RT2 – Day 9 – Riviera Beach, the Sawgrass Mills outlets and a first evening on Ocean Drive

The last leg before Miami. After the Buc-ee’s stop and the night in Vero Beach, we carry on down the coast, with two stops on the way: our first beach in Florida and a big outlet mall.

Breakfast in Vero Beach

Breakfast at the hotel before leaving, at the Fairfield Inn in Vero Beach, and it was great. Good coffee, all sorts of bagels with plenty to put on them, and the traditional make-your-own waffles. It’s also where we discovered Chobani yoghurts, and we loved them. The staff were attentive and very friendly.

A beach break at Riviera Beach

About an hour and a half later, we stopped at Riviera Beach, just north of West Palm Beach, on Singer Island. Parking is free for two hours, enough to enjoy the beach or browse the little shops at the entrance. A small sandy path through the vegetation then leads straight to the beach.

At last we were discovering Florida’s beaches: golden sand, turquoise water, and very few people at the end of December. We had a stretch of the beach almost to ourselves. After a week in the cold of New York and Washington, it does you good. We put on our swimsuits and settled on the sand to rest and swim. The water was gorgeous, and it was our very first swim in the Atlantic. We made the most of it, and rather lost track of time.

Shopping at the Sawgrass Mills outlets

We then stopped at Sawgrass Mills, in Sunrise, north-west of Fort Lauderdale. It’s one of the largest outlet malls in the United States, with hundreds of brand-name shops at reduced prices. The Colonnade Outlets section brings together the more upmarket brands, in an open-air setting with palm trees.

We have mixed feelings. Much as we love outlets in the United States, this one struck us as too touristy: an enormous number of people, and not that many bargains. It may be more worthwhile for luxury brands. For everyday brands, we’ve found much better elsewhere. We still came away with a few things from Levi’s and Victoria’s Secret, the classics!

We came out at sunset, with a pink and orange sky above the palm trees and the Christmas tree on the central walkway.

A first evening in Miami Beach

We then drove on to Miami Beach, where we were unpacking for three nights at the Albion Hotel, for $1,043 without breakfast. It isn’t cheap, but it’s still reasonable for Miami Beach at that time of year, a stone’s throw from Ocean Drive and the beach, in a quiet street. On the other hand, the room was dated, with a musty smell, and the hotel has no parking. We left the car in a public car park, inexpensive for Miami Beach: $20 a day. In the evening the palm trees are wrapped in strings of lights, as here in front of the Loews Miami Beach Hotel (too expensive for us!), and you feel straight away that this is a city that lives at night.

For dinner we shared two pizzas, one of them topped with rocket and cured ham, at IT Italian Trattoria, on Collins Avenue, right by the hotel. It’s a trattoria that isn’t too pricey for Miami Beach, where you get good, simple dishes quickly and in a nice atmosphere. It works a bit like a food court: you order at the counter and sit wherever you like.

Ocean Drive under the neon lights

After dinner we headed for Ocean Drive, the most famous street in Miami Beach. At night the Art Deco hotels light up in neon: here, the Hotel Victor, all in red. A little further along you pass Casa Casuarina, the former mansion of the fashion designer Gianni Versace, outside which he was murdered in 1997. It has since been turned into a hotel and restaurant.

Between two terraces, a life-size Father Christmas under the palm trees reminded us that it was still the holiday season. And then there’s the Breakwater, one of the most photographed hotels on Ocean Drive, with its blue neon tower typical of 1930s Art Deco.

We also stopped outside Mango’s Tropical Café, a legendary Ocean Drive venue where the waiters and dancers put on one salsa and Latin music show after another until late at night, sometimes even standing on the bar. We didn’t go in, but even from the pavement the atmosphere is contagious.

A first evening in Miami Beach that set the tone. The next day was 31 December, and we were going to spend it on the beach: that’s on day 10 (coming out on November 15, 2026).