I'm in Miami Beach

The flight from Orlando to Miami was pretty much up and down, which reminded me so much of flying within Europe. We stayed at Loews Miami Beach Hotel in South Beach, which to me was in the best location within walking distance of Lincoln Road Mall and Ocean Drive.

Lincoln Road Mall

Loews Miami Beach

Ocean Drive

I was actually really surprised by Miami - we both loved it. I think it was a great destination for a little bit of sightseeing and a little bit of relaxing. Plus staying at a beautiful resort also made all the difference.

While we were in Miami we checked out Lincoln Road Mall for shopping and dining; did a bus tour of downtown Miami passing Coconut Grove, Biltmore Hotel, Venetian Pool and Little Havana; did a boat tour of The Everglades to see the gators (disappointingly we only saw three in total whilst out on the boat); swam in Miami Beach; chilled poolside at the hotel; dined at Zuma in downtown Miami (amazing), went to see Kevin Hart perform at American Airlines Arena; and dined along Ocean Drive. So a lot really in two and a half days!

Downtown Miami

South Beach Miami

Mid Beach Miami

The Everglades

It was a crazy city full of life where practically anything goes. It also had a very glamourous side. I would definitely return and stay for longer.

Big kid fun!

Disney World is somewhere I have dreamed of visiting since as young as I can remember so when I was planning my America trip, Orlando was a must. I must admit though, when you have been to one Disney, they are all the same. I probably wouldn't think that if I was still a 10 year old though!

We stayed at Disney Port Orlean's Riverside Resort and soaked up all the Disney theming for our stay in Orlando. The resort was medium priced and came complete with two pools, a dining room, restaurants and a ferry to Downtown Disney.

Ferry to Downtown Disney from our resort

Disney Port Orleans Resort - Riverside

We spent our days in Orlando exploring Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, the four Disney theme parks (all in one day), Downtown Disney and a bit of relaxation.

Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure were definitely more suited to adults with extreme rides like the Incredible Hulk and Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, but the highlight was Harry Potter World. I am so glad I watched the full suite of films before the trip! Everything was designed with such detail and the butter beer was delicious. It's also worth getting the Park to Park ticket so you can ride Hogwarts Express. We also paid for an Express Pass for both parks but they also have the option of Single Ride lines if you don't want to pay the extra money.

Butter Beer

Diagon Alley

Universal Islands of Adventure

You might wonder how did we get all four Disney parks - Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot and Magic Kingdom - done in one day? Well, it wasn't too difficult at all. We chose to focus on the main rides we wanted to go on and as we had already been to Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong and Japan, the only thing we really wanted to see at Magic Kingdom was the fireworks. The key is to plan and map out your day in advance. It may have also helped that we didn't visit during school holidays or on a weekend.

We started the day at Animal Kingdom as that park opened early to Disney World Resort guests on the day we were visiting Disney Parks. We used our three Fast Pass options here. It was really easy to get around Disney World Resort as there were buses to and from each park and to and from each hotel. Next was Hollywood Studios where we enjoyed the Aerosmith and Hollywood Tower rides again (we had done these in Paris). 

Animal Kingdom

Hollywood Studios

I ventured to Epcot on my own while the boy rested and it was definitely more interesting for adults with a big technology focus. We met back up again at Magic Kingdom where we enjoyed a couple of attractions before getting dinner and enjoying the final parade, light show on the Princess castle and fireworks display. All in all it was a magical day, I just wish I was 10 years old again.

Epcot

Disney Castle

Fireworks Finale

On our last day in Orlando, we had good intentions of going to the Kennedy Space Centre but decided to just take it easy after a massive week in New York as well as the last two days at the theme parks. We went into Downtown Disney and watched a movie at AMC cinemas which is basically a restaurant in a cinema. We then relaxed by the pool back at the resort and soaked up our last hours in the magical world of Disney.

Downtown Disney

Amazing Downtown Disney sunset

Top 10 in NYC

This was my second time to the big apple and I must admit I enjoyed the trip a lot more this time. I definitely think the weather was a major factor in this. The first time I visited was in the peak of summer with extreme humidity. This time we were blessed with beautiful sunny spring days. I was also going with no expectations and an open mind, and it was all about America this time rather than an add on to a working holiday in London.

So I thought I'd share my top experiences from my 6 days in NYC.

1. Central Park Bike Tour
I found it much more valuable having a structured bike tour of Central Park rather than doing it on our own. We rode straight to all the relevant locations in the park and our guide provided interesting facts about the park.

2. Dinner at Buddakan
Sex & the City moment at Buddakan - such amazing food and dining room!

3. Top of the Rock
Definitely the best view of Manhattan with Empire State in sight, especially at night.

4. NBA Playoffs
We managed to catch a Brooklyn Nets playoff game while we were in town, although it was a shame they didn't win and it was a one sided game.

5. Lunch at Eataly
Italian heaven no matter where you look. This Italian market has everything from fresh pasta and wine to a butcher, seafood, bookshop, gelato and dolce, restaurants to dine in and more. We enjoyed a lunch at Manzo Ristorante of carpaccio and gnocchi. We also grabbed a gelato on the way out - a must!

6. Visiting my New York family
I met family for the first time on my last visit and was happy to find a suitable time to catch up with some of them this trip. We went out to Long Island for the day from Penn Station and enjoyed a bit of outlet shopping at Tanger Outlets and an early dinner at Joe's Crab Shack.

