Getaways in the United States Archives

Getaways in the United States, New Orleans, Louisiana, Travel

My Itinerary: How We Celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans

March 3, 2023 1 Comment

Mardi Gras in New Orleans is one MASSIVE party! Fashion rules go out the window, alcohol can be carried openly down Bourbon Street, incredibly talented musicians serenade every corner, and women decide that shiny plastic beads are worth going topless for. There are multiple ways to “do” Mardi Gras, and I spent hours carefully planning to make sure that we safely got to experience everything New Orleans had to offer! Save yourself some time and use this itinerary as a template for your own trip!

If Mardi Gras in the middle of winter isn’t your thing, try somewhere warmer with “5 Amazing Days in Sunny Miami, FL“.

Wednesday – Travel Tips and Hotel Review

I worked Tuesday night going into Wednesday, our travel day, so we slept during the day before flying out of St. Louis around 7 pm! This is one of my best planning tips for vacationing as a travel nurse (click here for that article!). We both snagged window seats on our Southwest flight to nap before arriving in New Orleans around 10 pm! After a 20-minute Uber into the city and dropping off our bags at the hotel, we found some Willie’s Chicken for dinner (more on that gem later) and tucked into bed.

Our hotel: Maison Dupuy

We chose this hotel because it is located in the historic French Quarter, close to both Bourbon St (the party street) and Canal St (the main parade route). Our room was definitely “historic,” maybe even slightly dated, but it was spotlessly clean, and the bed was very comfortable! The bathroom was small but clean, and the shower was average with good water pressure. Housekeeping services and the concierge were friendly and happy to help with anything we needed. They have a small room with drinks, snacks, and basic necessities for purchase. For my full review on TripAdvisor, click here.

We pre-booked online via Expedia in December, which gave us the option to pay for the entire hotel cost at check-in. We’ve utilized the book-now-pay-later function multiple times for long trips when our accommodations need to be booked far earlier than we can afford. Free cancellation is usually offered up to 2 weeks prior to your check-in date! However, use this option with caution: you need to be able to swipe a credit card at check-in for the entire total of your stay! Our hotel was $170 for the first couple nights we were there, but it jumped to $404 per night once Mardi Gras weekend hit. Be prepared to spend around $500/night if you want to stay in the French Quarter during the peak season. Mardi Gras in New Orleans is serious business, so be prepared to spend more on your accommodations.

Thursday – New Orleans African American Museum

Fair warning, we slept in EVERY day and napped EVERY afternoon! As night-shifters, we looked forward to all the sleep we were going to get during this trip. No shame whatsoever.

After sleeping in, we walked to the river and enjoyed brunch at Cafe Beignet on Decatur Street. There are multiple locations in New Orleans, but ours had breezy open-air seating in a beautiful old building! The food was great, and the view was fabulous. We didn’t have to wait in line at all, easily snagging seats by the windows.

We were determined to walk anywhere that was less than 30 mins away, so we set off with drinks in hand to find the New Orleans African American Museum. Located in Tremé, the oldest African-American neighborhood in America, the museum aims to “preserve the history and elevate the art, culture, and contributions of African Americans in New Orleans” (noaam.org). We spent over an hour here looking through preserved historical photographs, walking through their interactive exhibits, playing jazz on a turntable, and watching an excellent documentary on segregation and the fight for freedom in New Orleans. We would highly recommend going to the Tremé neighborhood to visit this museum!

We found some fantastic BBQ at Pig Out Nola on Toulouse St near our hotel, and their pulled pork cheese fries were to die for! We actually went back again at the end of our trip too!

Friday – Creole Cooking Class and Frenchmen St Pub Crawl

Today we decided to switch it up a bit and cook our own lunch! The Southern Food and Beverage Museum is home to Deelightful Roux School of Cooking, and we had a blast learning to make an authentic Creole meal! Chef Dee and her sous-chef Candy are New Orleans natives and kept us laughing as they taught us to make jambalaya, smothered okra, and bananas foster. I had never made shrimp before, so learning to prep and cook them was a step outside my comfort zone. Chefs Dee and Candy were patient with our inexperience, encouraged us to try our best, and provided a beautiful table for our group to enjoy our meal. There were two other guests in our group, which left plenty of tasks for everyone. Whether you’re an experienced cook or a microwave aficionado, you can learn and participate in the class! Chef Candy even took pictures for us, attached in the slideshow below!

