Alie & Georgia's Miami Travel Guide

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For two California chicks, Miami feels exotic the second you step out of the plane, when this weird phantom thing called “humidity” hits you in the bangs. The very air around you feels different, mysterious. The city’s pastel art deco architecture, thick vegetation, spicy exciting cuisine, threat of gator attacks and people in G-strings all make Miami seem like less of a vacation destination and more like a trip to an alternate universe.

Georgia had never been to Miami, and Alie had never been to Miami without her former boyfriend’s parents, so we had some giddy spring break vacationing on our agenda. We packed some anti-frizz hairspray and set out for South Florida, and this episode — our season finale — features some of our favorite Tripping Out memories:

Tap Tap

Little Haiti is a Miami enclave known for great food and shops, including the acclaimed restaurant Tap Tap. We’d never sampled Haitian cuisine, but malanga fritters and deep-fried goat are now things we can classify as obsessions. We were also introduced to aged Haitian rum and fresh juices, plus the best mojito we’ve ever sucked down in our lives. Tap Tap is legit legit.

Cuban Coffee

Why is delicious, sweet Cuban coffee served in a vessel the size of a thimble? BECAUSE IT’S REALLY STRONG, OK? LIKE SUPER STRONG. So good.

Sugarcane

Opened in 2010, Sugarcane is a raw bar as well as a robata grill, and it’s packed with people who are wearing more expensive perfume than you. In Miami’s trendy Midtown district, Sugarcane draws well-dressed locals and serves up small plates of seafood and sophisticated Japanese-grilled vegetables and meat. Also on the menu: really extraordinary cocktails. Our favorite used jam as a sweetener, and we left inspired to add jam to everything in our lives, including this episode’s cocktail: Pump Up the Jams. (GET IT?)

Jungle Island

Because sometimes on vacation, you NEED to cradle a huge scary parrot like a baby and have a monkey get tangled in your hair. A tour through this massive animal habitat included encounters with tigers, tortoises and a kangaroo that tried to eat Alie’s dress. To his credit, it was a great dress.

Synchronized Swimming

Swim caps? Check. Nose plugs? Check. Agility? Eh, two out of three ain’t bad. We went to Coral Gables just outside of Miami to meet up with an old-school water-ballet team that taught us some aquatic moves. Were we amazing at it, or did we suck? Tune in to find out — and to see us in rubber hats.

Key Lime Pie

Miami is to Key lime pie like New York is to pizza, so we sought out the city’s best and it led us to ... a fire station? Yep, Fireman Derek is a burly lifesaver by day and a pie-maker by night, and he taught us the perfect way to make a flawless Key lime pie — and how to slide down a fire pole. (Note: It’s much scarier than it looks. Also, wearing a dress was probably a bad idea.)

South Beach Mortification

If you’ve ever longed to see people walking around with no pants on like it’s no big deal, book your ticket to Miami ASAP. And if you want to see Georgia mortified while Alie dance-walks along the shoreline, tune in.

Thanks for coming along with us on the first season of Tripping Out with Alie & Georgia! We hope to stuff you into our luggage for a second time around.

-Alie & Georgia

Tune in to Tripping Out with Alie and Georgia every Friday at 10:30pm ET.

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