Fort Lauderdale and Miami

by Nur Hayati - April 08, 2020

Here is my first blog post in 2020. I should have written some blog posts a few months ago, but I haven't been really in the mood for writing. Actually, I wrote some blog posts but I didn't really finish them, so they just ended up in the draft that I never posted. Now, here I am social distancing in my room due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has been spreading across the world. Hence, I'm using this time to be more with myself by writing on my blog. A bit of throwback to where I was last year when I was on my exchange program in the United States. I remember during the spring I was quite busy traveling across the states. So, I traveled to Fort Lauderdale and Miami for spring break; then at the end of March, I flew to Charlotte, North Carolina to attend the South Region Model United Nations (SRMUN) which was an incredible new experience as I met intelligent students during the conferences; and the next week after that, I flew to Houston, Texas for another retreat event from the exchange program. Now that I miss it, I want to write a detailed throwback about my spring break...

DAY 1

March 2019, my friend Diana and I decided to go to Fort Lauderdale and Miami to spend our spring break there. We left our city, Orlando, by bus around 9am in the morning and arrived in Fort Lauderdale at 3pm in the afternoon. It was probably way too early to go to the beach since the daylight saving time had begun so the sunset would be an hour later which around 7:30pm, but we just went straight to the Fort Lauderdale Beach as that was the only destination we planned to go in Fort Lauderdale. Surrounded by several tall buildings and cafes, the beach was fascinating with clean white sands and soothing palm trees. There were also many other spring breakers sunbathing on the beach mats by the sea with books and music. In the meantime, Diana and I enjoyed our beach picnic by eating noodles, laying on a sheet, taking a bunch of pictures, and just relaxing with the ocean breeze. It was a perfect beautiful day at the beach. Upon sunset, we strolled around the beach where there were a number of bars and girls dancing in bikinis. We were so tired but also happy, then finally we took a bus to Hollywood, a city between Fort Lauderdale and Miami because apparently, that is the city where we found the most affordable Airbnb for our stay.

Fort Lauderdale Beach, Florida

DAY 2

On the next day, we packed our stuff from our Airbnb in Hollywood and left for Miami. After we arrived in Miami, we went straight to our new Airbnb in Miami because we wanted to put our stuff since we didn't want to carry our backpacks while we were strolling around the city. Following that, we went to Ocean Drive to wander around and buy some souvenirs. As we were hungry, then we stopped at an authentic Cuban restaurant called Havana 1957 on Española Way. It was a pretty unique restaurant with Cuban decorations as well as the Spanish-speaking waitresses. Fyi, in Miami, the Hispanic or Latino population accounted for 70 percent of its total population. The Hispanic or Latino originates from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, etc.

It was a really hot day, so after we had lunch we went on a walk around Miami and found a lovely park called Soundscape Park. The park was beautifully built with palm trees and unusual flower-hung architectures. We eventually made it to the iconic Miami Beach. As predicted, the beach was packed with spring breakers swimming in the sea, including my friend, Diana. As I was waiting for her swimming, I went up to one of the lifeguard houses and I could see the view around me: a crystal clear sky and the blue water shore, which was such a wonderful view I saw from above the lifeguard house. People were sunbathing, reading a book, dancing with loud music, and enjoying their drinks. It was a wonderful sunny day at Miami Beach.

Since we planned to take a boat tour around Biscayne Bay, we left the beach earlier and took a bus to downtown. In order to take the boat tour, we went to Bayside Marketplace which is located along Miami's waterfront where we took the boat tour from. We eventually arrived there and immediately went to the ticket place of the boat tour as the last boat tour would be at 7pm, and it was just 2 minutes to 7pm when I glanced at my watch. The price of the boat tour was $32 which was more expensive than I had expected; I thought it would be $20. I was actually really broke that time as I still had to spare some money for my other trips in the next few weeks. However, when I thought about it again, I realized that this could be my once in a lifetime moment to get on a boat tour in Miami, so without any hesitation, I eventually bought the tickets. Right after that, at the very last minute, we got on the boat. We were lucky because we could sit on the corner-back seats on the second floor of the boat, and it was a perfect spot for a boat tour. The boat tour took about 90 minutes, and we got to see the sunset during the boat tour. The boat tour was narrated by a local guide who also spoke Spanish. He explained to us interesting facts about the billion-dollar houses owned by celebrities, billionaires, athletes that we saw during the boat tour. Luxurious mansions with a swimming pool, garden, and even a yacht lined up next to each other. A boat tour in Miami while feeling the ocean breeze was another terrific experience of enjoying a sunset. The horizon I saw across the bay was breathtaking. The view was even more stunning at night when I saw city lights emerging from downtown Miami. I can't describe it enough of how awesome the boat tour was. This was probably the best thing about the Miami trip. Following that, we walked around the Bayside Marketplace where we could find tourist shops, cafes, and restaurants. After a really long day, we eventually went back to our Airbnb.

Soundscape Park, Miami

Miami Beach, Florida

Downtown Miami, Florida

DAY 3

On the last day, we left our Airbnb and wandered around in Little Havana and Calle Ocho. Before we arrived there, we had to take a very long walk to get to the bus stop. It was super tiring, but well I took it as a morning exercise. Little Havana is well known for the tourists' favorite places to visit as it offers the authentic vibe of Cuba, not to mention the interesting murals along the streets, non-stop lively Latin music drifting through the air, as well as the restaurants and coffee shops. The neighborhood is home for Cubans, Nicaraguans, Hondurans, and other immigrants from the Caribbean and Latin America. Calle Ocho (8th street) as the heart of Little Havana is also an interesting place to explore. Giant rooster statues, symbols of the area could be found all over Calle Ocho. I also happened to stop at Máximo Gómez Park that is known as Domino Park where elderly men sipping Cuban coffee and playing dominoes, and when I walked outside I could see the Calle Ocho Walk of Fame, which honors more than two dozen Latin stars who have left an incredible mark. As we were tired and hungry, we dined in at another Cuban Restaurant named La Esquina de la Fama. I ordered a yuquita frita which was simply fried cassava. The restaurant has a very unique vibe with brightly colored designs and interesting arts on the walls. After having our little breakfast, we took a Lyft taxi to Bayside Marketplace to catch our bus to Orlando. So that's the highlight of my spring break moment in Fort Lauderdale and Miami. It was a truly remarkable trip that I really enjoyed.