After trekking back to the hotel and taking a (long) nap, we met tour guide Pandi on Frenchmen St for a pub crawl. She led our group through music clubs and cocktail bars to enjoy the incredible talent that graces the historic street every night! The Airbnb Experiences tour included a beverage, a shot, and a glimpse into the real musical culture of New Orleans. For only $40 per person for three hours, I thought this was a steal! We danced the night away with new friends from all over the world, including multiple people from the UK. Highly recommend this tour!

Saturday – Airboat Adventures Bayou Tour and Van Gogh

This was the coldest day of our trip (40 degrees), and we had an outdoor bayou tour planned. We bundled up as best we could and took a 45 min bus ride out to the bayou! We prebooked tickets the week prior on the Airboat Adventures website and chose the “large airboat” option. There were multiple other options, including a smaller airboat and a huge ferry-style boat, but we were happy with the option we chose! For $60/person, we shared an airboat with 15-20 other people but felt like we still had plenty of space. Our boat went FAST once we pulled away from the dock; definitely an adventure tour! We were lucky to see one large gator, a turtle darting into the water, and a bald eagle with her babies in a nest high in the trees. Our recommendation: go on a warm day! Unless the boat stopped to admire the scenery and in the sunlight, the wind in our faces was very cold! Also, according to Airboat Adventure’s website, “alligators are tough to find when temps drop below 70 degrees, no matter what time of year, but they can be found throughout the winter on warmer days.”

Airboat tour through the Louisiana bayou

Our fellow airboat passengers in the bayou outside of New Orleans

Although you can attend in multiple large cities across the country, we chose to spend our free evening visiting New Orlean’s Van Gogh Experience. Renderings of Van Gogh’s most popular paintings were displayed, and the exhibit was very museum-like until we reached the end. An immersive experience awaits at the end of the Van Gogh exhibit in each city, and this one was very relaxing! I attached some pictures below to show you how the walls change constantly, over a loop of about an hour. This is an easy photo opportunity with plenty of space for kids to (quietly) burn off some energy!

We got stuck by a parade on the way back to Bourbon Street from the Van Gogh Experience, and we couldn’t get back into the French Quarter for over two hours! We couldn’t squeeze through the crowds to get close enough to catch throws, so we went to The Roosevelt Hotel Bar to kill time. The parades are gorgeous and extravagant, but you definitely want to plan accordingly before you go to one. For fantastic tips directly from a New Orleans local, click here!

Sunday – Professional Photoshoot and Cemetery Tour

One of my FAVORITE activities to book on a trip is a professional photo shoot! Airbnb Experiences offers photoshoots in almost every city for around $50 per person. We booked a photoshoot in New Orleans for $50/each two weeks prior to the actual trip. Colton and I have done this in cities like Las Vegas, Nashville, San Francisco, etc. I love booking these because I don’t have to stress about getting high-quality photo memories of my trip: the photographer does all of that for me! Even if you’ve never had a photoshoot before, I highly recommend trying this. This is who we booked with both this year and last year!

Next, we toured St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, one of the most historic cemeteries in the area. Famous occupants include New Orleans voodoo queen Marie Laveau, civil rights activist Homer Plessy, and legendary chess champion Paul Morphy.

The only way to visit the cemetery is to book a tour online. I expected the cemetery tour to be expensive or difficult to get tickets for, but I was pleasantly surprised that it only cost $25 per person! We booked online six days in advance, more last-minute than I prefer, but they had plenty of options left. Our tour guide was clearly experienced and comfortably shared stories about the cemetery’s occupants. He waited for everyone in the group to catch up between stops, encouraged taking photos, and left ample time for questions. This tour is outdoors by nature, so watch the weather!

Monday & Tuesday – Lundi Gras & Mardi Gras

While we planned to go out on Lundi Gras, both of us were tired, and Jordan requested a rest day. We stayed in our hotel room, watched movies, and only ventured out onto Bourbon Street to find food! Doordash, Uber Eats, and other food delivery services can’t function in the French Quarter as it gets close to Mardi Gras because all the streets close for parades. Uber rides are the same way, so be prepared to walk or stay put if you stay in this area of town.

