I am a Floridian through marriage. Growing up in Northern California meant that much of what Florida had to offer was gleaned through television. In other words, I thought it was just the Golden Girls.

When Will Smith came out with his Welcome to Miami song, I didn’t pay much attention past the catchy tune. In fact, I never even bothered to register that they were saying “Welcome to Miami” in Spanish too. When I stepped off the plane in Ecuador in my late 30’s and saw the sign that said Bienvenidos, I thought…ohhhhh! Yes. Dumb.

These days I know enough Spanish to stumble my way through ordering food and getting a taxi. I’m pretty proud of how far I have come.

Anyway. About Miami. Even my Florida-native husband had never been to Miami. When we spoke with local friends, they too, had never gone. I guess it is a lot like Northern California vs Southern California. The two don’t often mix.

So, I decided we needed to take a trip there and see what it had to offer. Between Will Smith songs, Dexter, Miami Vice, and all of the other pop culture out there, I wasn’t sure it would make for a fun family trip.

I was worried that it would be just another big city with extra emphasis on the night life and beach party scene. I feel like we were pleasantly surprised.

The first trick for us was to stay outside of the city. This was done because hotel prices in Miami are out-their-mind. There is no sense in going a short family trip and spending the entire budget on accommodations. We elected to stay out of the city in an IHG partner hotel, because its all about the points, baby.

Next, we went to the Science museum. It made for a great day trip. If you have read any of our blog or watched our videos, you know we are always trying to make our journey educational. Museums are a great way to spend the day learning and interacting.

Then we went and rode the Ferris wheel near the bay. I wanted to get some great views of the city, and it felt important to do it in the evening so I could catch the city lights coming on.

When I was a kid in Northern California, we would sometimes drive up the mountains to spend the day at the lake. As we drove down at night, there was a point on the road where we could see the entire city in the valley. It was all little um with a million twinkling lights. I always thought it was so magical. Now I try to see cities at night anytime I can.

As we left the ferris wheel, a man approached us and started a long conversation about why would should give him money. It was pretty awkward, but I didn’t feel particularly in danger. Plus there was security nearby, so I’m sure we would have been fine either way. I have heard there are much less savory places in the city to be.

It is always good to stick to tourist areas in these big cities. There is typically a larger police or security presence to protect tourism money. We gave him a dollar, since we didn’t have any other cash. I always feel bad when I don’t have more to give.

However, these days there are so many people on the streets everywhere you go. I feel like if I gave everyone a dollar, I would be joining them on the streets in a couple days.

The other thing we did was take a boat tour to an island in Biscayne Bay. The waters are so blue and clear, you can see right to the bottom. We stopped on the island for about an hour and walked around to see some of the historic buildings.

Then we continued on to Stiltsville. A prohibition era set of houses over the waters. A few remain and are under some protected agreements. It is an interesting situation.

We had planned for a third day to go to the Miami Zoo, but I was feeling pretty worn out. Maybe the Miami sun got me too much? Or not. As much as I love travel, I have some chronic health conditions that require quite a bit of down time sometimes. We try to take things slowly. Three days in a row of action proved to be too much and we called the trip short.

The good part is that we can always go back and hit up that zoo.