Mena and I took a spontaneous day trip down south to Miami, Florida. We woke up at around 7:30 a.m. this morning and decided to head down south for the day. Our adventure started by hitting I-95 and since it was bright and early we needed to get breakfast.
Let’s take a look at all of the places we visited today – trust me it was a jam-packed day full of delicious food, sunshine, good beer and an all around amazing time.
Croissan’Time French Bakery
Mena was craving an authentic French croissant so it was only right that we stopped at Croissan’Time French Bakery in Fort Lauderdale. This place is absolutely incredible and their breakfast is top-notch. After quickly scarfing down two swiss cheese croissants, it was time to continue on our adventure down to Miami.
Dania Beach Pier
But first, we had to take ANOTHER detour to the Dania Beach Pier. Mena had taken me to this pier when we first started dating but it was at night so we did not get to enjoy it. Today was a beautiful day in South Florida so we decided to pay $2 each and go out on the pier – we also needed to walk off those croissants we just inhaled at the French bakery.
We made quick work of the pier as it was quite windy and neither one of us really wanted to get blown off into the water. Once we got back to the car it was time to make the final trek down to Miami.
Aventura Mall
I will be the first to admit that going to any mall of any sort is pure torture for myself but listen to me when I tell you, the Aventura Mall is the fanciest one I have ever been to. Mena and I wanted to grab lunch at CVI’CHE 105 which is right outside the mall so we decided to take a peek inside – it is incredible, y’all!
While we did not get to explore the entire mall, we will definitely be going back as you could easily spend a whole day there.
CVI’CHE 105
Now that we got over the shock of how crazy the Aventura Mall was, it was time for us to head to CVI’CHE 105 which is located just outside the mall. Chef Juan Chipoco owns CVI’CHE 105 and Mena agreed with me that it was some of the best Peruvian food we’ve had.
The causa limeña was hands down the best causa we’ve tried and we have been to a ton of Peruvian restaurants during our travels. Not to mention the chicha morada was pretty damn good – Bravo’s chicha is still my favorite though, it’s hard to beat.
Mena and I decided to skip dessert and take our leftovers to have for dinner. It was now time to leave the fanciest mall on the planet and continue on with our adventure in Miami.
Haulover Inlet
Next up is Haulover Inlet which was a bit anticlimactic if I have to be honest. We always see these crazy Haulover Inlet videos of boats taking on water at this inlet and while the park is really nice and the views are good, we saw none of the madness today. I do have to mention it was super windy so there was not a lot of boat traffic going in and out of the inlet – we just picked the wrong day to go check it out I guess. Let’s move onward to the final portion of our Miami trip…beer!!!
OFF SITE Nano Brewery
Before we go any further, no, Mena did not drink any beer as that is pretty frowned upon while you are pregnant. Ok, now that we cleared that up, let’s talk about Off Site Nano Brewery. This little brewery is super cool inside and we were loving the overall vibe. Not to mention they were playing some jams that brought both Mena and I back to our high school days.
I decided to order Off Site’s very own beer, the Super Good Lager, and it was pretty damn good – it paired perfectly with the insane Chicago style hotdog I ordered. Yes, we ate AGAIN – do not judge us, thanks!
Mena immediately saw and ordered the Butterfly Pea Lemonade and paired it with an epic grilled cheese. Once we finished our drinks and food, it was time to hit the road and start the trip back north towards home.
Epoca Brewing Company
When looking up breweries near Aventura Mall I came across Epoca Brewing Company and we are super glad that I did. We made a quick stop to this little oasis behind a bunch of industrial buildings for a drink. While they did not have any of their own beer on tap, the selection they had was impressive and I just went with a sour from Burley Oak. I was told by the bartender that their new tanks would be ready soon so we will definitely be going back to try some of their own brews.
The overall vibe of Epoca was relaxed and chill – the outdoor beer garden they have is amazing. I definitely recommend checking this place out if you are ever down in Miami, Florida.
Latinos Supermarket
And now we are finally at the end of our day trip to Miami. We had heard through the grapevine that there was a latin supermarket on our way home that had a ton of Peruvian snacks and goodies – a lot of Peruvian food is hard to come by in Florida so this stop was super exciting.
I was like a kid in a candy store when Mena and I found the Peruvian food aisle in Latinos Supermarket. We picked up 3 packs of cookies and then we saw that they had Peruvian sorbet and ice cream – I picked the chicha morada sorbet and Mena went with the lucuma ice cream.
The chicha morada sorbet was out of this world – I am officially addicted and I will gladly drive the 40 minutes south to get it again from Latinos Supermarket.
After our shopping spree we finally made it home around 6 p.m. and we were both exhausted. Mena heated up our leftovers from CVI’CHE 105 and now it’s time for us to wrap up this blog post and go watch the rest of Sandman on Netflix.
Thank you all for joining us on yet another adventure – keep checking back as we will have a few in-depth reviews of some of the places we went to today.