On Mardi Gras, we explored, walked around, peeked in shops, and ate food! Mardi Gras in New Orleans is intense, so I highly recommend scheduling naps and/or times to just wander the quieter areas of the city. Since we didn’t have pre-planned activities for this day, here are a few of our favorite restaurants that we enjoyed!

Cafe Maspero – $1 daiquiris served all day long and DELICIOUS beignet fries! They open doors on two sides of the restaurant to create an open-air vibe, so we happily snagged the last table with a good view!

Pig Out Nola – We went here on Thursday already, but the food was solid with no wait time, so we happily went back again! They don’t serve alcohol, but they have Coke products with refills allowed and plenty of seating available (indoor and outdoor).

The Will and the Way – Late-night snacks, outdoor seating with heaters, an extensive wine and cocktail menu, and daily happy hour. If you go here, check out the Polaroid photo we took to add to their wall!

Chemin à la Mer – “With panoramic views of the Mississippi River, enjoy a curated menu of Louisiana fare expertly executed with French technique,” located within the Four Seasons hotel. Our new friend Jeff added us to his reservation, and we stayed here for hours! Our service was fantastic, but make sure you skim the menu online before you book. (My suggestion: Go at sunset for the best view!)

Wednesday – Tattoo Appointment and Packing Suitcases!

Jordan got a tattoo in Salem, Massachusetts when we visited last year, so she suggested getting tattoos in New Orleans before we left! She made us each an appointment via phone two weeks prior at Electric Ladyland, a tattoo parlor in the Marigny neighborhood near the French Quarter. With hundreds of positive reviews, Electric Ladyland runs 8-10 tattoo stations as well as a piercing station. We had appointments for 4 pm, and we only waited about 10 minutes to start our tattoos. They do take walk-ins but be prepared to have a longer wait! My artist, Josh, was patient with me as I got my first tattoo and got the exact result that I wanted!

My first tattoo in New Orleans — Getting a nostalgic reminder of my childhood: Appa from Avatar The Last Airbender

After getting our tattoos and grabbing food on the way to our hotel, we packed our suitcases and went to bed early for our 6 am flight. We got plenty of rest and fully recovered from the Bourbon Street madness before we flew back home!

Have you ever been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans? Got restaurant suggestions for my foodie heart? Drop them below or shoot me a message!

More of my detailed itineraries:

My Itinerary: 5 Amazing Days in Sunny Miami, FL

My Itinerary: 3-Day Witchy Halloween Weekend in Salem, MA

Getaways in the United States, Las Vegas, Nevada, Travel

Best Ways to Spend Christmas in Las Vegas

December 7, 2022 2 Comments

Las Vegas is a party city no matter when you visit, but what can you do during the winter when the weather is too cold for pool parties? Enter: Christmas in Las Vegas! My husband and I spent a weekend in Las Vegas in mid-December for my birthday last year, and we loved their Christmas festivities even more than their notorious pool parties. Here are some of the best holiday festivities in Las Vegas!

(Average Las Vegas Weather in December: High of 67 degrees, low of 20 degrees)

Rooftop Ice Skating

@ The Cosmopolitan

The Cosmopolitan is one of the hottest hotels on the Strip and is renowned for its multiple luxury pools. During the winter months, the hotel transforms its rooftop pool into a snowy wonderland, complete with an ice skating rink! Artificial snow falls every 30 minutes on weekends in December! Skaters can access the ice rink for unlimited time for $30/per person.

For those not wanting to ice skate (or wanting to prolong the experience), the hotel also takes reservations for their rooftop “Chalet” for hot cocktails, festive couches, and a communal fire pit. S’mores kits are available for purchase, and personal fire pits can be reserved in advance on the hotel’s website.

Special events are held on the rooftop throughout the winter, including a tree lighting ceremony, movie night date skate, and a New Year’s Eve party to see fireworks over the Strip!

Colton and I reserved a table at The Chalet when we went, and it was lovely. During our two-hour reservation, we enjoyed the grilled cheese with tomato soup, multiple hot cocktails, and a campfire s’mores kit for two! It was relaxing and warm beside the fire; we would love to return here! I highly suggest that you make reservations as early as possible, especially if you have a large group or children. This was our favorite activity when we spent Christmas in Las Vegas.

