My baby sister is getting maaaaarried!!! Well, she’s no baby anymore and will soon be a married woman! Her fiancé is the absolute best, and we couldn’t be happier about their upcoming nuptials. A milestone like this deserves to be celebrated multiple times, so obviously we needed a proper bachelorette party – a girls weekend in MIAMI!
The guest list for the weekend was eight girls, including myself, my other (middle) sister, and the bride-to-be. All of us were coming from Texas, most from Houston, and flight options to either Miami or Fort Lauderdale were plentiful. We actually ended up flying into FLL and leaving from MIA (on the same reservation). I guess the airports are so close that United allows the booking combination automatically. The flight was just an easy couple hours, making Miami very convenient for all of us. And most of us had never been there before, making it an even more exciting destination! Our group size was just right; we were still able to fit at a restaurant table easily and could ride around town in just two Ubers.
We stayed at the Royal Palm South Beach Hotel, and the accommodations were perfect. We booked a two bedroom suite and a separate one bedroom room, which adjoined our suite. Utilizing a couple rollout beds, we all had comfortable places to sleep and (maybe more importantly) three bathrooms for getting ready each day/night. The rooms were furnished in a gorgeous mid-century modern style, which was a common theme around Miami. I’m such a MCM fan; I was drooling over the style around the hotel grounds all weekend. We were also able to pay $30 to rent a mini fridge for our entire stay, very necessary for waters and champagne for some morning mimosas. The best part of the room was our beach view from the huge bay windows in the living room.
One big milestone for this weekend was that it would be the first time ever that I left Scott and the kiddos at home for an overnight (or three). Scott travels for work regularly and has taken trips to visit family, so I’ve done the solo thing plenty. And we have taken trips together, leaving the kids with my parents. But this would be the first time I had left by myself. Not gonna lie, I was pumped for Scott to get this experience and hoping he’d have a new appreciation for what I have to handle when he is gone on his own trips. Not that he has ever, EVER minimized what I have to wrangle when he is gone, I just thought this would give him a new perspective.
BUT, as excited as I was for this weekend away, I felt a bit of anxiety too. To set the stage from my perspective, I am a mom to two busy toddlers and seven years older than my engaged sister and most of her friends. My other sister is also a mom to a rowdy toddler and in between my age and our bride-to-be sister. While my sister and her friends were in their late 20s or barely 30, the two of us were also the only moms in the group. I never wanted to be a downer heading into the trip, but I was NERVOUS about how I would hang with the younger women who still get to sleep in on their weekends. My body wouldn’t know how to sleep in if the chance bit me in the bottom. I also hadn’t been out past midnight in…. years? (Yikes). And I was a tiny bit worried that I could end up being the annoying, practical “mom” of the group. I did gain some confidence when I dug into the back of my closet, in preparation for the weekend, and was able to unearth some sequined, sparkly, pre-kids and totally Miami-appropriate outfits, and the best part – they still fit!
Day 1
Finally the weekend was here, and most of us gathered at the Houston airport to catch a Thursday mid-morning flight. A few of the girls were already in Miami, having arrived earlier in the week for visiting family or friends or just extra sightseeing time. After celebratory pre-flight drinks in the airport, we boarded onto the plane, and we were on our way to the palm trees and white beaches in Miami. With an Uber XL, we were able to squeeze into one car for the drive from FLL to South Beach. Our travel was smooth except for some serious traffic once we approached South Beach. Our driver was kind enough to accommodate a stop for cases of water and drink supplies for the hotel room. I had packed half of my luggage full of snacks, so we were already good on that front. I asked our driver if traffic was normally so dense, and he showed me an app that tracks the number of cruise ships in port. Apparently it was a high number that day, which directly affects traffic in the area. Finally we made it to the Royal Palm and were ready to get the party started!
While the bachelorette and a couple friends hung out snacking and getting drinks in the lobby bar, the rest of us jazzed up the room with decorations for our weekend theme – Last Flamingle! Leading up to the trip, we spent so much time deciding on these details, and it was awesome to put together all the décor and favors for the group. Finally the room was ready and we got to hang out around the hotel for the rest of the afternoon. We bounced around between the pool bar and the beach and back to the pool and eventually needed to start heading upstairs to get ready for the night. Getting ready to go out this night was a blast, with music going and everyone helping each other with styling, and we were not in a huge rush since we didn’t have dinner reservations.
Once we were ready, we grabbed a couple Ubers down to Joe’s Stone Crab for dinner. This place is so popular that they do not take reservations (we tried to make them months in advance). But when we arrived, the wait was not too long, under an hour, so we hung out in the bar area with cocktails and appetizers until our table was ready. Our meal was hands down fantastic. I split a fish entrée with my sister and got to taste a few other dishes because we were all passing around tastes of our delicious meal choices. The stone crab was the house specialty and the girls that order the crab were very pleased.
