I will be visiting Miami for a couple of weeks later this year. I want to know where I should go. I'm very interested in smaller local shops. What are the streets/areas with a lot of local business. I like clubbing as well.

For clubbing: South Beach.

I just got back from South Beach this week! What a big party! Bring lots of cash this town is expensive.Ocean Drive is a great street for good food , if your looking for slushie drinks try Fat Tuesday's or Wet Willy's. Washington Ave. has lots of good clubs, try Liquids, Living Room there are so many to choose from*actually they chose you to get in the club). I loved South Beach and miss the warm weather alreadt.

Go to Lincoln Road - tons of cool funky shops and restaurants. South Beach is really a great place to people watch.

PRA,

South beach tends to be a favorite. Sure it's expensive because of the type of crowd it attracts (aka tourists). I don't like it but I live here in Miami. I agree that Lincoln Road, though not exactly South Beach, offers alot of choices for eats and has really neat shops. It's also great for people watching.

Be sure to check out Coconut Grove. It has 2 movie theaters a block from eachother (loc. CocoWalk & MayFair), plenty of shops, dance clubs, and bars, including a Fat Tuesdays and a Wet Willies. It also has a Comedy Club. I like it cuz it's good for day or nite activity.

If you want more of a local feel, try Hooligan's. It's a sports bar with a pretty decent menu but dancing is limited. For singles clubs, I hear that Christopher's in Ft. Lauderdale is good. Also try Cafe Iguana's. Have fun!

If you enjoy shopping there is a mall in Sawgrass (not too far) that is unbelievable! They have a Saks Fifth Ave. outlet, a Neiman Marcus outlet, plus hundreds of other stores! We arrived there about 10:30 a.m., left around 8:30 p.m. and I still didn't make it to the entire mall. They have a Legal's seafood which is great (I recommend the mussells augratin), a Cheesecake Factory rest. and a Wolfgang Puck rest.

Oh yeah.

Cocowalk has a Cheesecake Factory too. The reason I said it was a good place to be at for both day and night was because (well, night time was explained in my last post) but daytime activities include great paths for biking and blading, a ball field 1/2 mile from Main & Grand intersention (thats the heart of the Grove) and a Marina 1 mile from that same point. The Marina has a Monty's Restaurant. Oh yeah, check out Key Biscayne too. They rent windsurfers and theres some good restaurants there (ie the Chart House).