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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, Travel

Skip The Line: The Magic of TSA PreCheck

August 10, 2022 No Comments

Have you ever heard of TSA Precheck? Neither had I until my mother discovered that I didn’t have it and decided to nag me about it! Luckily, I listened to my mother and realized that being prechecked by the TSA saves me hours of waiting in security lines at airports. For those of you who have never heard of this but hate lugging your baggage through lines like cattle, this one is for you! (No, this isn’t sponsored, but ways to save time should always be shared with others!)

If you’ve ever flown, you’ve been through exactly what I’m talking about. You get to the airport, luggage in tow, and you find the security check only to see an endless line weaving between ropes as far as the eye can see. According to the MyTSA app (Transportation Security Administration), security line wait times can take anywhere from 15-45 minutes depending on the airport location and size. Add a toddler or two and your exciting vacation isn’t off to a great start. However, have you ever noticed that extra line to the left that rarely has anyone waiting? You can join that random businessman in a suit who gets to skip the line by making an appointment online with the TSA to complete a background check.

According to the TSA website, in July 2022, 95% of TSA PreCheck passengers waited less than 5 min.

To make a background check appointment, you will need to input your full name, contact information, mailing address, and social security number. Click here to jump straight to the appointment page! Most appointments are held at an actual airport, and multiple smaller airports in central Illinois provide this service. I made my husband and I appointments online two weeks in advance and didn’t have to provide any payment information online. The website did request that we both bring our driver’s licenses, birth certificates, and a copy of our marriage certificate to support my last name change. I used a debit card to pay $85 per person and we both got electronically fingerprinted on a machine in their office. They snapped a quick picture of each of us and we were done within 20 minutes!

For $85 per person, both of us now have unique “Known Traveler” identification numbers that are valid for the next 5 years to allow us to jump into the TSA PreCheck line at any airport in the country!

Obviously, I was excited to try this out, and I was lucky to have a short trip coming up the week after. I trotted into the TSA PreCheck line with my backpack and was gestured straight to the front of the long line of travelers. Skipping over 50 people made me nervous, but the security guard smiled and took my boarding pass like nothing was amiss. After verifying my ticket, he sent me through the security gate with a cute piece of paper that said “TSA PRECHECKED”. I had no clue what to do with it, so I started to take my shoes off like normal before the guard stopped me.

On that note, here are the perks of being TSA PreChecked!

You don’t have to take off your shoes, belt, or jacket. Leave ‘em on and walk right through the scanner with your cute piece of paper.
Your electronics can stay in your bag! They advertise that you can leave your laptop in your bag as it goes through the rolling x-ray scanner, but I also left my Nintendo Switch and cellphone in my bag with no issues.
3-1-1 liquids don’t have to be removed either. As long as they meet TSA’s liquid rules, they can stay packed away.
Kids age 12 and under can go through the TSA Precheck line with a parent/guardian with no extra fees. Anyone over the age of 12 is eligible to be Prechecked, but it’s difficult to complete if they don’t have a driver’s license yet. For more details on qualifications for minors, click here!

Note: Yes, they still x-ray your belongings, and you still have to walk through the scanner to make sure you’re not carrying deadly weapons or peanut butter.

I got through security in less than 3 minutes, which was lucky because I was running short on time. If I would have had to wait in the general line, I would’ve been significantly more likely to miss my flight. On the return home from my visit with family, my dad decided to fly back to Illinois with me. Not only did we accidentally end up in the wrong terminal, we went through the entire security check process before we realized that we were on the wrong side of the airport! (Orlando Airport is big, okay?) However, we could still laugh at the situation because our TSA PreCheck sped us through both security lines and got us to our gate with plenty of time to spare. Without skipping the 100+ person lines, we undoubtedly would have missed our flight home. This is an awesome way for travel nurses to minimize commute time when they fly home to visit family, and I am thrilled to skip through the line on every trip in the future!

If you fly regularly, have kids in tow, or just don’t want the extra stress of waiting in long lines at an airport, we highly recommend getting you and your family TSA PreChecked! For more tips on picking flights, check out my article, “Flying Cheap: The Hopper App and Spirit Airlines”!

Boujie on a Budget, Travel

Easy Ways to Fly Like a Pro With Southwest Airlines

July 12, 2022 1 Comment

My absolute favorite way to fly is on Southwest Airlines using my flight points. Southwest has more comfortable seats than my preferred budget airline, Spirit. Both airlines have good customer service and pristine plane interiors. However, Southwest has more leg space than budget flights, and the seats even recline slightly! Each passenger also gets one carry-on and one checked bag included with their flight cost, saving you from surprise extra fees at checkout. If I’m taking a flight longer than two hours, I skip Spirit and book with Southwest. Here are a couple of my tips for flying Southwest!

