My wife Helena and I are very different people. But one of the things we do have in common is our love for travel. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to travel for leisure since our vacation to Australia back in 2018.

We did have the best of intentions to travel again in 2019. However, my mother fell and broke her leg, which required us to not be able to travel. It was a tough year, but it gave us another source of income and allowed us to book a cruise for March 2020.

Then the pandemic happened and The cruise industry collapsed. Our vacation that we were looking forward to after an intense year was canceled.

I was working for a cruise retailer so I really was in the belly of the beast when everything happened. This led to me getting laid off a few months later.

Even amidst all of this chaos, Helena and I kept our optimism strong. We were able to rebook our cruise for an even better one to Italy.

I was able to follow my dream of becoming a full-time entrepreneur/blogger. My wife got an incredible new job. So everything worked out in the end because we kept a positive attitude.

Because we had so much pent-up desire to travel, we decide to take a quick trip to Mexico City (to visit my inlaws) and then go to Miami for a little bit of fun in the Sun.

This is Our First Vacation Post Pandemic! – Miami 2021!

San Diego To Mexico City

Because my wife Helena is from Mexico City, we like to fly out from the Tijuana airport. It is half the cost of flying out of San Diego and is a very simple process. There is a service called CBX (Cross Border Express) that allows you to cross a bridge into Tijuana from San Diego very easily.

Helena and I are now American Express Platinum members, so we have access to VIP lounges in airports.

Related: How We Travel With Credit Card Points

After crossing the bridge, we were hungry and got a bite to eat all complementary in the American Express VIP Lounge. It felt new getting the VIP treatment, but it is certainly something I am getting used to.

Enjoying Family Time In Mexico City

When we arrived in Mexico City, we were picked up by my mother-in-law. I’ve been here about 5 times now and it is a wonderful city.

This part of the trip was just relaxing, eating good food, and spending time with family.

In order to travel to Miami, we had to take a COVID test. Helena and I are both fully vaccinated, so we of course passed with flying colors. However, I could have done without a q-tip going deep up my nose. Not fun!

We did however, enjoy the Amex Lounge in the Mexico City airport before going to Miami!

Enjoying Breakfast before our flight in the AMEX lounge

Welcome To Miami!

We arrived in Miami at around 5 pm. We found a really good deal on a hotel in South Beach called The Blue Moon hotel. It was a great deal and also a great location.

One thing we weren’t expecting was how crazy this area is. Lots of exotic cars, women wearing next to nothing, and just one big party.

There were even people smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol openly in the streets right in front of police officers.

Helena and I are more foodies than party people, so if you’re like us, keep that in mind if you stay in south beach.

Hanging out during the day was great, but there were some questionable characters hanging out after dark.

The next morning we wanted to try famous Cuban coffee. We found a place called Las Olas Cafe. I also got my first real Cuban sandwich!

We walked around the beach area for the afternoon and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was pretty warm and the humidity was high. Definitely different than the dry San Diego weather we’re used to.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant across the street called The Rosetta Bakery. It was really good.

Check out the Pizza and grilled veggies we got.

The next day, we went to a little café down the street called Puerto Sagua for breakfast. Once again, great Cuban-inspired food and coffee.

After breakfast, we walked around again to explore. I was craving Lobster so we found a nice spot on the tip of South Beach called The Lobster Shack.

Honestly, I’ve had better Lobster rolls here in San Diego, but the Salad was great!We went back to the hotel to relax and get out of the sun…

For our final day in Miami, we wanted to go to the world-famous restaurant Versailles in downtown Miami. They are known for their famous Cuban coffee, Cuban Sandwich, and Croquettes.

To be completely honest, I was disappointed with the food. Maybe it was because we came at breakfast, but the food wasn’t that great.

The croquette was barely warm, and the Cuban Sandwich was slightly cold. It wasn’t very fresh. The coffee was really good though…

We then explored downtown Miami for the rest of the day.

Leaving Miami

Before boarding our flight, we decided to take advantage of the Centurion Lounge at the Miami airport.

The food was great, but one complaint I do have is how crowded it was. This is due to them making every other table empty due to social distancing.

Centurion Lounge

Not Leaving Miami Today!

After checking in to our flight, Helena noticed that they changed her seat for some reason. We complained to an airport rep and they told us to talk to someone at the gate.

When someone arrived at the gate, we told him our issue. We said no problem and was going to assign Helena back to her original seat.

We then noticed that the sign behind him said our flight was canceled. Everyone was in a panic and he told us we needed to go to gate 37 to the rebooking center. When we arrived, there were literally over 300 people in front of us.

After 3 hours of waiting, we decided to just rebook everything ourselves and get a hotel for the night. There was no place to sit because we didn’t want to lose our place in line.

It really was inhumane how we were all treated. It just wasn’t worth it and our flight left at 9 am the next day.

Honestly, I know that these things happen, but how American Airlines handled the situation was unacceptable.

The flight was canceled because one of the pilots didn’t show up. That’s their issue, not ours. This is why I’ll never fly with Amerian Airlines again.

Because of this, we needed to pay for a hotel, uber rides, and food. We contacted American Airlines for reimbursement, but we’re not expecting much, to be honest.

Update From American Airlines

• American Airlines reached out to us and gave us two free airline vouchers totaling $250. It definitely is not going to cover our expenses, but it was a nice gesture considering I wasn’t expecting anything to happen.

Final Thoughts On The Miami Trip

Other than our flight getting canceled without much notice and having to wait over 3 hours, this was a great short trip. It was great to see people out and about again after the pandemic.

Helena and I are really looking forward to our trip to Italy in September. We are also continuing our other travel adventures without a restrictive Pandemic hanging over our heads.

Thanks for reading,

Nick Hazleton