Art & Analytics in Miami
My workplace enabled me to participate in a special analytics training. Little did I know how lucky I was: in 2019, the program gave me an excuse to visit Miami, which turned out to be the last cohort before the program went virtual due to COVID. Naturally, others like Cait and Malcolm decided to opportunistically seize the opportunity to tour around over the weekend with me.
We arrived mid-afternoon on Thursday and went to the Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne. It felt like a total beach resort! I admired the lounge chair covers—they were kind of like tents! Contrary to the temperate climate, I was surprised to discover that it got dark super early here. I suppose it was November, after all.
It turns out Key Biscayne is a very residential area. Teens call the locals “Key Rats,” how fun. Cait and I decided to grab dinner and explore. We went to Garcia’s for stone crabs, which luckily just came into season a few weeks before we arrived. They were sweet and juicy with black claws, but nothing extraordinary or particularly different. Cait also insisted we get key lime pie (we were in the Florida Keys, after all), but I found it to be far too sweet for my liking.
After dinner, we walked it off around Bayside. It was buzzing with shops, popcorn, daiquiris, and live music. It had a fun energy and clear Cuban/Latin influence.
When staying in the Keys, I was also surprised by how spread apart everything was. We definitely needed to uber everywhere (and later rented a giant red Dodge Challenger when we went off on our own. Malcolm loved it, but I found the roaring engine and gas guzzling tendencies a bit much, personally). I suppose if you stay JUST along Miami beach, you can walk around comfortably… but we stayed on the outskirts (new-grad budget, lol). Our Airbnb was in Little Haiti, which wasn’t necessarily the safest area. Our Airbnb was nice though! I've come to realize that highly-rated Airbnbs in less-desirable locations tend to have a lot of thoughtful personal touches.
Skipping past the work part, our first stop was Versailles restaurant with fellow coworkers: Chris T., Ben S., Cait, Malcolm, and someone named Liam from the Melbourne office who we befriended. They had great paella and chicken here.
Wynwood wonders
The next day, Cait, Malcolm, and I went to Morgan’s restaurant for breakfast. Y’all, American sizes are so real. The portions were HUGE. We then headed to Hollywood Beach, which would’ve been nice on a sunny day! Thanks to heavy rainfall, the area didn’t feel commercial at all. There was easy beach access and a boardwalk. We sought refuge from the rain at a nearby beach bar, snacking on some nachos and spinach dip. Weirdly, this restaurant also served sushi and bento boxes—I was far too sussed out to try them.
Next, we headed to Wynwood Walls and Wynwood Market. This was such a cool area!! We saw an exhibit called KOBRA that used an interesting masking technique. Most of the murals were interpretations of famous works like the Mona Lisa or Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss. The art pieces here were selling for $70-100k each. I was shook that the PRINTS were at least $3k. Who buys this stuff?!
It was also amazing to see what people can do with spray paint. There were people painting in public as we explored. The market was also cute—I impulse-bought a couple pairs of cheap earrings, but I’ve been too afraid to actually wear them.
Beach-tech-house
After a quick pitstop at the Ritz to grab Cait’s (legit and sadly forgotten) earrings, we went to explore South Beach. The three of us ate at Chalan on the Beach, which had yummy Peruvian food. This might’ve actually been my first time eating Peruvian? The ceviche wasn’t the best in the world, but the lomo saltado was DELICIOUS. I also liked the fruit smoothies since they allowed us to pick multiple flavours and mix them. I was surprised to discover a good variety of food in the area, including bubble tea (don’t worry, I didn’t indulge).
The others departed for the airport, and I headed to Artechouse for a cool Rafik Anadol exhibit! This is exactly my kind of contemporary art jam. There were a lot of pseudo-models (aka, probably Instagrammers?) doing photo shoots, but I didn’t mind. I had a lot of fun with the digital, mirror, and light exhibits.
Finally, I capped off the night by shopping along Collins Avenue (but didn’t buy anything).
My personality is beach
The next day was sunny and BEAUTIFUL. Seriously, was I even in the same place as yesterday?
Since I was on my own, I moved to a private room at an Airbnb on the beach. The host was super sweet and made me breakfast! I also went to a place called Under the Mango tree for an underwhelming açai bowl — seriously, what does it take to get a good açai bowl in the continental US? Why is it all so artificial? And don’t say there are “berries” included when you only provide five blueberries as a topping!!
Then, like a zombie, I headed straight to Miami Beach. It was super hot—the kind of day where you can feel the heat seeping into your skin (aka, just the way I like it!)—but with a huge breeze that moderated the temperature perfectly. Unlike Hollywood Beach, Miami Beach had brightly coloured shacks (I don’t know what for) and vendors renting beach chairs everywhere. I found a part towards the back of the beach where the sand was really packed down, so it was easier to walk around in sneakers. I found this morning beach stroll really serene and peaceful. Others were rollerblading and biking on a path just west of the beach, and I would’ve totally done this too if I had more time.
To cap off the day, I checked out some cute market stalls with handmade artisan jewellery and clothes. There were also swimwear shops EVERYWHERE!! But I didn’t buy anything. Before I knew it, it was time to head back to cold and dreary Toronto.
Trip date: Nov 6-10, 2019