Miami: Honestly, It's a Lot
okay, so i just got back from miami. or, well, i’m still kind of there, mentally. it’s…a place. a lot happens there. i’m exhausted just thinking about it. the flight was fine, standard airplane pretzels and questionable movies. but landing? whoa. humidity hit me like a wall. i just checked and it's 22.35°C (that's about 72°F for my non-metric friends), feels like 22.23°C, and the humidity is 61%. hope you like that kind of thing. i definitely didn’t.
first of all, it’s flat. like, really flat. apparently it’s all built on limestone, which explains why everything feels…solid, but also kinda precarious? they said the highest point in coconut grove is only 20 feet above sea level. twenty feet! that’s terrifying when you hear “hurricane season” (june-november, apparently). i’m not a fan of things that involve potential flooding, just putting that out there.
so, i spent a lot of time wandering around. south beach is…exactly what you expect. crowded, shiny, art deco buildings everywhere. it’s pretty, i guess, if you like that sort of thing. someone told me that the art deco hotels are all ridiculously expensive, even for a tiny room. i didn’t stay there, obviously. i found a place a little further inland, which was…fine.
little havana was cool, though. lots of energy, amazing smells, and i had a cuban sandwich that was genuinely life-changing. ropa vieja was good too, but honestly, the sandwich stole the show. i also tried to find key lime pie, but every place was sold out. apparently, it’s a big deal.
if you get bored, miami beach, coral gables, and hialeah are just a short drive away. i didn’t venture too far out, mostly because the traffic is insane. seriously, insane. i spent a good hour stuck on the highway just trying to get to biscayne national park, which, by the way, is beautiful. coral reefs, turquoise water…it’s a nice escape from the city chaos. everglades national park is also nearby, but i didn’t have time to go. alligators are not on my list of “things i want to encounter on vacation.”
it’s a really multicultural place, which is great. lots of cuban and caribbean influences, which is reflected in the food and the music. i overheard someone complaining about the “urban density,” which is a fancy way of saying it’s crowded. it is. it really is. it’s a massive metro area - the 8th largest in the us, apparently - crammed onto a tiny little island. it’s…a lot.
overall? miami is…an experience. it’s not relaxing. it’s not peaceful. it’s loud, it’s hot, it’s crowded, and it’s expensive. but it’s also kind of fascinating. it’s a weird mix of glamour and grit, natural beauty and urban sprawl. would i go back? maybe. but i’d definitely pack a lot of sunscreen, a good book, and a very strong sense of patience.
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