Two weeks ago I headed down to Miami Beach for swim week with three girlfriends in order to hang out, sight see, and of course take lots of pictures! We traveled down in the new Ford Expedition, which was insanely awesome. It made the 4 hour drive so easy. My favorite features were the seats & peddles that adjust and then the seat also massages you for when your butt gets sore during a long drive. Then, there was intelligent cruise control, so that it took the guess work out of slowing down and speeding up with the traffic. Plus, it also had a feature that kept you in your lane since the SUV is so big. We wanted to take the SUV around Miami and get pictures in all the Instagrammable locations, but Miami is not a place where you can find easy parking, so that didn’t happen, but we did discover a lot of great photo locations! I did a South Beach Style Round Up as well that shows a lot of these locations.

MIAMI BEACH SIGN

So we attempted to take a photo in front of this sign with the SUV, but that was a bad decision and we changed our mind very quickly about that! If you are just pulling off to the side of the road on I-95 to get out and take a photo that’s one thing, but I do not recommend trying to drive off of the cement part of the road, even with an SUV that has 4 wheel drive like the Ford Expediton does.

WYNWOOD

This is seriously the best place to take photos with a vehicle, or walking around. There are so many cute walls when you get to the area where El Patio, The Butcher Shop, and Paleta’s is. We walked around, took photos, got popsicles, and lunch. I suggest wearing a neutral outfit for the day, so the walls stand out in your photo. Most of the parking in this area is parallel parking, so luckily the Ford Expedition has parallel park assist. This girl is not a good parker haha.

NIKKI BEACH

Kat @deliriumstyle

This place is gorgeous and right by the tip of South Beach. It has a pool, restaurant, and it’s own mini beach area with tee-pees and cabanas. Plus my name is Nikki, so I def had to get a pic there! There is some easy meter parking right near here that we were able to park the SUV and walk right on over to this area and to the beach for our picnic.

SOUTH POINTE TAVERN

The bar here is absolutely gorgeous!! From the Mediterranean tile floors to the rustic meets steam punk bar, the warm moody feels make you want to hang here all day and night. Every Monday through Friday they have a happy hour from 5-7 with half priced drinks and it’s a block from tip of Miami Beach.

LIFEGUARD STANDS

About every half mile down Miami Beach you can find a cool different colored lifeguard stand. We started with some which were on the beach where the Clevelander hotel is located. Then there were also some great ones over near South Pointe Tavern, which is also where the American flag one is located. If only you could drive on the beach here, since we had an SUV that would have done well with the terrain and it would have been so much easier than walking with a bunch of beach stuff.

BACON BITCH

This cute breakfast and lunch spot was cady corner from our hotel and has two really awesome neon signs for photos. I didn’t take any there during this trip, but my girlfriends Kat & Nubiana did. They said that the food and drinks were really good there too.

Kat @deliriumstyle

Nubiana @nubianaliloutee

SHEPHERDS ARTISAN COFFEE

I stumbled across this cute cafe in Miami Beach while walking around Collins Ave. I am obsessed with the blue and white bistro chairs and everything here is so instagrammable. The food is so pretty, yet still super yummy and of course they do latte art!

THE STANDARD

The Standard Miami Spa

I didn’t make it to this spot on this trip, but I have been told that this hotel & pool is gorgeous and I’m going to go there when I go back in October. You can get a day pass during the weekdays for $75 and use the Spa and Pool. I love the vintage vibes to their pool area and the view of the bay.

OCEAN DRIVE

All along Ocean Drive south of 10th street there are the cute Art Deco hotels. You will see places with vintage cars parked out front and it’s just a nice spot to go for a walk and snap some pics! I didn’t get any on this trip because the times we were walking around there it was super crowded. I suggest going earlier in the morning, since most Miami people are night owls. You can also just cruise down this street for a slow Sunday drive to soak in all the pretty architecture.

FAENA

Faena Miami Beach

Again another spot for me to go take pictures at on my next trip to Miami. I caught a glimpse walking past, but this hotel has a gorgeous spot with a gold elephant skeleton. It’s a very fashion chic hotel and would be a great place to have dinner, or drinks at the bar.

C-LEVEL AT THE CLEVELANDER

So, we were staying at the Essex hotel, which is also owned by the Clevelander. This allowed us to go use the facilities there as well. I am not sure if you can get up to the rooftop area at the Clevelander if you are not staying there, but it’s worth a try for photos. It’s normally only open to people during the evenings, so we got some great shots during the day when no one was around.

I’m super curious if you have any suggestions of instagrammable spots in Miami Beach that I have missed! Please let me know in the comments below!

**Thank you so much to Southern Ford for lending us this SUV for our trip! It definitely made our drive so much easier and now I’m so antsy to get one for my next vehicle!

Xoxo, Nikki