Miami ~ Family Friendly

I think a lot of times when people think of Miami, they typically think of South Beach, the parties and all the beautiful, young skinny people. For Northern Virginians, it probably is not on the top of the list for a family vacation destination, but I have to say Miami is what you make it.

I have been to several beaches throughout my married/family life. Each are unique in their own little way, but I keep wanting to return back to Miami. I am sucker for palm trees, warm ocean water and plenty of area activities to keep me busy. Last year, I got to travel to OBX for the first time. I love the vacation as spending time with friends and their kids was awesome. They had a few places to go to such as seeing wild horses or visiting different light houses, but it is a sleepy town, which is not a bad thing...its just OBX.

Miami is really what you make it. You can have a ton of fun vacationing there as a single person, a married person without family or having your entire family vacation there with you. Make it as relaxing as you want with going to the beach everyday or as active as you want by traveling to other destinations around Miami that prove to be tons of fun. I wanted to clue in a few things you can do that are family friendly while visiting Miami.


Oldest Building in the Western Hemisphere: A great stop while you want to see a quiet scenic area that is a well kept secret. The cost of admission is very minimal and the inside of the grounds is breathtaking. It is not a huge, but it is certainly a place anyone can appreciate.


Monkey Jungle: What a fun little place to go to with your kids! It is a place (as said on their website) where monkeys run free and people are caged. Monkey Jungle is unique as it will allow you to feed monkeys little raisins and dried cranberries that you can purchase in their gift shop. I also love the weather policy, which is if you get rained out then you can get a voucher from the gift shop/ticket booth to come back at anytime within a year.


Jungle Island (previously Parrot Jungle): A little costly, but if you find some discount tickets online then it is well worth it. You are greeted soon after you enter the gate for a photo opportunity to hold parrots and sometimes a small baby alligator. The price of the photos are expensive, but holding them is pretty cool. What this place has that other areas do not is that they have a Liger, which is half tiger/half lion. This liger is HUGE and pretty cool. There are very few ligers in the world, so getting to actually see one is a huge treat!


Miami Seaquarium: Very similar to what you get to see at Seaworld. They have all sorts of shows and experiences with the different animals. Their website usually offers discount coupons for park admission.

Miami Zoo: This is a really cool zoo. I will have to say unlike the D.C. zoo its nice that there aren't tremendous hills you have to climb. Also unlike the D.C. zoo, this place rents out family bicycles that is well worth the money. If you have small kids that can not peddle, then no problem. They can either sit on your lap or in the baskets for small kids in front of the bike (resemble a shopping cart seating). I had a lot of fun at this zoo!


Gator Park: A lot of fun to go on an air boat tour. I will say if you have a squirmy toddler, then an air boat tour is not the thing to go on. The tour guide will safely bring you up to various gators in the everglades. The rides on the everglades are amazing because literally you can touch the bottom of the everglades with your hand, but with the air boat you can speed through the swamp land at an enormous pace. This is probably one of my favorite things to do.

Gambling: Obviously not a family friendly thing to do, but there are some great casinos in the Miami area. One being the Seminole Hard Rock and Casino and Gulfstream Park Casino are two of the casinos I have been to an highly recommend. They have slot games, black jack and poker. Its tons of fun if you can steal some time for some couple time.