Note: New in 2022, the Cosmopolitan has a “cozy, rinkside, casual dining option” called the Overlook Grill! Reservations required.

Admiring Christmas Lights

@ The LINQ Promenade

Along with their centrally-located resort hotel, the LINQ Las Vegas Hotel & Experience owns the “LINQ Promenade,” a street filled with Christmas decor, shops, boutiques, and restaurants!

We found multiple Christmas trees in this area and enjoyed browsing the various shops along the road. The High Roller Observation Wheel towers over the far end of the Promenade, so you try it while you’re there!

After admiring the beautiful decor of the Promenade, we were drawn to the colorful Candy Martini Bar at the center of the street. This huge candy store’s crown jewel is their expansive bar on the second story! Giant candy-topped martinis, sugar shots, vodka-soaked gummies, and endless sweet drinks filled their menu, and I was thrilled to try EVERYTHING!

Check out the pictures below of my favorite drink and some photos of us along the Promenade!

We took a cute video while on the Promenade too! You can find it here. 🙂

Christmas in Las Vegas - the LINQ Promenade

Tour the Elaborate Christmas Gardens

@ The Bellagio

The crown jewel of the Strip, the Bellagio Hotel carefully curates a 14,000-square-foot indoor Bellagio Botanical Garden that changes with the seasons. Luckily for us, they go all-out for the Christmas holiday!

This year’s theme is “Gingerbread Dream,” and according to the website, the Garden is filled with towering Christmas trees, sugar-coated gingerbread houses, and polar bears! The Bellagio’s horticulture staff consists of 120 full-time staff members who have created incredible masterpieces throughout the seasons. Previous themes have include floating floral hot air balloons, detailed arrangements of fauna wild animals, and woodland wonderlands! The Gardens rotate as follows:

Holiday (11/19/22 – 1/1/23)
Lunar (1/9/23 – 3/4/23)
Spring (3/13/23 – 5/20/23)
Summer (5/28/23 – 9/17/23)

The Christmas Gardens are indoors and nearby the Bellagio’s famous shops and restaurants. It was nice to be able to stay warm inside for a while on a colder day!

Take Professional Christmas Photos

@ The Strip

One of my favorite suggestions that I give new travelers is to hire a professional photographer when you visit a new place. I usually use Airbnb Experiences to find a local photographer who is experienced with the area and can show us unique views or photoop locations in the area! The photographers usually charge $25-75 per person to take our photos and we spend about 30-60 mins doing so. We get our pictures in less than 24 hours via email. Knowing that we’ll have high-quality keepsakes helps me relax and not take photos of every single thing I see! I highly recommend trying this.

We found a fantastic photographer to take photos of us in Las Vegas and spent over an hour taking pictures along the strip! Click here for her page on Airbnb Experiences. We took photos in front of The Bellagio, The Eiffel Tower replica, the Trevi Fountain at Caesar’s Palace, The Flamingo’s flamingo habit, along the LINQ Promenade, and in front of the Venetian Hotel. A third person was in our booking group, but the photographer gave us plenty of attention and we loved cheering the other girl one while she posed for photos!

Professional photoshoot - Christmas in Las Vegas

BONUS: 3 new “Christmas in Las Vegas” events going on now are below, but we haven’t been to them before!

The Nutcracker immersive attraction – 30 minute immersive ballet light show
“Glittering Lights” – 3 million lights, 170 Christmas trees, 2.5 mile course, and a LIVE nativity
“Christmas in The Park” – Christmas caroling, live shows, and waffles on sticks

For more holiday content, read my popular article, “Holiday Gift Guide: 5 Great Gifts for Travel Nurses!”

Getaways in the United States, Miami, Florida, Travel

My Itinerary: 5 Amazing Days in Sunny Miami, FL

November 12, 2022 No Comments

Sunshine. Ocean breezes. Endless dancing. Strong Cuban coffee. People hope for these things when they’re visiting Miami, and we found all of that plus more! After spending Halloween in Salem, we were lucky enough to travel to Miami, Florida, for another week of vacation in preparation for Jordan’s birthday. Below is our entire itinerary, highlights of our favorite attractions, and detailed reviews on restaurants, areas of town, and excursions out of town that we enjoyed!

