South Beach, Mrs. Carter and Great Food!

Hi everyone!

I got back from my Miami trip on Friday but have been so caught up in the trial and emotional about the verdict that I just hadn't gotten around to sharing my experience. I truly believe that justice will prevail in the end so I'm just going to leave it in His hands. 

Anyway, South Beach was wonderful! The beach, the scenery, the food it was all fabulous! Now many of you may have followed my weight loss journey so you are pretty familiar with me in that regard, but what you probably don't know about me is that I am extremely frugal (some call me cheap but we're going to go with frugal here because it has a nicer ring). So, with that being said, I went to Miami with a spending budget of $250. I figure since I was only staying for 3 full days and my hotel and flight were already paid for, this should be doable. Before I left I did tons of research on good, affordable restaurants in SOBE, read the reviews and just took a leap of faith. Well, I'm glad I did because we ate at some really great places and saved a lot of money. 

Hotel: We stayed at the historic Colony Hotel on Ocean Drive in South Beach. It was very nice and affordable and its right on the strip so the location is prime. Housekeeping was not great, in fact, they were pretty much non existent. Since we aren't slobs we just dealt with it and called the front desk for fresh towels each day. However, I made sure I notified them of this upon check out and in the review they asked me for. All things considered though, I'd stay there again. 

Food: All day everyday, one of the many hotels on the strip has someone peddling a meal deal. We ate breakfast 3/4 days on the strip for under $10 (by day 4 we were ready to go home and grabbed a bite in the airport). Most places offer breakfast with free a mimosa or bellini, and since I like FREE...*cheers* 

Our favorite spot was called 'David's Cafe' on Collins Ave in South Beach. They're a Cuban restaraunt and all of their lunch specials were under $10.  

 

We had lunch twice during our stay and both times our bill was under $10 (drinks. and gratuity included). We also ate at a quaint little spot called 'I Love Sushi' on Collins Ave. Very good, fresh sushi and we got complimentary miso soup. Their lunch specials were under $10 also. 

As for dinner, the first night we ate at a spot called 'Frog Taco Cantina' on Washington Ave. I had the quesadilla and my girlfriend had steak tacos. The food was excellent and our meals were under $7 (drink and gratuity included). I told y'all I was frugal. The second night was the concert. Since I knew the show would be at the American Airlines Arena, I searched for nearby restaurants and found a Groupon for 'Bongos' Cuban Restaraunt. 'Bongos' is owned by Gloria Estefan and is located right there at the Arena. The Groupon was $20 for $40 worth of food so my girlfriend and I just split the cost of the Groupon and ended up adding an extra $6 for our meal. For the sake of 'keeping it cute' I'll just say I'd never eat there again. The food wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either and the service was subpar (took them 30 minutes AFTER we were finished our meal to scan our Groupon and check us out). But I said I would 'keep it cute' so....*rolls eyes* The last night we just grabbed dinner from one of the hotel hagglers, it was cheap but nothing to write home about. 

The Show: Luke James opened up for her and he was great! He did a few cover songs and sang his hit 'I Want You'. He's a really good performer and I'll be getting his album when it drops. Now for Mrs. Carter! Honey...she showed up and showed OUT! (as expected) She put on an excellent show and we had great seats so it was an amazing experience. Between her flying in between stages, twerking and sanging for her life, she was everything! The only new song she sang was 'Grown Woman' but it was a great performance and I appreciate any new music I can get from her. As always, I'm here for Beyonce. #beyhive 

The Sites: Aside from the main attraction, Beyonce, we wanted to experience Miami! So we visited the Versace mansion, DASH (Kardashian boutique) and went jet skiing. The Versace mansion was beautiful. The architectural detail was just stunning. DASH was cute. If you're in to over priced t shirts and $400 swim coverups, then that's the place to go. #noshade I'm a fan of the 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' so naturally I wanted to visit their store. I didn't buy anything (duh) but I did get to take some pics. The design of the store is really nice, it's just too pricey, for me. Now for the jet skis. Lord, saying I was nervous is an understatement! I found a Groupon online for Miami Beach Sports for $90 for 60 minutes and 2 beach chair rentals which was great because an hour usually costs $180 and the chairs were $10 each so we saved over 50% with this deal and my girlfriend and I just split the cost. Since neither of us would consider ourselves swimmers, we knew we would not be doing too much on the jet ski (for fear of falling off and being lost at sea). #aintnobodygottimeforthat 

So, instead of going out for 60 minutes, we did about 20 minutes (don't laugh) and that was all we needed. We were going like 10 miles an hour and that felt too fast so I was good. Hey, we paid for the experience and we got it. The guys at Miami Beach Sports were really nice and helpful so I'd highly recommend them for a jet ski rental. 

Transportation: Now, we did a lot in Miami and we traveled from SOBE to Miami Beach to Biscayne Blvd and a with no rental car. How you ask? The bus. Now before you go turning your nose up, hear me out. A cab from the airport to SOBE where our hotel (The Colony) was was $30 one way, the bus (Airport Flyer/150) however was just $2.35. You do the math. A cab from our hotel to the arena was $15, the bus: $2. You do the math. Now had we rented a car, we would've had to search for parking because our hotel (like most on South Beach) didn't have a lot and we would've had to feed the meter and risk getting a ticket. Parking at the arena was $40 so we saved there too. We also caught a bus to Miami Beach for the jet ski experience and that was just $4 round trip. So, in all we spent $12.70 on transportation, which is great when you consider the cost of a rental car, gas and parking or cab fees. So if you're going to stay in SOBE, consider taking the bus. You get to see the town and save money. 

So these were the highlights of my Miami trip. It really was a nice trip and it wasn't as expensive as some would expect. You really can travel without breaking the bank. Now I told you I started out with a $250 cash budget, well I came home with $80 to spare. Not too shabby. *pats self on back* I planned, I researched and I bought Groupons in advance that saved me money. Groupon, Living Social and Google are your friends when planning a trip. Use them to your advantage because they work. My husband and I are planning the last details of our family vacation next month so we'll definitely be looking for some more deals. 

What are your summer vacation plans and what are some of your tips for saving  money on vacation? Please comment below.

Corrin K. Jones

Twitter: @sweatheartboss