Miami Beach
Who doesn’t love consistent sunshine and warm temperatures year round? My family and I were snow-birding it from Ohio for a long weekend in Miami Beach. Immediately upon stepping out of the airport my son said “it smells good here!” And I couldn’t have agreed more, it doesn’t get much better than getting whacked in the face with a salty scented warm breeze!
Even on our way to the Airbnb, we couldn't help but notice all the lush palm trees - they were grouped everywhere! So different from the stark brown and sometimes white landscape we were breaking from.
Once we got settled, our first adventure was to walk to the Miami Beach Botanical Garden. It’s situated right next to the convention center. It has a fairly small footprint, but has major impact. They make the most of every inch of their space!
It was most exciting when we came across our first ever Rainbow Eucalyptus tree! And true to its name, we saw every color of the rainbow on the bark on that tree. I’ve never seen anything quite like it and I like to think of myself as someone who's seen some trees:)
Eucalyptus delgupta is native to Malesia and Papuasia floristic regions, hardy in zones 10-11 (central Ohio is zone 6a for reference). In the wild it grows up to 200’ when mature and still can reach 100’ tall if given enough space in a garden setting. Stunning.
After we gave our final hugs to the rainbow tree we kept on wandering and happened upon an enchanting vignette. Having very strong, typically of the negative persuasion, when it comes to garden “art”, the unicorn tucked into the lush palms with succulents and spanish moss for a mane worked. It worked beautifully. It worked so well, that a luxury hotel across the street copied this look in their gift shop, hawking miniature versions for a whopping price. Since then, I’ve seen other miniature versions in many a museum gift shop. However, I stand by the Miami Beach botanical garden version, original or not, it was the most whimsical.
We also made a stop at the Perez Art Museum. It’s worth a visit to their inviting outdoor spaces, even if you don’t make it inside. They have comfortable fun swings that overlook the water, with huge hanging plant chandeliers creating another enchanting space. This spot also makes for the perfect good old sniffing of that salty warm breeze!
Unrelated garden note: La Sanwicheria, hands down the best food in South Beach, Miami. If you’ve never been, it's worth traveling to Miami, FL just for this one place. You can’t go wrong with any order - and everyone knows it, so go on off hours to avoid a long wait. Having a particular fondness for their croissants, because they’re the size of a person’s head!