Wednesday, Day 1

Having flown from Salem, MA, on the previous day, we slept in today (and every day, in fact). Click here for the Airbnb we stayed at in Downtown Miami! We felt very safe there and would return again. We walked to Honey Uninhibited, voted 2022’s #1 brunch spot in Miami and conveniently located near our Airbnb. Everything we had was great, but the mac-n-cheese truffle bites were uniquely delicious!

After brunch and a few cocktails, we took an Uber to Miami Beach. The city of Miami is on the mainland while Miami Beach is a large manufactured island stretching along the coast parallel to Miami. City buses have a route across the bridge, but no trains or metros go between them, so we chose Uber for efficiency! We had them take us to 1 Lincoln Rd, Miami Beach, a convenient beach access turnaround for Uber drop-offs/pickups. This was easy, and I’d highly recommend using this spot as a drop-off if you’re visiting Miami Beach! We were close to the beach and lounged on towels in the afternoon sun before heading home via Uber for a nap. Lincoln Road itself is a popular shopping area within South beach.

We went back to Miami Beach that evening to the southernmost point, locally called “South of Fifth.” We had 7 pm reservations at a Greek restaurant called Santorini by Georgios. The service was fantastic, and we got to try multiple Greek dishes and cocktails! Tables were arranged poolside with beautiful lighting, and a gentle ocean breeze made its way through the palm trees as we dined.

Thursday, Day 2

We booked tickets online for Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden for our second day visiting Miami. A beautiful tropical oasis just 30 minutes from downtown Miami, we were pleased to find that the grounds were perfectly maintained. Fairchild has a butterfly house filled with Central and South American butterflies, an expansive misty rainforest, countless waterfalls, giant trees, and walking paths that easily handle strollers. Friendly employees passed us in golf carts and offered occasional suggestions on where to go next. We purchased our tickets for $20/per person at the entrance. Our tickets got us in all day long, and they gave us a map to freely explore the grounds. They also have a café with indoor seating and large windows to look into the butterfly exhibit while you eat! We spent about 2 hours here relaxing and taking photos. Click here for video footage, or scroll below to see photos!

We had a tour booked for the afternoon, so we Ubered back to our Airbnb for lunch before heading to Little Havana, the vibrant Cuban neighborhood next to downtown Miami. We booked this tour via Airbnb Experiences, my favorite place to find unique experiences (thesaurus?) in new cities! When we booked online, we paid $40/per person, and the cost was well worth it. This is a CAN’T MISS when visiting Miami!

Our tour guide, Michael, is deeply invested in the Little Havana community and lives along the main road, Calle Ocho (or 8th Street). He regaled us with Cuban history, the struggles of migration, and the political climate in Little Havana regarding Cuba and immersed us in Miami’s Cuban culture. We enjoyed mojitos on the street, music that made us want to dance our hearts out, and delicious Cuban cafecitos handmade by Michael himself! The area enchanted me, and I would love to take a travel nurse contract here. Click the slideshow below to see pictures from Little Havana! Is visiting Miami on your bucket list yet?!

Inside Domino Park, only for people 55+!
Players posing in Domino Park
Skyler in front of Calle Ocho festival art
Cuban cafecitos made by Michael for our tour, essentially shots of sugar and expresso!
Cubaocho Museum & Dancehall with free salsa lessons, displaying rescued paintings from Cuba
“Abuela Maria” icecream with guava chunks, maria cookies, and cream cheese with guava syrup. From Azucar Ice Cream Shop
Bacardi originated in Cuba! The audio tour for Little Havana has Michael’s voice for this display!
Classic mojito made with dry ice from La Esquina de la Fama’s street window
Michael explaining the traditional process of making Cuban cigars
Skyler and Jordan in front of Comida Cubana, popular restaurant in Little Havana

Friday, Day 3

We took a 45-minute Uber to visit Patch of Heaven, a 20-acre wildlife sanctuary south of Miami protected by a nonprofit organization. Like Fairchild, we were released onto the grounds with a map and permission to explore! This site is filled with historical Asian sculptures, traditional architecture, and the largest koi fish I have ever seen! They also have a butterfly house filled with flowers and beautiful waterfalls. Patch of Heaven hosts weddings and events and self-guided tours like ours, so cabins and wedding areas were spread across the grounds and off-limits to tourists. Tickets were $20/per person when we booked online.

