First American

Miami's party scene is legendary, from the nightclubs of South Beach to the block parties of Calle Ocho in Little Havana. But there's a quieter side to the city as well—lush gardens, pools, and parks that preserve the ideals of Old Florida in the midst of a bustling metropolis. Elegant attractions blend into the tropical landscape at several spots south of downtown Miami. In Coral Gables, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden enlivens the senses with an extensive collection of orchids, butterfly gardens, and rare palms from around the world. Built in 1924, the nearby Venetian Pool is an 800,000-gallon lagoon fed straight from the Floridan aquifer, surrounded by coral outcroppings and tiered waterfalls. While tourists flock to Lummus Park Beach, part of the lively and often crowded strip better known as South Beach, locals often prefer the more secluded stretches along the barrier islands that line Miami's coast. Here, spiky palmettos, live oaks, and strolling ibises and egrets provide an image of what South Florida looked like before the skyscrapers arrived. The area’s protected parks also offer a serene getaway for those looking to take advantage of Florida’s natural scenery. Hop on the Rickenbacker Causeway bridge to Key Biscayne, home to Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. Here, you’ll find scrub-covered sand dunes, sea-turtle nests, and a lighthouse that's the oldest-standing structure in Greater Miami. Up in North Miami Beach, Oleta River State Park fronts the placid Biscayne Bay harbor, and attracts kayakers with mangrove stands clustered around river inlets. Back on the mainland, Matheson Hammock Park is a circular, sandy lagoon that draws visitors for its spectacular views of the Miami skyline—Frommer's called it the city's Best Scenic Beach.

Miami is a foodie dream come true. Offerings for restaurants and markets are internationally influenced and keep palates entertained every day of the year. Food Events in Miami are national as well as international destinations and when combined with the fabulous weather - it’s a match made in heaven. Here is a Save the Date Miami Food Event list that will fill your calendar and tantalize your tummy for the whole year! Winter Winter 2013 will be the 13th year of The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by Food & Wine. Do you love food? Are Chefs the Rock Stars of your world? Is Food Network permanently on your TV? THIS is your event of the year. It’s pricey but worth fitting into your budget - I promise it will make your foodie heart beat a little faster for four whole days. Spring Dinner in Paradise at Paradise Farms features the finest chefs in Miami preparing a delicious five course meal made with local organic products and paired with fine wines. This food and wine experience, served under the stars and in the lush landscape of Paradise Farms is magical. Calle Ocho Carnaval Miami is food, music, packed streets, celebration, color and an experience to remember. Expect musical stages at every corner and hundreds of food vendors with every kind of food that you can imagine. Miami Food & Wine Festival this past year boasted four nights of food and wine events at three venues and they served 4,000 happy guests and raised half a million dollars for charity. Expect more Craft Beer Tastings, Fine Wine Tastings, interactive dinners with Top Chefs and Celebrity Chefs and opportunities to indulge in Foodie Fantasies! Summer Every August and September, Miami Spice hits the city with top restaurants offering lunch and dinner deals to keep the summer yummy. Three-course meals for lunch and dinner with two tiers are on offer, giving everyone a chance to search for a new favorite. Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation® celebrated their 25th Anniversary in the summer of 2012 and it was a dizzying whirlwind of stunning food and cocktails from the top Chefs and Mixologists in Miami. I recommend splurging on the VIP ticket to really experience all the tasty bites available. Goombay Festival Coconut Grove is a celebration of Bahamian culture and a feast of Bahamian food and the evolution here in Miami. When you are done eating, dance the day away! Fall Starting in mid-October, batches of mustard sauce will be prepped throughout South Florida in anticipation of the delectable bounty from the sea - Stone Crab Season is coming soon! Anytime Miami Culinary Tours makes every week a foodie event. They offer weekly year-round culinary tours of South Beach and Little Havana that are a gastronomical and cultural adventure. If you are looking for fun and great good, follow the many Miami Food Trucks for a smorgasbord of foods. The trucks always seem to be in the middle of the action! These are the events that you can plan for but don’t forget to stay tuned to local Miami websites for pop up foodie events and tastings … what a way to eat the year! Don’t forget to look for me, The Hungry Goddess,  I will be by the food!

