Miami, FL (April 10-14, 2026)

Upon arrival to Miami (specifically the Brickell neighborhood) , I felt the Friday night energy vibrating around me. Even though I had just come off a 3 hour flight after a full week of work, I was swept up by the liveliness. For the people around me, the night was just starting - the music was bopping, the cafes were full, and the cars were honking away - and I no longer felt so sleepy. I thought, this is Miami.

DAY 1

In the morning, we walked through the streets to pick up Grace from the airport and everything looked exactly as it did on TV - the palm trees, tall white buildings, and most importantly, the free-roaming chickens.

View from Brickell apartment

After picking up Grace and Jess, we headed to the Everglades. On the way, we made pit stops at Cakeland Bakery for delicious pastelitos and fruit / farm stands in the surrounding agricultural area.

My favorite were the chorizo pastelitos and pan de chorizo 😍

Knaus Berry farm is known for their cinnamon rolls

BBQ, fruit stand, playground complex! Sorry Chirag, Grace is a boomer (like me)

Coco frio!

Then off to the Everglades! At the visitor center, I had this experience straight out of a storybook - I opened the door and stepped onto the porch directly overlooking the swamp, complete with rocking chairs and a sign warning about alligators. 

On the Anhinga trail, we saw so much fun animal and plant life in a short span.

Blue heron

Anhinga (namesake of the trail)

We also went on the nearby Gumbo Limbo trail - funny name but turns out that's the name of a tree.

Huge tree - maybe a gumbo limbo??

Air plants!

To cool off from the hike, we went to 'Robert is Here' fruit stand. I had fresh guanabana (soursop) for the first time. While it smelled like the nectar they sell at Costco, the fresh fruit had a refreshing lightness to it, similar to lychee but less tart. The best part was the texture of the fruit, which reminded me of durian but perhaps a little more pulpy. Amazing time munching on fruit!

Robert is actually here and also at the cash register

Guanabana! Yum!

More roosters!

Then off to another roadside find - Reyes Juice Fruit and Nursery! They sell many types of palm trees, fruits & juices, snacks, and some legit Cuban food.

Many types of palm trees

My favorite was the vaca frita (shredded beef, jazzed up with vinegar and onions)

Sugar cane juice! 

(Would have preferred some ginger or lemon though as they do in Taiwan)

Interestingly, they had candied pumpkin made from "Chinese pumpkin," which reminded me very much of Chinese winter melon! Not pictured, we also bought some turon (peanut nougat / fudge). The wrapper was quite oily but that's how you know they used real peanuts. Also that's how I learned that peanuts are a tropical plant!

Candied pumpkin

DAY 2

Early on Sunday morning, they were going to tear down the Mandarin Oriental hotel through implosion. Almost immediately, that rubbed me the wrong way. The New Yorker in me probably has a bias against tearing down buildings because they generally have historic significance. While the Mandarin Oriental was only 25 years old and not too historic, the desire to quickly destroy a building simply to build a more luxurious one did not sit well with me. This cycle of rapid destroy and build seems to only satisfy materialistic ambitions. On top of that, it became a spectacle for the neighborhood - complete with fireworks before the implosion. Why are we reveling in destruction??

The crowds...

Building is destroyed in 8 booms. Only a cloud of dust remains.

I felt more at peace at our next destination - Key Biscayne - where I relished in the nature. We ascended the lighthouse at the tip, went on a trail run, and cooled off at the beach!

Maybe one of the oldest buildings in Miami?

Tree tunnels! (plus mangroves and swamps...

...too hot to stick around & photograph)

The water at the beach was not as warm as the "bath water" I was informed about, but still pleasant. Forgot how salty the ocean is after swimming in the lake so much.

While we're so close to the coast, I thought it would be nice to have some seafood. A lot of also comes from the network of shallower swamps. So we went to Plaza Seafood Market which is a fish market than also fries up seafood for you. We had some yummy fried snapper and shrimp. The snapper tasted different from usual, which prompted me to realize that there are actually many types of snapper!

We also tried Nicaraguan food for the first time at Fritanga Cana Brava - which ended up being my favorite meal in Miami!

Indio viejo (a sour orange stew) 

with rice, beans, and plantains

Since we're in Miami, I figured that we had to see Miami Beach. We happened upon a pride celebration, so there was lots of energy to go around!