CHASE Southwest Credit Card

When I started travel nursing, a friend introduced me to Chase’s Southwest Airlines credit card. No, this is not sponsored; this card is worth the hype! You can use it on any purchases in your daily life to earn 1 Southwest flight point per dollar spent. Certain purchase types, like partnered hotels, rental cars, and Southwest flight tickets, earn you double the points! I put all my monthly bills or large purchases onto this card and immediately pay them off. This practice keeps my credit usage in my ideal range, yet it wins me MANY free flight points. We usually fly for free using these points once every 3-6 months round-trip. When I first applied for the card, I got 50,000 flight points translated into two round-trip tickets just for signing up. Unlike Spirit’s point program, Southwest Rapid Rewards points never expire.

Tips for Getting Better Seats

The only aspect of flying Southwest that I don’t like is that you can’t pick your own seat. Southwest requires you to check into your flight 24 hours in advance to be sorted into groups A, B, and C. You can check in online or via the Southwest app. How high you rank depends on how fast you check in! On gate arrival, you board in order of the group and ticket number. It’s essentially an open seating policy; once it’s your turn to get on the plane, it’s a free-for-all to pick a seat! This unique boarding process can baffle infrequent fliers, and it is easy to end up in group C if you don’t know what you’re doing. Finding nearby seats for companions or small children can be difficult if you board last.

You can pay a high premium for A-list boarding as a business professional, or anyone can pay an extra $20 per ticket for automatic check-in. We have ended up scrambling for seats in group C, so we always purchase the automatic check-in! We’re usually placed in the middle of group A, giving us plenty of seat options. If you get stuck in group C, keep in mind that they will let you check your carry-on for free because space is tight by the time you finally get on the plane! We love flying Southwest when we can pick great seats without stress. I would highly recommend trying the $20 automatic check-in upgrade.

For tips on minimizing costs and traveling “cheap,” check out my article “Flying Cheap: The Hopper App and Spirit Airlines.”

Which airline do you usually fly through? Should we try Delta or American Airlines? What cost-saving tips do you have for flying? Leave a comment below!

Boujie on a Budget, Travel

Flying Cheap: The Hopper App and Spirit Airlines

July 12, 2022 2 Comments

People frequently ask me how I fly so often and how I keep it cheap. I don’t know if I could ever consider flying “cheap,” but I do use some specific tools to keep costs down! These include utilizing the Hopper app to pick my flights and booking through Spirit Airlines.

(Disclaimer: This article is not sponsored, paid, or intended to be interpreted as advertisement in any way.)

The Hopper App

My favorite tool for purchasing flights is an app called Hopper. This app allows you to input tentative flight dates into their scheduler, giving you a report of prices for each airline for those dates. Hopper’s most useful function, however, is that it predicts whether your flight might be cheaper to purchase at a later date and can tell you exactly when to buy them for the best deal.
I usually input my trip dates into the app early in the planning process, and it will give me update notifications about once per week. I always wait until I can get the best deal, especially if I’m taking a short flight and can wait until the last minute to book it.

The Hopper app also provides a color-coded calendar to show you the cheapest days of the week on average to fly. Tuesdays and Wednesdays tend to have the lowest prices, and many airlines send discounts to their email list specifically for Tuesday and Wednesday flights. Hopper provides the price calendar for flights, hotel bookings, and car rentals. Note: The app also offers to “freeze” the price that a vendor gives you even if you aren’t ready to book yet, but that comes with extra charges from Hopper. I haven’t used that service yet.

Fun fact: Hopper plants four trees with Eden Reforestation Project for every booking made through the app!

Spirit Airlines

My favorite affordable airline is Spirit. Spirit lets you “build your own flight” and pay only for exactly what you need. I have never had a Spirit flight delayed or canceled (knock on wood), and they tend to have the cheapest options if you don’t need a checked bag or carry-on. This option is perfect for short flights to visit my family out-of-state, so consider this when you know you’ll have laundry access after you arrive.

Tip: Pay the extra fee to sit in the emergency access seats! The emergency seats have much more legroom than the standard option! Passengers sitting in the emergency row must be at least 15 years old, able to read and understand English, not under the influence of alcohol or drugs (no in-flight drinks!), and be able to lift the door handle to open the emergency exit. If you meet these criteria, emergency access seats by the window are the way to go! We have tried the upgraded front-row seats that Spirit advertises but felt like they weren’t worth the money. They only offer more arm wiggle room than emergency row and standard seats; the cushions are not more comfortable, and the seats still do not lean back.

View out Spirit Airlines window — Our view out Spirit Airlines window

Southwest Airlines

Another way that I save money on flights is by using my Southwest Airlines credit card and flight points. Click here to find out, “Easy Ways to Fly Like a Pro With Southwest Airlines“!

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