After dinner, our night out on the town was just beginning. First stop was club E11even in downtown Miami. We didn’t stay long. I understand it is a popular club, but it was not a great place to be when we were there. The entry staff was outright hostile, the bar staff ignored most of us trying to buy drinks, and the worst part wasn’t a tangible complaint… just an “off” and uneasy feeling. And, I get that this was a “not a strip club, but a strip club” type club. That feeling had nothing to do with the almost naked women walking around. No issues with that aspect at all – in fact, that was kind of expected in Miami, right? It was something else that felt off, and the rudeness of the staff drove us away. I should say that this was not a blanket decision in our group. A few of us wanted to leave immediately but weren’t willing to split up, but within less than an hour, every single one of us was calling it and walking out. Not sure what was going on that night but this place was not for us.
Thankfully our next stop redeemed the whole night! We went from E11even over to LIV in the Fontainebleau Miami Hotel in Mid Beach. Completely different experience here. I was in the second car pulling up to the hotel, and by the time we got there, the other girls had already befriended a couple guys that invited our group to join them at a VIP table. This definitely made the experience easier since we had a space to hang out and dance and didn’t have to wait in lines at the bar. We had a total blast and danced the night away! We honestly had so much fun that we would have come back for a second night if there weren’t so many other places to visit in Miami.
Day 2
The next day was a rough start for everyone. We went to bed soooo late, and my body does not sleep in anymore, remember? So even though I fell asleep around probably 4am, I was wide awake in my bed at 9am. Thankfully, the other mommy on this trip, my other sister, was my roommate, and she woke up not too long after me. We killed time by watching E! and snacking in bed. Finally the rest of the group starting stirring and we were up and moving around by late morning. Just in time to head to our reservations at Nikki Beach day club.
Down on the southern end of South Beach, we reserved a cabana for the afternoon at Nikki Beach. This sounded like the perfect way to spend the day and with the minimum for a cabana only being $700, the cost was totally reasonable when split between eight girls. It only took us a bottle of vodka and a HUGE bottle of rose wine to reach the minimum. Arriving at the beach club was stunning. The décor had an airy, bohemian theme and the sand floor gave the club a relaxed vibe. There were sooo many insta-worthy photo ops around the club, so naturally we took advantage with some group photos. The club was off set from the beach, across the sidewalk/boardwalk but had direct access if you wanted to soak your toes in the water. (Also, FYI, beach chairs were an additional charge even if you have a cabana in the club.) After a brief beach visit with all of us together at the beach, we settled back into our cabana area and ordered lunch. We were starving! With a variety on the menu ranging from sandwiches to sushi, everyone was happy with the selection, and the food was fantastic. Everyone scarfed down their food, making this another successful meal for the trip.
After lunch, most of the girls bounced back and forth from the cabana to the beach for the afternoon. However, my middle sister and I stayed at the cabana, lounged out on the bed and relished every single second of the relaxation and impeccable service (the wait staff was continually filling my drink before it was done). I’m sure the beach was great, but as parents of young kids, getting full stop service in a gorgeous, soothing environment was NOT something you walk away from. They even brought us strawberries to drop in our wine. With no prompting, just part of their attention to detail. Normally the only time someone brings me a strawberry, it is half eaten and because the toddler didn’t want to walk all the way to the trash can. Maybe this just makes me easy to impress.
The vibe at the beach club was more subdued than I expected – very chill. I had been imagining Vegas-style pool clubs, but I can’t say that I was disappointed. It was just a relaxing afternoon. Even though I could have stayed there all night too, as soon as the sun started to go down, we called it a day and settled our tab.
The next stop was dinner at Bodega Taqueria y Tequila for a quick bite to eat. Their tacos hit the spot! It was super casual, order at the counter and grab a seat where you can. We were lucky that we arrived in a lull and ordered right away and found a table big enough for all of us to squeeze around. Our second Uber car arrived a few minutes behind us in the first one, and they had to wait in a decent sized line. I ordered a couple different fish tacos, and both were fantastic – I couldn’t decide which I liked better. Everyone else seemed happy with that orders because the table was basically silent while we all ate. Make sure to check out the hidden bar in the back of the restaurant! I was caught off guard when I went searching for the ladies room and stumbled into a whole other bar. And after that we kept noticing groups of people walk straight from the front door into the “men’s room” – it was fake and served as another entrance to the secret bar. We didn’t go back there for drinks but thought it was so random and funny.