NOTE: Navigating this sanctuary was not easy, and only some of the paths are marked on the map, so be prepared to truly explore and even get a little lost! All paths eventually lead back to the main road, and we met employees working throughout the sanctuary, so you can also ask them for directions.

After Patch of Heaven, we headed back into inner-city Miami to swim at the Venetian Pool, a historic swimming grotto open to the public since 1923. They had caves, a large cascading waterfall, plenty of spots to lounge in the sun, and an on-site café. We paid $16/per person at the entrance and could stay as long as we wanted! This is a perfect spot to cool off for both adults and children.

After a quick nap at our Airbnb, we went to an interactive light-based art exhibit in downtown Miami called Superblue. Visitors are walked through the exhibits by guides, and we purchased our tickets online one week prior for $55/per person. Exhibits included:

An elaborate mirrored room
A room that reminded me of Squid Game
A vast space that changed scenery to allow visitors to interact with it

I made a TikTok to better display that final room; click here to view it!

My favorite area in Superblue was the Massless Clouds exhibit! We had to pay an extra $12/per person at booking to go through this room. Employees prepared us with ponchos, shoe covers, and masks before ushering us into a darkly lit room full of bubble clouds! We were allowed to roam the room, play in the clouds, and take as many photos as we wanted for about 15 minutes. Click here to see the exhibit!

Honestly, going through Superblue was expensive at $67/per person and was not worth the money to me. Go for it if you want to see the interactive rooms and have the dough to spend! If you have multiple children, are on a budget, or are short on time, try one of the other Miami attractions listed on this blog.

Saturday, Day 4

This day was unique because we took a day trip to Key West! We woke up while it was still dark to Uber to a Greyline pickup location by 7:15 am. We were transported in a double-decker bus that had A/C, wifi, and a restroom. Driving along Highway 1 took us from Miami through every single “Key” until we reached the furthest point, Key West! We paid $49/per person for tickets booked online one week in advance. If you’re considering visiting Miami, you can click here for our exact tour.

Our tour guide was friendly, chatty, and extremely helpful. During the drive, our guide gave us an overview of Key West and personally took our bookings for snorkeling tours, parasailing, and trolley tickets. After a scenic 4-hour drive and a quick breakfast stop at McDonald’s, our bus arrived in downtown Key West. Our tour guide had our trolley tickets ready for us on arrival and led us to a trolley stop. The Old Towne Trolley is a hop-on-hop-off system that circulates around Key West all day. It stops at multiple hotels on the island, major attractions, and restaurants downtown. The trolley drivers were our tour guides, sharing history and food suggestions throughout the narrated tour. Jordan and I rode the whole route (90 minutes) around the entire island before getting off downtown to find some lunch.

We found lunch at Sloppy Joe’s, a saloon in downtown Key West that has been open and thriving since Dec 5th, 1933 – the day that Prohibition was repealed! The bar was created by Joe Russell, and his close friend, Ernest Hemingway, was a frequent patron in the saloon’s early days. Sloppy Joe’s actually moved to its current position from a building across the street in 1937. According to their website, “In true Key West fashion, the bar never actually closed during the transition – customers simply picked up their drinks and carried them, along with every piece of furniture in the place, down the block to 201 Duval Street. Service resumed with barely a blink.” Modern Sloppy Joe’s has a long cocktail list, plenty of hot food, and live music all day long. We welcome the open-air, cheerful atmosphere after exploring under the Key West sun!

We met our bus driver at a pre-determined spot in downtown Key West at 5:30 pm and were back at our Airbnb by 10 pm that evening. Overall, we had about 6 hours of free time in Key West. Since the bus ride was so educational and the trolley ride was so relaxing, this was plenty of time for a day trip!

