my mum was over visiting for a couple of weeks, and since she had to overnight in miami on the way to turks and caicos, julia and i flew over for a mid week break of a little bit of shopping, people watching and lots of city walking.

every time james and i go to miami, we rent a car and end up driving back and forth between target, whole foods, aventura mall and also the design district for out favorite restaurants. this time, we decided to stay in south beach, and although the south beach vibe is not exactly our thing, we were determined to enjoy it fully.

we booked to stay at the rebury, which is one of our favorite hotels. most of the times we chose to stay here because the service is the friendliest in miami, it has a boutiquey feel to it, the rooms and bathrooms are enormous and brand new, and it’s located just 3 minutes from Lincoln road. we skip the beach view that other hotels might offer, (it’s not a priority for us, living by the beach) and the rebury is the raleigh‘s younger sibling, located just across the street.

we have stayed at the raleigh a few times – before julia, and getting a big hotel room wasn’t a priority (to fit luggage, crib and stroller to name a few…). staying at the raleigh is the quintessential south beach experience, with its amazing decor, iconic art deco swimming pool, and delicious meals by michael’s genuine – our farm to table hero.
every morning we headed over to the raleigh and just enjoyed spending time catching up whilst eating breakfast by the pool – my ultimate favorite was the their home made granola (best one i’ve ever had) with creamy yogurt and berries – i love love love this.

our waiter was so nice to bring an impossible-to-move-plate for julia (aka heavy duty board) and some cheerios to snack on.

yes, i did what i always said i would never do…bribe my daughter with some iPad time so i could sip my cappuccino in the most relaxing manner. and it felt like a true vacation.

there was lot’s of grandma bonding too. we live almost 24 hours away and my mum said she doesn’t want to spend more than 3 months without seeing julia, so she doesn’t miss out, and i thought that was so sweet.

guess where i took julia first for some mummy shopping…the girls at madewell were so friendly and patient, having julia crawl all over the store!

one day we did get in a taxi and headed to the design district, it’s our neighborhood of choice for restaurants, and every time we stop in miami, there is an obligatory visit to mgfd and harry’s pizzeria. living in an island, where all our produce come in containers from miami, i miss the taste of real vegetables and fruit and good cheese, and different flavours other than the club sandwich and caesar salad almost all restaurants offer.

this burrata and pear salad was something out of this world.

julia was such a trooper, love this girl, and love that we can travel together. so much hard work, but mostly managing expectations, and always worth it.

on our last day we wanted to take some pictures of the design district, so we stopped by the beach on our way. our beaches in turks and caicos are so much better, the sand, the water and the fact that they’re never crowded, but i do love the personality of miami beach, so many people walking, running or cycling, and all the little colorful huts.

it was a cloudy day, so actually not the best day for picture taking. the art deco buildings didn’t really contrast with the sky. we did stop by this gorgeous historic art deco building, the webster, which hosts one of my favorite stores in south beach.

it was a quick trip, only two nights, but considering we had julia (and things happen at a much slower pace) and nothing on our agenda, it was a great mid week break in miami. so long miami, we are so lucky to have you only an hour flight away.

ps – another post on miami previously this year.