Last minute birthday trip! Just when I thought I would be in New York for my birthday Delta Airlines blessed me with a sale..$104 round trip to Miami. Now me loving Miami, there was no way I would pass up this deal. My cousin Koko and I booked the flights about 3 weeks before my birthday, we didn’t even look at hotels or Airbnbs. We just booked the flight first, I knew we would figure something out one way or another so I wasn’t worried. I just knew that I didn’t want to be in New York and I wanted to be on a beach.

We ended up staying with our Uncle in Boca Raton which is about 30 mins from Fort Lauderdale and 45 mins to an hour from South Beach. Staying with him was like staying in Airbnb that was fully stocked with food and drinks upon arrival with a car whenever we needed. It was the most amazing, unplanned and eventful three days.We literally went to 3 beaches in 3 days: Hillsboro beach, Miami Beach and the beautiful Hollywood beach! Each beach and day gave us a different experience.

Day 1: We went to Hillsboro beach and it was very relaxing and peaceful. There were only about 10 of us on the beach (or at least in that area) and everyone was doing their own thing. Koko and I just sat, listened to music and talked about life while we watched the sun set- like it was really dope vibes! Later that night (because it was my birthday) we went to Downtown Fort Lauderdale; we ended up at this local bar with pretty good music. There was a dope group of boys and girls dancing like legit hip hop…break dance and all of that. It was just a different scene and I really loved it. We met this guy from New Zealand who was really cool and he bought me a birthday drink. After leaving we went to the Waffle house…..this was my third time going to this establishment and all of my experiences have been the same. I don’t like their food just to say the least!

Day 2: Koko cooked and set up a whole brunch for me in our Uncle’s backyard. It was so cute..sitting pool side, eating and drink mimosas while listening to music. It was like the perfect birthday morning. Then we headed down to South Beach. I really loved the feel because it was the middle of the week and during the day, so it was vey peaceful compared to the other times that I have been there. We met this guy named Vladamir from Germany. We also met a group of 2 girls and 1 guy, 2 of them were from Jamaica and one was from Paris. As we played our Nigerian music we would see them look over and smile- one of the girls eventually told us how much she loved Wande Coal and Nigerian music and that’s what sparked our conversation.

After they left we met another group of friends 2 guys and 1 girl- they lived in Miami and came to the beach after getting off work. One was Dominican and Puerto Rican, the other was from Nicaragua and the girl was Cuban and Black. We had just a really dope conversation about Miami, life in New York and just traveling the world. We drank and smoked cigars on the sand.  After that we went to Wet Willies and ordered what seemed like everything because we were starving.

Day 3: Back to the beautiful Hollywood beach. I really feel like this beach is under rated. People are just so fascinated with the hype of South Beach Miami that they don’t think of Fort Lauderdale or Hollywood, Florida. Along the broadwalk of Hollywood Beach they have all their restaurants, bars, food & drink trucks and shops. We went to eat at this place called Sahara (right next door to Ben and Jerry’s) I got wings and Koko got pizza, and low and behold they had the Margaritas in the fresh pineapple cup. So we got that which was $15 with alcohol ($12 without). They didn’t really put much in there so…we added our own from the stash we brought to the beach! After eating we went to sit on the beach and just relax (so sad that we were going back home the next day).

Later that night we went to Cyn Nightclub and Hookah Lounge in Downtown Fort Lauderdale. For someone who doesn’t like clubs and being indoors I must say that this was actually a really dope place and I would want to go back. First off- it is free to get in! Hookah is $25+, the music was good and up to date, the crowd is nice and laid back and the security is tight and all around the club. One thing that I liked about this place was that they have seats and tables all around and anyone could sit there unlike a lot of NY clubs where that would be considered VIP seating or you would have to pay for a table.

Travel Information:

Dates: May 10th to May 13th

Accommodations: Free

Flight: $104 Roundtrip (From LGA)