I was not about to let Brandon's 30th birthday come and go with some lame celebration. We had to go all out! So I decided to do 30 Days of 30 - like I had done for my 30th birthday. Every day for 30 days, I surprised him with a little gift, surprise, or experience. The first day was a birthday card which let him know we were heading to Miami to celebrate. I wanted to give him enough time to research and plan his best fishing spots. The last day of the 30 days was our last day in Miami. It was a fun month celebrating my favorite person!
We arrived in Miami on a Saturday, picked up our rental car, and headed to the beach to get some lunch. After lunch, we drove around a bit, picked up some groceries, then checked into our AirBnB and took it easy for the night.
Sunday, we went to church at the Miami Beach Ward, then drove out to the Everglades. The park itself was packed, so we opted instead to take a scenic road through Big Cypress National Preserve. It was a beautiful day - a little chilly even - but sunny and so nice. We saw lots of lovely scenery, birds, and even a few alligators.
The cypress trees were my favorite, as always.
Monday, we headed to South Beach. We walked along the beach and the famous Ocean Drive. I LOVED all the art deco buildings. My favorite part, for sure.
We got lunch at an Argentine place (yay!), then headed to Wynwood Walls, which is an outdoor art exhibit highlighting street art. I'm no art buff, but even I enjoyed it.
Tuesday, we headed down to Biscayne National Park. Traffic in Miami is crazy, so we took some surface streets and I loved seeing the different neighborhoods. As always, we talked about what kind of neighborhood we'd live in if we moved there (forever talking about moving to Florida).
Biscayne National Park is mostly water and it was too cold to snorkel, so we took a boat ride out to Boca Chita Key, which used to be owned by some super rich guy back in the 1920s. Most of the keys in that area were actually privately owned at some point - some still are.
This particular key was maintained as a party spot for this guy's friends and family. Now it's a campground and even though it was very relaxed when we were there, it apparently gets quite rowdy over holiday weekends.
Great views from the top of the lighthouse (which isn't a real working lighthouse)
The island is pretty small, so we were able to hike all the way around it in about 30 minutes. We made it back to the boat just in time, but then we found out there was something wrong with the boat so we had to wait for another one to come rescue us. What was supposed to be a 3-hour trip turned out to be more like 5. I didn't think to bring bug spray, so while we were waiting with nothing to do and no food, my legs got eaten up. It was not the best way to end our visit, but at least the weather was nice and the view was pretty.
On our last day, we decided to head back out to the Everglades to get the full experience - an airboat tour. On the way out, we took advantage and stopped in Little Havana and had some authentic Cubanos for lunch. They were delicious!
Even though it was quite a trek out to the park (I really wish we'd chosen a more convenient place to stay), I was so glad we did it. The airboat was so cool - it's crazy how fast it can go over water that is filled with grass. The scenery was beautiful and we saw lots of birds and a few more alligators. And it was another gorgeous day - we got so lucky with weather while we were there.
After our boat ride, we had a few more hours to kill before our flight, so we took a small detour to see the Fort Lauderdale temple. It made us wish we had larger grounds for our temple back home - it was so beautiful.
Then we drove to the area next to the airport and found a quiet spot on the beach to hang out until it was time to check in for our flight. It's always hard to leave Florida, but we'll be back for sure!
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