Fortunate Femme

Am I the only one who gets the Will Smith song in their head anytime Miami is mentioned? I’ve been singing it all month in anticipation of this trip.

I will always choose a beach over anywhere else but Miami is extra special. It’s got cool architecture, colorful nightlife, great restaurants, and animal encounters!

It also helps that I am travelling by myself for the first time in about 11 years (the last time was Helsinki and I was pregnant with my first born). That needs to be repeated. BY MYSELF. No hungry mouths to feed except my own! No Moommmmmyyy….every minute of every day not counting sleeping. I have time to read and write and twerk in public restrooms and walk down the middle of the street smelling weed and just be present to all of it.

As I don’t have kids in college yet, I wasn’t aware that Spring Break is already happening in some places, including Miami Beach.

As for logistics, I caught a decently early (beat rush hour traffic) but not too early (got to say goodbye to the kids before school) flight out of BWI into Fort Lauderdale (I don’t think there were any direct flights to Miami from BWI or perhaps they were too limited). Didn’t need to check luggage because I’m BY MYSELF and I’ve packed light for warm weather! Got a Lyft easy peasy and checked into the Savoy Hotel next to the beach.

There was a snag at check-in, which I was not too worried about while I sat quietly BY MYSELF with a complimentary mimosa m and played games on my phone. I was probably an hour or so early for check-in. My room was occupied unbeknownst to the front desk. No really, they radio’d housekeeping and they said it was still occupied even though the front desk didn’t have it in their system.

Once they realized it might be a while, a very nice employee showed me the pool, the bar, and access to the beach and offered to call when everything was ready. He also gave me a brief intro to the hotel.

The Savoy Hotel is a lovely art deco building that has been recently renovated and reopened after hurricane damage (I forget which hurricane now; chalk it up to global warming because extreme weather is becoming so frequent, it’s hard to keep up). I was told that they own the also beautiful building next door and plan to have a large event space as well.

Half-way through my yummy white sangria and chips and guac, my room was ready. I said goodbye to my new friends at the bar and headed back to check-in. They had upgraded me to “the best room in the place” at no extra cost.

Once settled in, I headed out to explore the beach and Ocean Drive. The Winter Haven’s restaurant lured me in with their beef carpaccio and tuna tartare. It’s not often I see either of these dishes on a menu, much less the same one. As an homage to my single days, since I’m BY MYSELF, I opted for an appletini. Ever notice how even the taste of something can bring you back to a period in your life?

Stopping in the restroom after dinner, I was greeting by a group of women in bikinis who told me I had to twerk before I could use the stall. Spring, break after all!

Then I headed back to the Savoy walked down the middle of Ocean Drive, as they close off that part of the street to car traffic at a certain point in evening. The distinctive smell of cannabis in the air accompanied me home.