Sunday, Day 5

Today was the event we were visiting Miami for: Jordan’s birthday! We slept in and relaxed before we Ubered to brunch reservations at Nikki Beach, one of the hottest beach clubs in Miami. At $75/per person, we enjoyed fantastic service and an endless buffet of made-to-order breakfast items. The ambiance was perfect, and an ocean breeze kept us cool despite the Miami heat. We drank pina coladas from real coconut cups, soaked in the sunshine, and chatted for two hours before deciding we were too full to eat anymore! While expensive, this place is worth visiting if you’re celebrating or having a night out with friends.

We spent the afternoon at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, a lavish estate located on the northern end of Biscayne Bay. After 3 years of construction, the mansion was completed in 1916 to serve as the winter home for James Deering, a wealthy bachelor from Chicago who hoped that the tropical weather would cure his anemia. The extensive Italian Renaissance gardens were completed in 1922, but unfortunately, James Deering died a few years later in 1925. His two nieces inherited the property and took care of it until 1952, when Miami-Dade County purchased the property. The estate was subsequently opened to the public as a museum. Check out our slideshow of beautiful photos below!

After our late afternoon nap, we went to dinner reservations at The Gramercy, a newer Miami restaurant serving American Brasserie cuisine and displaying the “everlasting style and charm of Manhattan.” An Instagrammer’s dream, this restaurant was dressed to the nines and filled with upbeat dance music! Luckily we could still hear each other over the music, and we spent over 2 hours enjoying the atmosphere. We highly recommend their mac-n-cheese side dish, which comes in little baby pots! The picture is attached below; you’re welcome!

Birthday dinner at The Gramercy while visiting Miami

Skyler at Jordan's birthday dinner in Miami

Our entire trip was filled with sunshine, music, and relaxation. I’ve been hooked by the rich culture of Miami and am already planning my next trip back! We had an incredible time visiting Miami!

*This was a two-part trip! To read about the first part, click here: “My Itinerary: 3-Day Witchy Weekend in Salem, MA”

Getaways in the United States, Salem, Massachusetts, Travel

How to Dress for Halloween in Salem – Our Top 10 Favorite Costumes

November 5, 2022 No Comments

Before we went to Salem for Halloween, we had no idea what to expect! Did people wear normal costumes in Salem? Group costumes? Gory makeup? Was it kid-friendly? Pinterest and Tiktok helped very little, so I took PLENTY of photos during our trip to Salem to give you a glimpse. Check out the slideshow of our top 10 favorite costumes from Halloween 2022 in Salem, MA!

For more details about our Halloween trip to Salem, MA, click here.

To see our photoshoot costumes from WitchPix professional photo studio, click here.

Getaways in the United States, Salem, Massachusetts, Travel

Get Professional “Witch Pix” in Salem, MA

November 5, 2022 1 Comment

When we visited Salem for Halloween, we booked a photo shoot with Witch Pix! They are a local photo business that opened in 2003.

The following is directly from their website: “Rated as one of the Most 9 Unique Travel Experiences in the USA by Trip Advisor, Witch Pix has been an award-winning witch-themed portrait photo studio and tourist destination since 2003. Dress up from our wardrobe of over 300 costumes for all sizes, generations, and genders, ranging from dark to vibrant with lighting and props, and take a journey into art, Hollywood, history, and fun with your photographer!

“Choose the photoshoot fantasy: Fly over the moon and look into the future at “Magic Avenue”, recapture life in 1692 at the “Olde Salem Village”, or practice your craft inside the “Witch’s Cottage”. Digital and print packages are prepared immediately.

You’ve seen Salem’s history; now make your own history in Witch City here. Appointments are encouraged, walk-ins are welcome! Our Witch Stitch Boutique offers one-of-a-kind witch hats and cloaks handmade of plush fabrics for pagans or partygoers. Witch Pix Cosmetix and gift shop merchandise available.”

Their website shows Witch Pix takes reservations from 10:30 am-6:00 pm. We had an appointment for 5:30 pm on Halloween night, and it was perfect! The whole session took about 30 minutes, and we had our photos in my email inbox less than 15 minutes after leaving the studio. It was centrally located on Essex Street and easy to find in the dark. We had a blast and would love to go back again! Both Jordan and I would highly recommend booking them for professional witch photos if you visit Salem any time of year! Check out more of our photos below from the Witch Pix shoot!

To read our full itinerary from Halloween in Salem, click here!

Skyler and Jordan at WitchPIx with a sword and basket

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