Melificent

Why I Love Miami Beach

Not gonna lie, I get pretty annoyed whenever I tell someone I live in Miami, and they automatically think I live on Miami Beach. There is definitely more to Miami than the beach, but being a Miami native, there sure are a lot of amazing memories tied to it. I figured I would share some of my favorite Miami Beach memories and activities for those of you that may be visiting the Magic City soon and may want something that can’t be ticked off a traditional travel to-do list.

  1. Watch a show at The Fillmore.

My 20’s were a time for live music. I basically lived in music venues, with a perma-smile on my face and a beer in my hand swaying to my favorite bands’ music. Now I am lucky if I get to go to a show a year and am gluten intolerant, but I digress. The Fillmore Miami Beach is a beautiful Art Deco building situated on Washington Avenue that has intimately hosted many an amazing act. My most favorite memory here is going to a Justin Timberlake after show where we were resting our elbows on the stage watching JT get down with a seemingly endless amount of energy despite having come straight over to perform after his huge stadium show with Jay Z. Fun fact: I later found out that all the members of *NSYNC were watching from premium seating above.

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Holiday Bucket List #3: Safari Edventure

Luna absolutely loves animals, and visiting Safari Edventure for one of my birthdays on a VIP tour was one of the most amazing experiences, so we wanted to make sure that she had the opportunity as well. This place is such a gem. It is nestled in the Redlands and is the home to so many amazing animals, such as wolves, sloths and alligators.

With admission, you get a chance to sit in their very interactive animal show, which takes place twice a day. With it, you are able to have hands on interactions with a lot of amazing animals, such as baby gators, skunks and snakes. We were also able to go play with wolves in a group setting, as well as explore the rest of the grounds.

They offer a lot of very reasonably priced VIP tours where you get similar experiences but they are private and you get time with more animals. I can’t recommend it as a gift more – it’s still one of my most favorite memories!

 

 

 

Holiday Bucket List #2: Wynwood Adventure

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope you guys are enjoying what 2019 has brought you so far. I know I have and I’ll be posting about it on a later date because I want to make sure I share with you all the fun we had attempting to complete our holiday bucket list challenge.

Sure, Wynwood is in our backyard and it’s not the first or last time we have visited, but going with a little one kind of changes the experience. We went to see some new wall art and took some fun pictures in front of some, and then had dinner at our favorite taco spot, The Taco Stand, followed by some fun at the Wynwood Walls.

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Holiday Bucket List #1: Tates for Substitute Santa

If you follow me on social media, you know I decided to make our first annual family friendly holiday bucket list! Every holiday break, my husband is off and we are able to adventure as a trio more so than usual. This year, I decided to make it official, turn it into a list and share it with you all. Make sure you follow me over on Instagram (@melificent) to get the full list and possibly join in on the fun (seriously, let me know if you want to meet up)!

First on the list was Tates for their annual Substitute Santa. Instead of Santa Claus, Tates gets a different fandom character to sit in for pictures with the family, and usually, hilarity ensues. If you want to get in on the fun before it’s over, make sure you head up to Lauderhill (an hour north of Miami) next weekend – their special guest will be Darth Vader! This past weekend we had Hela, Thor’s evil sister, and goddess of death. All pictures are free – whether you take them with your phone/camera or theirs!

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Santa’s Flight Academy Comes to Miami

Would you believe me if I told you that I used to refer to myself as The Grinch? Well, at times I still do, but since having a child, my opinion on Christmas has changed drastically. There’s a lot of things that change when you have a kid, but my absolute favorite has been the magic surrounding it all. During Christmastime, this only gets amplified and I revel in it. Even though deep down The Grinch is still my spirit animal, I can’t help but get excited to make the holidays special for my daughter. And this year it started a little early with a visit to Santa’s Flight Academy at Dolphin Mall.

We didn’t really know what to expect aside from a photo op with the big dude himself, but were so pleasantly surprised at all the interactive, fun elements throughout. The experience begins with registration and getting a badge with your photo that you scan at all the different stations. This allows it to be fully interactive and personalized – displaying your child’s name on all the activity screens.

There was a flight suit dressing room, where Luna got to virtually “try on” an elf’s outfit and dance around in it. We even got video sent to us later of her in action! Luna also got to see what the controls look like in Santa’s sleigh and was able to fully immerse herself by pushing buttons, pulling levers and getting commands. But Luna’s absolute favorite was getting to play in a room full of snow! In Miami, that doesn’t happen often, so she couldn’t get enough of tossing it around and laughing uncontrollably.

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