecake Factory which we'd never heard of and is a chain so we wouldn't have normally gone there. But the meal was great so if you happen upon this restaurant it would be a good choice.
Left Coconut Grove at 4 pm to drive back to return the rental car. The traffic was quite heavy and we got into a few very slow moving areas on the way back. I'm glad we left at 4 as our flight was at 6:45. We made it back to the rental place by 5 and got a ride with the Enterprise folks to the airport with plenty of time to spare. They were very accommodating at Enterprise as the shuttles were filled up when we arrived so they took us to the airport in a car.
We had a great weekend. Two nights at South Beach was just about right. I wouldn't have wanted to stay longer but really enjoyed our time there. The place was clean and felt very safe to walk around at night in the areas we went.
A couple of other notes: European travellers should not assume that cars will stop for pedestrians at the "zebra" crosswalks like they do in England and Europe. Be aware! Also, most (maybe all) restaurants on South Beach add a 15% tip to your bill so be sure to notice that when you add any further tip.
Dec 22nd, 2005, 03:57 PM
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Thank you for the trip report. I am going to be going to South Beach for 1 weekend in 2 weeks and would like to know alittle more about the restaurant Wish. What kind of food did they serve? I try to find out if they have a website. Thanks!
Dec 24th, 2005, 06:22 AM
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http://www.wishrestaurant.com/ is the website for Wish. After browsing the website I found the place where you can make reservations online and that is what I did. I actually ended up changing the reservation date and time 3 times using the online service! No problems at all with that and they had my name at the restaurant when we arrived. No charge for this reservation service.
Dec 24th, 2005, 06:29 AM
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P.S. We had the tuna tartare appetizer (shared), the scallops, the snapper and the mango sorbet/creme brulee dessert (shared) plus a bottle of wine. Warm bread (excellent) comes with the meal, plus there was a little complimentary "chef's tasting" surprise of a kind of cranberry soup they brought to the table. Everything was just outstanding. I liked the scallops and the dessert the best. Total with tip was $155.
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