Miami – Good Coffee, Food and Local Living

It was time to soak up the sun. It was quite chilly in Barcelona, so I was ready to welcome up to 30 degrees celsius.  The last time I was in Miami was 2005, so I was keen to see some parts I missed on the first pass, and mostly just experience the town like a local.

But first, coffee, of course.  And I headed straight to the number one recommended coffee place – Panther Coffee.  They have a few locations around Miami, but I thought to try the one nearest to South Beach.

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Panther Coffee

Like many places in Miami, parking costs money.  Luckily the parking garage next to Panther was only $1/hour.

Then, of course, comes the currency shock.  Two cappuccinos and 1 croissant comes to US$16, which is AUD$21.

Holy moly! Forget Paris having expensive coffee, we just broke the international coffee price barrier!

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It WAS good coffee, and the croissant was good too.

Lincoln Road Mall

While looking to re-stock my Lush perfume, I ended up at the Lincoln Road Mall.  Clearly the Christmas decorations had just gone up.  Too early in my opinion.

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And the trip to Lush was all in vain… the prices are nearly double Australian prices – literally.  My AUD$24.95 bottle of perfume was US$24.95, so I opted to look for other options.

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Still, it was a nice stroll down over Collin Avenue to…

Miami Beach

Yes, this beach is as good as you would expect…

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Cheesecake Factory

A visit to the US is not complete for me until I visit Cheesecake Factory. It used to be Red Lobster that I usually visited, but it has kinda gone down hill.

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Yes, I would not really associate the word “healthy” with Cheesecake Factory, so I have mixed feelings about the deep fried zucchini, mushrooms and avocado! Still, it was delicious!

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Actually the real reason I stumbled into Cheesecake Factory was because I was at the Aventura Mall looking for new shoes at The Walking Store. Somehow I ripped my Rieker walking shoes in Madrid, so I knew the time to grab a new pair was close.

Sadly the range was VERY thin on the ground, and I’m not sure that if you are a shoe shop dealing with “problem feet” that just suggesting people shop from the website is the best idea.  Problem feet normally means having trouble fitting shoes, and not even a single shoe make keep consistency any more when manufacturing shoes.  Tricky business.

Whole Foods

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Not just a grocery store…. it’s an institution.  And the food is awesome.

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And it literally is the cheapest and best place to stock up on natural beauty creams and cosmetics.

Ok. I love this place.

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