As a long time South Florida local who likes to explore the scene and blog about the best Miami has to offer, one of the most frequent requests I get from my readers involves helping them coordinate an upcoming weekend trip to South Beach. (Guess I could give all the Miami party planners a run for their money.) The questions range from help with planning “my best friend’s bachelorette party” or “the ultimate girl’s weekend getaway” to smaller requests such as "what are the hottest lounges and restaurants to visit" or "best brunch spots on the beach". Of course Miami is the perfect option for a quick weekend getaway, especially one with the girls, because this city offers everything you could want out of a fun-in-the-sun-filled weekend. Pool parties, endless miles of sunny beaches, foodie hotspots, stellar spas and so much more make Miami one of the best cities in the country. Okay, so looking to plan your very own ultimate girl’s weekend in Miami? Here are my top 5 recommendations: 1. Book your hotel at least 3-6 months in advance if possible; you’ll get a better deal! Remember that the summer months are low season in Miami where as Nov. – April is high season. 2. Try to stay on Collins Ave anywhere between 14th - 24th streets; you’ll be closer to all the hot spots and easy access to the beach. 3. Book a poolside cabana at any of the popular hotels for your own private pool party – its money well spent when you’re looking to treat yourself to a nice, relaxing time. 4. It’s all about the details: create a gift bag for all the girls in your group and fill them with fun, quirky gifts (nail polishes, picture frames, etc.) or make a fun music mix you can listen to during the trip. 5. Book a photographer to help capture you and your pals in funny poses and use the pool/beach as your backdrop. It’ll be the perfect way to remember your vacation! A few weeks ago I was able to put my party-planning hat on and take some of my own advice for a weekend trip I planned for eleven of my best friends. I’ll walk you through some of the highlights from the weekend where I was able to put some of my best advice to the test. This year, my friends and I all turn 30 and we wanted to celebrate. So, what better excuse than to celebrate such a big milestone together? Although most of us grew up partying in Miami, more than half of the crew has since moved to other cities all across the country so a weekend in Miami Beach was welcomed by everyone. At the end of the day, we wanted lots of pool/beach time, great foodie spots to eat at, a couple of cool lounges to let off some steam, and most importantly, spend lots of unforgettable moments together. So what does such a weekend entail? Well, because we were such a big group it was decided early on that we would stay in the heart of South Beach so we could walk to places and have access to lots of venues without having to walk far or catch expensive cab rides. The Surf Comber was the perfect hotel because not only do they have the ideal location, they had all the amenities we needed to ensure a fab weekend; a pretty pool with beach access, nice, comfy rooms, great restaurant for meals and beautiful hotel bar for pre-dinner drinks. Once we had our hotel picked out, the next step was to make meal reservations at various spots. This included a couple of dinner reservations at Haven, Lantao and Pubbelly and a special goodbye brunch at the ever-popular YardBird Southern Table & Bar. It’s always good to call ahead for places on the beach, especially when you have a big group. The highlight of the trip had to be the time we spent in our private poolside cabana that we rented for the day. The cabana came with our own cocktail waitress who ensured we always had plenty to eat and drink and we had plenty of private space to talk, catch up, lay out and even host our own dance off (thanks to a lively playlist created just for the occasion). Each girl contributed to the weekend in their own unique way, bringing with them gifts, food and drinks, make-up tips, clothes to borrow, you name it. But one in particular came through with a marvelous idea. She booked a photographer to come out and capture the entire crew (all 12 of us, or how we called ourselves, the dirty dozen) in spontaneous fun poses so we would each have a memento of the weekend to keep (and post on Facebook, Twitter, etc.). This was by far, a fantastic idea and one I would recommend to anyone planning a vacation with friends or family.