Archive for 2017

Atlanta, ATL, The A... My favourite part of the trip!

I'm not sure why but Atlanta somehow felt like a home away from home. From our hotel staff, to museum staff - everyone was just so friendly and welcoming. We only spent 5 days in ATL and had so much that we wanted to do, so we really made the most of every moment. We were real tourists and tried to take in as much of the culture as we possibly could. The first place we wanted to visit was the CNN Center for a behind the scenes tour. Upon our visit we discovered that the ticket desk were offering a city pass that included around 5 different attractions all for one price, which was around $80 if my memory serves me right. We opted for this pass and did not regret it, as it got us entry into the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Georgia Aquarium, The World of Coca Cola and the College Football Hall of Fame which were all the sights we actually wanted to visit. There are other attractions to choose from, but these appealed to us most.

The CNN Center itself has multiple food chains and restaurants, as well as souvenir shops, a Cartoon Network store, and a Braves Clubhouse store. So even if you're not interested in a studio tour, the center itself is still worth a visit. I would actually recommend all the attractions that we visited, they enabled us to get a real feel of the American Culture, and a great taste of Atlanta itself.

Onto nightlife, we only actually went out twice during our stay as we were sort of tired of partying and getting wasted after Miami. The first night we opted for a local hip hop bar that I had discovered using my trustee Tripadvisor and Yelp. Entry was I believe $10 and despite the venue itself being something like a whole in the wall (lol), it was actually a good night. Everyone was just there to have a good time and that's all that mattered. The second and last night that we went out, we went to a more upscale club (that I unFORTUNATELY) cannot remember the name of. To be honest, I'm not even sure I'd recommend this place. I mean, the music was good but there was a lack of vibes. Everyone was more worried about how they looked, and the bottles they were stunting with, than actually having a good time. I did wish to visit Magic City, however after KOD in Miami my friends weren't too keen on visiting another strip club LOL.

And of course you can't go Atlanta and not explore the food. Now deciding on where to eat each day was a struggle in itself, as there were so many places to choose from. We used tripadvisor and the advice of some people we had met in order to decide and didn't have any bad experiences. We mostly ate in local diners, and then the known food chains like Hooters, McDonalds (you can't go wrong lol). Even their ubereats is a dream, oh but if there's one thing I'd suggest you steer away from it would be their chinese, that weren't a great choice!

Overall Atlanta is definitely a state I would recommend, despite not having much experience of the night life I know and have heard that they do get it popping. There are loads of cool restaurants to visit, as well as all the tourist spots. Atlanta I can't wait for my return!

Memorial Weekend in Miami was an experience to say the least. We spent 6 days there, from Thursday-Monday which meant that we were there for the entire bank holiday weekend. Knowing how big of a weekend this is in Miami, well the states in general; I expected it to be busy. However, it was sort of beyond my expectations. Simple things like not being able to get a taxi from our hotel as majority of the roads were closed, and excessive queues for clubs made my experience a little less enjoyable. I know you're probably reading this thinking bitch it's Miami the fuck, but guys I didn't expect it to be thaaat bad lol. Anyway enough negativity, on to the positives. We stayed in South Beach in a hotel right on Ocean Drive which was very conveniently located (apart from not being able to get taxis lol). There were multiple shops, bars, restaurants and even clubs all within walking distance. Now you're probably wondering why the hell we even needed taxi's if everything was so close lol, but LIV and KOD (two main clubs) are a bit out of the way heading towards Midbeach, and tbh when you're in heels walking distance goes out the window anyway.

We spent our days either by the pool, on the beach, or walking along Ocean Drive exploring different spots. Not only are most of the clubs in and around South Beach, but there are also several smaller bars to hit up if you fancy something a little more casual. I was excited to discover that there was a Fat Tuesday in Miami too (if you read my Cancun post you'll know) however we didn't end up visiting it as we discovered it too late, and had opted for Wet Willies instead. Miami are very big on their alcoholic slushes which I adoreee. In my opinion, Southbeach has it all and is the ideal area to stay in. The only reason for staying in Midbeach would be for FontaineBleau and it's day parties, you're unlikely to visit LIV more than twice so it's worth staying in South Beach and just paying for a taxi on those nights. As I said there are plenty of bars and other small cool spots i.e. diners, shisha lounges etc to keep you busy during the day, and not forgetting the actual beach itself.

A tip for Londoners visiting Miami, flaunt that accent! I've always heard that Americans love our accents but guys, no exaggeration, we were getting stopped everywhere we went lol. We even had people asking to take pics with us just cause we were from London, as if we were a tourist attraction ourselves.

I hope I haven't painted Miami in a negative light as it's honestly an amazing state, and I would return again in a heartbeat. However I would probably choose a different time of year to visit or maybe just be more organised with our itinerary!

If you follow me on social media you'll know that my girls and I went on a multi city trip from London > Cancun > Miami > Atlanta. I have wanted to do this trip for like the past 2 years but both years people had either dropped out or something had come up, but 2017 we finally made it happen! In this post I'll be sharing some of my experiences from Cancun, Mexico.

We spent a total of 5 days in Cancun, staying at one of the Iberostar resorts (of which I would definitely recommend). Now although Cancun is known to be party central with all it's spring break shenanigans, this was more the "calm before the storm" for us as we knew we had a whole lot of turning up to do in the states. So we mainly spent our time pool side, eating and drinking to our hearts content. We did hit the strip one night to visit the infamous Coco Bongo. My friend's that had been to Cancun had advised us that we had to go to this club but didn't tell us much about it, simply describing it as "an experience", which I now fully understand! Coco Bongo is like no other, and is definitely an experience, a great one at that! After leaving there we then ended up in Fat Tuesday which is a small but lit bar that serves great alcoholic slushes and plays trap & hip hop etc. Oh and incase you're not tired of dancing on the bar in Coco Bongo, they also have a small podium type stage for you to twerk on 💃.

If you stay in "Hotel Zone" you should be conveniently located near to the shopping district, where they have several designer outlets as well as the usual high street stores Forever 21, VS, Bath & body works etc. They also have some restaurants and the popular food chains such as McDonald's and Starbucks, as well as numerous souvenir shops. In this area you will also come across a lot of tourist boards trying to sell you a range of different excursions. Their prices did seem decent however we had seen similar if not better deals online, so be sure to do your research before purchasing! We didn't end up doing all the excursions we initially wanted to, as we just ended up making the most of the chill time that we had. However, we did go to Xplor Cancun which is an adventure park consisting of zip lines, amphibious vehicles, rafts, underground river swimming etc. This was definitely an amazing experience, somewhat scary for us non adrenaline junkies but fun all the same! You can either do this during the day or at night, we chose the Fuego (night session) to make it that bit more exciting, and both sessions can be booked online via www.xplor.travel.

All in all Cancun, Mexico is a beautiful place to visit, I could've happily stayed there for another 5 days but I will be sure to return in the near future!