Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Miami: Not what it's cracked up to be/Pensacola Beach: Better than Miami. May 23-28, 2014

Hey everyone!

Hope you all enjoyed my update about Chicago. We will actually be going back there in a few weeks, so if you know of any places we should visit, let me know!

 
 So, let me begin by saying that I could not wait to visit Miami. All I could think about was palm trees, upbeat Latin music, Cuban food, and sunshine! I mean, after 8 seasons of watching Dexter I just knew exactly what to expect. EHH WRONG. 

I will admit that when I look back on the trip to Miami, I have positive memories. But at the time, we were not having fun. I actually want to go back again someday. Only because now I know what to expect!



What's the first thing you do when you get to Miami?...

ELEVATOR SELFIES!



 My friend Kim and I getting ready to head to South Beach! We were so excited to get our toes in the sand and catch some sun in the water!

 Oh wait.. what? This is it? The sand was hard. You could barely walk barefoot without it hurting your feet. The beach was empty. And this is SOUTH BEACH. This is supposed to be where the fun is.



 Beach pic. As you can see in the background, algae is all up and down the coast. It reminded me so much of Galveston Beach.

 Of course we had to have some selfies. Even if the beach was nasty.

 We were really hungry when dinner time came around. I was wanting to try Cuban food, but once I saw this place we just had to try it. (Ok, I'm the only one who really wanted it. hehe). I'm not sure what it's called, but it's this little Brasilian place near the beach.
 Authentic Brasilian stroganoff. Very good!
 Brasil is known for their meat! CARNE.
 And of course for dessert we had brigadeiro. A tradition Brasilian chocolate. It was very good!

One downside to this place was the price and the service. The restaurant was NOT busy at all, yet the servers barely paid attention to us. They actually acted like they were better than us. The food was good, but everything else was just EH.


After dinner we decided to explore South Beach night life. Little did we know it was actually "Urban Weekend" in Miami. We definitely stood out in the crowd.


 Here are some pics of the Versace Mansion. This is where famous designer Gianni Versace lived before he was murdered.

 Some photos of the hotels on ocean drive.

 Group selfie. My brother EO, his girlfriend/our friend Kim, Eyen, and I.
 Miami by day.


 Luckily we did not have to experience the traffic on the bridge going into South Beach. I have seen where it can be BAD.
 The next day was Sneaker-Con. I decided to wear my beachy looking pineapple shorts. :)
My shoes are actually called LeBron "South Beach", so I thought it was appropriate to wear them.


This is what makes me happy.. HAHA

 The selfie masters.

 All of us decided to go out for a nice dinner and stroll around the city.

 Beautiful night views.


 Glamour shots.

 I've always wanted to play a huge game of chess! It reminds me of Harry Potter!


For dinner, we found this small Italian restaurant. Unfortunately, I did not catch any of the names. Like I said before, at the time, we were not too happy about our experience.

 This is a vegetable soup appetizer. It doesn't look very appetizing from the pic, but it was actually pretty good!
 A burger with bacon and blue cheese. We LOVE blue cheese.
 I'm sorry about the blurry pic. This is an angel hair pasta with tomatoes and seafood.
 Our flat bread pizza with steak!
 Dessert was actually supposed to be carrot cake, but we informed the waiter of Eyen's allergy to carrots (self-acclaimed allergy, I might add), and he gladly changed it to red velvet cake! WAY BETTER!


For breakfast we wanted something quick since we were leaving Miami that day. We found this small cafe inside of a mall connected to our hotel. It was a pleasant surprise. The owner was fabulous. You could tell she was foreign and very fashionable. We told her that her cafe was awesome. She was so friendly!


 At least we ended Miami on a good note. 

Miami was not what we expected. The food was high priced and very small portions. We didn't see all the beautiful people running around like you see in the movies. There were many things we didn't get to experience because we were time pressured. I would like to give Miami another chance in the future, but not anytime soon.


Since Miami did not fulfill our desire to get some sun on the beach, we decided to make the drive to Pensacola Beach, which was on our way home anyways. We were only going to stay there for the day then drive home that night, but that didn't quite work out. We stayed one night, but it was worth it.

Tip: If you're going to Pensacola Beach, book your hotel ahead of time. Do not wait until you get there. We were stuck in a terrible hotel that wreaked of smoke. YUCK.




 Of course the first thing we decided to do was eat! We ate at Flounder's Chowder House.
 Fried Calamari. We are still on the hunt for THE BEST!
 This drink is called Diesel Fuel. Interesting.
 Dry martini. Disgusting.
 This is supposed to be an appetizer! We didn't even finish half of it! Seafood nachos. They were SO GOOD!



 We also had to try the burger.



The next day we set out for the beach! 
Here is the sandcastle we made. We named it "Mount Pistola".








 We were attempting to fill the mote, but it was a fail.





 Pistola.




 Beach selfie.


 These Seagram's escapes were so good. Tasted like no alcohol.


 We decided to turn Leo into a mermaid.














We actually had a great time on the beach here.







 Of course you have to apply sunscreen. haha. She is funny.
 Unfortunately, it was too late for me to apply sunscreen. I burnt like Lechon. (It's a roasted pig in the Philippines).

 My Tita (Eyen's mom) loves Pina Colada, so I took a photo of how to make one.

 We could not leave Pensacola without trying the baked oysters from Blue Marlin's. OH. MY. GOODNESS! The BEST baked oysters I have EVER had! I highly recommend these!

 A few pics of the pretty white sand on our way out.


Pensacola was a much better place to visit, in my opinion. It is less expensive and the beach is a lot nicer.  I would love to come back here again someday.

My next blog will be a mix of events happening from the end of May until the beginning of July! It will include food from Dallas and San Antonio, as well as home cooked food. I will also include updates on my little brother Chandler. 

Stay tuned!


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