7. Shopping at Woodbury Common Outlets
This place is amazing! A $40 return trip from Manhattan and a little over an hour away, but the shopping is well worth it. My favourite purchase of the day was a Burberry trench!

8. Walking Brooklyn Bridge
This was a really nice walk and view. I wasn't able to walk it on my trip as it was way too hot!

9. Empire State
As one of the tallest buildings in the USA, this is some experience. Open 8am-2am daily.

10. Rooftop views and drinks
Our hotel in NYC - Citizen M NYC - offered an amazing rooftop bar, where we loved to hang out (when we had any spare time).

My only sadness was finding out the ice rink at Rockefeller Centre closed a few days before we arrived - I really thought I was going to arrive just in time to have a skate! All in all, I thought New York City was really amazing this time around.

Highway to Vegas

One of our two drives of the trip was from LA to Vegas. We picked up a white Mustang convertible from Alamo LAX and set off for the Las Vegas strip. It was fairly easy to navigate our way to the right freeways with our GPS and we had picked up most of the road rules when we were in LA with our friends the previous week. The drive was fairly straight forward too.

Our Mustang convertible

We stopped in Yermo for lunch at Peggy Sue's Diner which was approximately half way - 2 hours into the trip. The burgers were great and the serving size was massive! There was a bit of a novelty about the diner and it even had a gift shop. Another 2 and a bit hours drive and we were on the Las Vegas strip. We checked in at Caesars Palace Octavius Tower and then finally took the Mustang for a drive with the roof off (the freeways to Vegas were too windy) down the strip back to the car hire - so much fun!

Driving down the Las Vegas strip

Roof off, hair flying

The next morning we were up early for our Grand Canyon helicopter tour with Sundance Helicopters. We chose the Early Morning session as a friend had said the afternoons get windy and what better way to start the day! We were picked up by a limousine and escorted to the Sundance headquarters where we checked in, paid another $50 each for our tour and waited around half an hour to head off.

Our helicopter

Our flight was with two other Australian couples and unlucky for us, we didn't get a chance to ride up front. The flight either side of the Grand Canyon was 45 minutes and fairly smooth. It was my first time in a helicopter and it really lived up to expectation. We crossed over Lake Mead, Hoover Dam and the town of Boulder. We also went past the Strip on the way back to the landing. The actual time spent at the Grand Canyon was only 30 minutes, which now seems so surreal. You spend 10 minutes taking photos of this natural beauty and 20 minutes having a picnic breakfast. In hindsight we should have spent more time enjoying this natural wonder and our surroundings, which really were spectacular, as I didn't even feel like I had been there after - it was so quick.

All smiles at this early hour

Grand Canyon Helicopter landing

Lake Mead

Las Vegas Strip from above

Most of the days in Vegas were spent exploring all the other hotels. I was really happy we chose to stay at Caesars as it was themed really well and had an elegance to it. The Garden of the Gods is an oasis of 5-6 pools including a topless pool. It was all themed so well and felt like you were somewhere in Europe, not desert America. Some of my other favourites were The Venetian, Paris Hotel and Bellagio. All the themed hotels were such a novelty but a bit overrated. The rollercoaster at New York New York was fun.

Caesars Palace Lobby

Garden of the Gods

Bellagio Fountains

Las Vegas Strip

We also visited the Las Vegas North Premium Outlets where we picked up some bargains in Guess, Armani Exchange and Nike. Unlucky for us, it started to rain mid afternoon and there was barely any cover - even the taxi line had no cover so check the weather before you go.

One of our best dining experiences was at Bacchanel Buffet at Caesars Palace. This buffet had everything! There were 9 stations of a variety of cuisines including American, Italian, Asian, Mexican, salads, dessert and more and over 500 different products to try. Needless to say, we could barely move once we had admitted defeat to the food on offer. We literally didn't eat the next day until 4pm! We also dined at Rao's Italian, Serendipity 3 and The Cheesecake Factory at Caesars Palace, which were all satisfying.

One side of the dessert buffet

Giant meatballs at Rao's

We went to two shows in Vegas - Absinthe and Le Reve. Absinthe was a mix of cabaret/comedy/circus with humourous racial and political jokes. Hilarious but you need a sense of humour for this one. Le Reve on the other hand was a Cirque Du Soleil inspired circus performance involving water. It included a mimed love story, diving and acrobatics. It was really quite spectacular how high some of the dives were from. Would highly recommend it as it's not a show that's likely to tour.

Absinthe

Le Reve

We didn't really explore the Las Vegas nightlife unfortunately. I think I would have definitely enjoyed my stay more if we did. We did experience the freak show that was Freemont Street in downtown Las Vegas though! The area is more frequented by locals and is a lot cheaper than the Vegas strip. The mall area is still lined with casinos, music and entertainment, and a whole lot of crazies hustling for a dollar.

Freemont Street

We did see a couple of celebrities up close too! We saw Gordon Ramsey walk through our hotel casino (presumably headed to his restaurant inside) and on our last day Mariah Carey had the launch of her season at Caesars so my goal of seeing celebrities up close was done. All in all, Vegas was just Vegas - I didn't fall in love with it. And my favourite part of it would definitely have to be our tour to the Grand Canyon (even though I hardly remember it).

Caesars Palace from the strip

Just photo memories now :)