A Weekend Trip to Miami

After grabbing a late lunch in Fort Lauderdale on our way from the airport, we arrived at the Days Inn Miami Beach around 4PM.  After checking in, we promptly dropped off the bags in the room and hit the bar by the pool. 

First a word about the hotel.  It’s old and well, very old – and not in a classic sense.  It’s not filthy, but the rooms certainly aren’t in pristine shape either.  I don’t know if I would be willing to say it is run down, but it is certainly well worn past the time of needing a total overhaul.  It’s most attractive quality is the cheap price, but if you are accustomed to luxury – or even looking for a place you would in good conscience let your Grandmother stay – look elsewhere.  Actually, if I was looking for a place to stay with anyone other than drinking buddies – like a girlfriend, wife, lover, etc. – I don’t think I would stay at this hotel.  But I really can’t complain because I knew what I was getting myself into and this was a weekend about drinking and football.  We surprisingly ended up staying at the pool for about 4 hours and countless drinks.  I say surprisingly because we had no intention of staying past a beer or two, but they had four flat screen HD televisions showing various college football games and to our astonishment, there was a bevy – more than I could count on one buzzed hand – of very attractive girls hanging out at the pool and bar area.  We joked and laughed – and yes, drank – with a few of them and not one of the girls we talked to was actually staying at the Days Inn.  I guess they all just came by to use the pool.  As things settled down, we realized it was well past the time we had planned to head out to eat and rushed up to the room to shower and change into the evening’s finer attire.

We took the $8 cab ride down to the Lincoln Road Mall and after perusing the scenery, we decide to eat at Van Dyke.  The food was of better than average to very good quality and the prices – on the South Beach scale – were quite reasonable.  The waitress was friendly and the service speed was adequate considering that it was a busy Saturday night.  We ended up staying for another two rounds of drinks after our meal had been cleared simply because there was a gaggle of very attractive girls at the bar – this seems to be a South Beach theme.  Our original plan was to hit the Sagamore Hotel for pre-club drinks based on recommendations from this board, but we ended up staying at Van Dyke’s later than expected and were afraid that a trip to Sagamore might put us past the time that three single guys would be able to gain immediate access to a club.

We wondered down Washington Ave and found a small restaurant – Mexican, I think – on the southern corner of Espanola Way that had a little bar with a perfect view of the fronts of Cameo, Suite and Snatch.

It was 10:45 and a short line of guys had already formed in front of Cameo.  Suite and Snatch didn’t appear nearly as organized and with no one out front at all, we wondered if they would even open.  While we enjoyed a couple beers at our little bar with a view, a fashionably hip and extremely gorgeous Latin girl (Hispanic isn’t PC anymore, right) came in to pick up a large carry out order from the bar.  She wasn’t you’re typical skinny, statuesque model type, but a real beauty from real life with a very cute smile and expressive, dark eyes (I’m still thinking about her).  Anyways, eye contact was made a few times, but the time and place didn’t seem appropriate for a clever line – not that it would have worked – and she seemed to be in a hurry.  About this time we noticed that the line in front of Cameo was growing so we decided to go stake our place.  A scrum – not a line – of people had also seemed to appear in front of Suite and Snatch, so we decided to swing by on our way to Cameo to see what all the fuss was about.  A couple bouncers had appeared out front, but it didn’t appear as though they were letting anyone in and there didn’t seem to be any coordinated effort to organize people so as to enter.  It was just a big crowd standing at the ropes.  And then in the middle of the bouncers appeared the gorgeous Latin girl who not more than 5 minutes ago just picked up carry out from across the street.  She appeared like a queen holding court over her minions – oh, and did I mention she was now wearing a lot less clothing that were a lot more revealing.  I tried to move amongst the masses in hopes of getting some face time – yea right, like the idea of her seeing me and realizing she just saw me across the street was gonna place me above the other 30 or so other gawking spectators.  The mob just grew and still no one seemed to be getting in and so we made our way to stand in Cameo’s line.

Of course any attractive girl that showed up was immediately ushered to the front and let in while the groups of guys were let in at a drip, drip pace.  It appeared that an average looking girl with a slight attitude was in charge of letting people in, but seemed to continuously consult with a portly, effeminate gentleman with thick-rimmed glasses, so I wasn’t sure who the real power broker was.  After about 20 minutes of standing we were finally admitted and entered the near desolate club lighter the $25 cover charge.  Not to worry, we knew it was still relatively early and the place would eventually fill up.  By about 1AM things were in full swing and Cameo offered everything you could want in a club – very loud music, lots of sweaty bodies and expensive drinks.  Don’t get me wrong, I had a very fun time and the place was jumping, but every time I am in a club, I am reminded why I prefer bars – but that’s just me.  The crowd inside started to dissipate just a little and we left sometime between 3 and 4AM (I think) and there was still an extremely long line of people waiting to get in.

The rest of the weekend was spent sleeping until just before heading to the Dolphins game – and I am sure you all know how disappointing that was – and wasting 3 hours to get out of the parking lot afterwards.  All in all, I would sum things up by saying:  DAMN, I can’t wait to get back to South Beach again.

And a special thanks to all of you here at Miami Beach 411 – I don’t think my weekend would have been nearly as enjoyable without your advice and recommendations.

Related Links: • Fun before and after Dolphin Games • Days Inn pictures • More information about Sagamore? • Best Cuban food in South Beach Related Categories: Miami: Travel News, See more articles by s1lv3rtwenty2 Was This Post Helpful? Please Share It With Others! Tweet

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"A Weekend Trip to Miami"

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