This area is one of the more historic parts.

Historic hotel vibes, somehow reminds me of buildings in the Southwest?

Immediately reminded me of fruit fly gut

Then we walked around the nearby Lincoln Rd which was lined with various shops - ranging from Ross to a Garmin store. I learned that Garmin not only makes running watches, but also tactical and scuba-diving watches and navigation for boats!

DAY 3

Another must-visit is Versailles Bakery (but not Versailles Restaurant). This Cuban bakery is frequented by locals (saw lots of nurses getting their morning cafe + pastelito) and tourists alike.

THE SPREAD. Guava and cheese pastelito was my favorite

Then we hit up two artsy areas - Wynwood and the Leah Arts District. The murals in Wynwood had an industrial feel, aligning with the gentrification of the neighborhood. The Leah Arts District is in Hialeah which is yet to be gentrified (a significant Hispanic population), but also not very walkable. 

Storefronts painted with murals

Enjoying murals from the car

In hindsight, we should have probably visited the Garden of the Arts instead if we wanted something walkable. Nonetheless, we took advantage of the warehouse area and entered a wholesale store. It basically had everything you might need for a small business, whether it's a mom-and-pop restaurant or your local dollar store.

Lots of Hispanic candies

I didn't know MSG was used in Hispanic cooking??

For lunch, we hit up a ceviche spot, Barra Callao, which was an elevated version of the many ceviche places in Miami. (Later, when I walked around downtown, there was even a "fast food" ceviche place - La Granja.)

Mixed seafood ceviche

Blue crab causa

Octopus carpaccio

Next to the restaurant was a grocery store. We tried tomate de arbol (which tasted like passion fruit + papaya) and fresh cocoa (the outside is reminiscent of lychee or mangosteen, while the inside is essentially cocoa nibs before fermenting and toasting). 

Fresh cocoa!

Tomate de arbol!

The store also carried Israeli / Kosher products. I did not know that there was an Orthodox Jewish population in Miami!

We continued our way up north to Hugh Taylor State Park near Fort Lauderdale.

Fauna and wildlife...

Tamarind pods

Iguanas (invasive species)

Looks like modern art to me 🤣

... and lots of cool banyan trees, which have aerial roots that you can sometimes walk through!

Then we strolled down the Fort Lauderdale Riverwalk Downtown district, oblivious that there is also a Riverwalk that actually goes along the river. Our walk took us down a street lined with shops and restaurants. We wandered into a few art galleries, where the art felt bolder (or some would say more gaudy) than the Northeast - think balloon-dog vibes. While it was a bit too posh for me, we did enjoy a little bit of time by the river.

Some liken Fort Lauderdale to its many canals...

...we randomly turned onto a street with yacht-lined canals

For dinner, we had some Uzbek food to switch it up. The ethnic diversity seems to cover a larger in geographic range in Daria Beach, where the restaurant Grandma's Secret was located. (Yummy, but goes without saying that Brooklyn still has da best.)

Crispy eggplant salad (sweet and sour sauce!)

Plov

DAY 4

On the last day, I went for a relaxing swim at the public pool and took the opportunity to explore the Downtown area + Bayfront Park.

I had a pizza pastelito as a little snack, combining two beloved classics.

I noticed a lot of New York transplants - Maman, Prince St. Pizza, Avenue of the Americas...

The fountains and waterfront views of Bayfront Park were scenic, though the touristy Bayfront Marketplace was not my cup of tea. As I walked along the waterfront, I thought I had passed a bar based on the seductive outfits of the waitresses. Turns out, the waitstaff at every single restaurant was wearing colorful dresses - sometimes cute, sometimes bordering swimwear. Is that the image of Miami they're selling - a place of opulence and gluttony - where you can satisfy all your desires??

As I headed out from the park, there were ~20 workers laying out grass, which provoked a thought: 

this desire for luxury and opulence creates jobs, but what purpose does it really serve? What good does knocking down one luxury building for another do? Why manufacture your environment when you can relish in nature's beauty? Perhaps I just prefer a more lowkey, a more natural environment. All the nature on this trip was perfect for helping me reset. I'll leave you with a banyan tree - peace.