Oh, 2017. We can’t exactly say we’ll miss you. And can you blame us? You were way too hot and weird and you really scared us with a hurricane (which was not cool, bro). Still, we can’t say we hate you either. You gave us some great times and good food. Remember Ultra? South Beach Wine & Food? Those were fun. And thank you for Artichoke Pizza, too. Still, we’re determined to make 2018 suck significantly less. So we made some resolutions for you.
1. Check out different neighborhoods. We know you love a good Wynwood selfie but your phone is running out of memory and there are some seriously cool parts of Miami that deserve your time and attention (like Little River and Little Havana and so much more).
2. Take public transportation. Miami does love to complain about its traffic, but you owe it to the city to familiarize yourself with some of our free transportation options—like Downtown’s Metromover or the free (and air-conditioned!) trolly. If we use them, they will grow.
3. Buy your hurricane prep kit before hurricane season. As fun as it was to get poked in the eye by an 83-year-old woman over Walgreens’ last flashlight three days before Irma came to town, it’d be a smart move to prepare early this year. You never know what’s coming our way.
4. Learn to accept that the Dolphins will always suck. Sorry, y’all. This ain’t changing anytime soon.
5. Expand outside of Cuban food. We are absolutely not advising you to abandon Cuban food (or even cut down on it at all), but remind your taste buds every once in a while about our diverse offerings: like our great selection of Thai, Chinese, Haitian and so much more.
6. Go to the beach. A staggering number of Miamians can count on one hand the number of times they visited the beach this year. People?! Do better! Have you seen the ocean? It’s so cool! (and our beaches aren’t too shabby either).
7. Shop local. We’ve got so many cool emerging vendors in Miami. Visit them at the monthly Miami Flea or catch them at Prism’s Support Local Market at the Wynwood Yard every Thursday through Sunday.
8. Support the local music scene. Miami’s music scene is blossoming like never before and you can help it along by buying tickets to awesome venues like North Beach Bandshell, the Fillmore and New World Symphony. You should also buy tickets to III Points next year and, while you’re at it, go shop at Sweat Records.
9. Don’t release any pets into the wild. Alright, people, we’ve already got iguanas, lionfish and enough pythons to make a coat for the sun so the last thing we need is another invasive species. Let’s leave the exotic animals in 2017.
10. Don’t cram all your arty things into Miami Art Week. Miami’s museums exist beyond Art Basel and the theater shouldn’t be the place you only visit when Gloria Estefan is in town. Spend the next 12 months exploring the city’s arts and culture scene, and taking advantage of all there is to do in Miami. Check the GMCVB’s Citi Temptations program for monthly deals on local attractions.
11. Hug Pitbull. Still didn’t cross this one off in 2017. The quest continues.
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