To prepare ourselves for the night ahead, we all took naps back in the hotel, and GET THIS – woke up at 11 PM (yes, ELEVEN O’CLOCK AT NIGHT) to get ready to go out. As I was getting ready, I was like “what is my life right now?” This felt like the wildest thing to me, so far from my normal life! But based on our experience the night before, I knew this was how people roll in Miami. LIV didn’t start getting busy until after 1am. So when we arrived at Story this night around 12:30am, it made sense that there was a crowd outside just getting their night started. Story was a lot of fun! The music was great (I liked it better than LIV), there were a couple acrobatic performances over the dance floor, and they had this over-the-top presentation for bottle service with huge sparklers and people in inflatable sparkler costumes. They had a popular DJ come out and put on a great show. I’m not familiar enough with this scene to remember who it was, but the crowd was super energetic and loved it too. I had to call it a night somewhat “early” though. I was still exhausted from the first night, and my body didn’t know which way was up anymore. Another one of the girls was ready too so we grabbed an Uber around 2am and went straight to bed. I did hear the other girls make it home around 4am, so I slept peacefully after that.
Day 3
My body cooperated a little better this morning and I managed to sleep better and past 9am. Not that I was refreshed by any means, but I felt a lot better and decided I was going to head down to the pool until the other girls were up and moving. I didn’t want to spend another gorgeous Miami morning lying in bed. My middle sister woke up a little after me and decided to come down to the pool too. We both got coffees from the hotel lobby and enjoyed a restful morning relaxing in the sun. There were a surprising number of young families at our hotel. It was fun to watch them all playing around the pool area, but I was glad to not be the one wrangling any toddlers for once! However, seeing this did make me think that maybe Miami could be a fun place to take my kids one day.
Not long before noon, the rest of the group started to trickle down to the pool area. The music at the pool started to ramp up, and some of us grabbed mimosas from our room, some went on to the beach, and we ended up hanging out way longer than we had originally planned. The party vibe at the pool and lounging around with our drinks had us in no hurry to leave. Eventually we ventured out for lunch at Havana 1957 for some traditional Cuban food. You can’t go to Miami without at least one great Cuban meal. Once again, another fantastic meal! We all ordered a variety of dishes; I had a roasted pork and rice dish that was incredible, and their Cuban sandwich was delicious and gigantic. We all ended up passing around tastes of each other’s dishes, but I still think mine was my favorite. Our mojitos and sangrias were the perfect complement to our lunch.
Now that we were nice and stuffed, we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around South Beach. We went past Espanola Way, the Versace mansion, and just soaked in the unique architecture and great people watching. We enjoyed a couple rounds of drinks at the bar at The Clevelander, an iconic hotel on Ocean Drive, right in the middle of the Art Deco District. Their patio was a blast! The DJ had the crowd going, and if it wasn’t for our much-anticipated dinner reservations that night, we would have stayed longer.
For our last night in Miami, we had dinner at Cecconi’s Miami Beach, an Italian restaurant in the Soho Beach House. They only open up table reservations three weeks prior to the reservation date, so I made sure to book our table as soon as this day was available. Even still, we had to choose an odd dinner time (I think it was 8:15pm). It looks like they block off reservations during some peak times in an effort to keep availability for walk-ins. However, with our large group, we wanted to have a firm reservation. After our afternoon on the town, we got all glammed up for dinner and ordered our Ubers. Cecconi’s is actually a little north, in Mid Beach, so not a walking distance at all from our hotel.
The restaurant was beautiful, in the hotel courtyard full of trees and twinkling lights, and even our table for eight felt intimate. Perusing the menu was a bit of a challenge – everything looked SO good! I wanted to order like 6 items. Fortunately we were all on the same page with no picky eaters in the bunch and ordered a variety of appetizers to share family style. We all split some croquettes, a tartare, and a pizza, and for the entrees we ended up pairing off and ordered a bunch of different pasta dishes to split. My friend and I shared a gnocchi dish that melted in our mouths, absolutely delicious. We had a truly wonderful dinner and lingered at our table over nightcaps and shared memories about the bride-to-be and recapped some of the wilder parts of the weekend.
The previous two nights had been late, intense nights out, so for a little balance, we just hung out in our hotel suite after dinner. We had so much fun talking and with our own hotel dance party. It was the perfect way to end the day knowing that we would spend the morning getting ready for our flights home.
Day 4
Keeping my streak alive, I was the first person awake again. Sadly, I didn’t think there was time for poolside lounging, but I did need to go out to buy some souvenirs to bring back for the kiddos at home. There were a couple typical souvenir/beach gear shops just a block from the hotel, and I found a stuffed flamingo and stuffed alligator to bring home. Perfect. After that, it was the typical scramble to get everything packed up and everyone ready to go. One girl had already left early that morning, but the rest of us were headed to the airport at the same time, and surprisingly, we all fit into one Uber XL. Awesome. We made a quick stop for some Cuban coffees on our way out of town. (Where have THESE been all of my life?! Mmmmm.) And just like that, we were on our way back to reality in Houston. I came home exhausted to the bone, but wow, what an amazing trip! It was so fun to celebrate my sister with a group of fantastic girls.
Sister picture! Awesome weekend! 
The flamingo souvenirs are a hit at home!
