<p>My son was accepted for Cane 4 A Day but can not visit in April. We are going this weekend instead. We will attend the info. session & tour on Monday and plan to have lunch on campus. We have a 2 full days unscheduled (Sunday and Tuesday). We have never visited Miami. Can you recommend the best activities & restaurants that a 17 year old would enjoy?</p>
<p>Son1 graduated a little over a year ago, so some of my info may be dated. I’d check out Coconut Grove (“The Grove” in Miami speak) for restaurants and a little people watching. The Grove seems to be the preferred hangout for students on weekends. The main area is on Grand Avenue between Mary and SW 32nd, (things seem to get a little dicey west of 32nd). Food-wise, I liked Jaguar (the ceviches are great).</p>
<p>There is (used to be?) a student shuttle to the beaches on Key Biscayne (Crandon Park?) so you might want to take the causeway (toll road) over and visit those beaches, as well as Key Biscayne itself. KB is certainly sleepy when compared to South Beach, but I think it’s worth it for the views of Miami on your ride back. I enjoyed the Tango Grill on KB, though it seems to be a love/hate thing with many people. The decor is strictly strip mall, the service slow, but if you’re a carnivore it’s hard to beat.</p>
<p>Of course you should check out South Beach. Very trendy, very hip, very expensive. On a parental note, in my experience, if you walk the beach the further south you go the less, err, “inhibited” things become.</p>
<p>Our son also took us to the Design District (NE 2nd Ave between NE 38th ST & 42nd ST). The area is undergoing a bit of a renaissance with lots of interesting/funky retail shops and restaurants. I highly recommend Fratelli Lyon for dinner. The pastas were exceptional though the surroundings can be a bit stark and industrial in that precious stark-industrial way artists like to be. (It’s not a knock - the food is great).</p>
<p>Hopefully this Dad’s assessment of things will bring others out to give you some more student oriented ideas.</p>
<p>Miami Zoo is not far from campus and incredible. Great weather for it too!</p>
<p>The Art museum on campus is great as is Vizcaya.</p>
<p>Restaurants: Shorty’s BBQ by the Dadeland Mall.
Moon- across from campus for Thai/Japanese
Ortanique-a favorite of ours. Always great.
On the “mile” in Coral Gables, there are endless restaurants.
Mall at Miracle Mile- upscale Mall with a great indoor/outdoor restaurant.</p>
<p>Even ‘Cane 4 a Day’ ends at 3 p.m., and the hosting student is welcome to just drop the visitor off at Admissions at that time. I keep wondering what my S will do afterwards. It’s not like he knows anyone he can visit in FL. I guess he can visit South Beach, Zoo and Art museum as suggested by vinceh and crazed, but he would really like to see more of the U.</p>
<p>You’ve gotten some great suggestions. On all our college visits, we tried to really explore the areas around the campuses to give the kids a feel for what it would be like to live there. We would also print out a campus map and spend some free time just wandering around the campus people watching and taking it all in to get a sense of the atmosphere.You could also see if there is a sporting event, lecture or recital while you’re there.
<a href=“http://www6.miami.edu/visitum/selfguidedbooklet.pdf[/url]”>http://www6.miami.edu/visitum/selfguidedbooklet.pdf</a> </p>
<p>The Grove/CocoWalk area is a great place to wander around and get a feel for life around the U. We love Le Buchon for breakfast. Monty’s is a great happy hour/dinner spot on the waterfront that is filled with students on the weekends. A visit to Vizcaya is very interesting.
[Coconut</a> Grove BID](<a href=“http://www.coconutgrove.com/index.cfm]Coconut”>http://www.coconutgrove.com/index.cfm)
[Miami-Dade</a> County - Vizcaya](<a href=“http://www.miamidade.gov/vizcaya/]Miami-Dade”>http://www.miamidade.gov/vizcaya/)</p>
<p>In addition to checking out the Grove (a must), another kid hangout to explore is Sunset Place, an outdoor mall located on Rt. 1 just south of campus. It’s nothing from the outside but the interior mall area is very nice with shops, restaurants and a 24 screen movie theater.</p>
<p>Key Biscayne has the closest beach and a nice area. There are lots of outdoor recreational opportunities there and as someone mentioned earlier, the view driving back to UM is great. South Beach is a whole other animal but can be really fun.</p>
<p>If you head toward Miami and South Beach, Bayside Marketplace could be another stop. It’s an outdoor shopping/dining area and sightseeing cruises (1 to1-1/2 hr) are available. It might be a nice way to get a view of the area from the water.[Sightseeing</a> Cruises Miami | Miami Boat Tours | City Tours | Miami’s Original Sightseeing Attractions](<a href=“http://www.islandqueencruises.com/sightseeing.htm]Sightseeing”>http://www.islandqueencruises.com/sightseeing.htm)</p>
<p>My S had a wonderful 4 years at UM. Good luck and enjoy the visits.</p>
<p>Thanks my-3-sons, those sound like great suggestions!</p>
<p>Thank you for all the great suggestions!</p>
<p>I forgot to mention, it’s not uncommon for restaurants in the Miami area to automatically add a gratuity to the bill regardless of the number in the dining party. Always check the bill!</p>
<p>Thanks for the tip my3sons!</p>
<p>-Coconut Grove
-South Beach
-Key Biscayne
-Downtown/Brickell</p>
<p>Key Largo is about an hour drive from Miami. You can go the beach and snorkeling there. There’s also the Grove, where there’s always something going on. I would also check out Ft. Lauderdale which is a calmer version of Miami. Go to Las Olas Blvd. in Lauderdale. There’s always a lot of outdoor art festivals which are great. There’s a lot to do in Miami, but beware of traffic because it is absolutely everywhere! There’s traffic all day. There’s a lot of nice malls to explore nearby.</p>
<p>Thank you for all your great advice! Here is how our trip turned out: Stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in Coral Gables which was clean, comfortable, and in a good location. Sunday: Spent 2 hours driving around UM Campus and following a 14 mile Coral Gables Eyewitness guidebook tour which took us past original coral entry arches, Congregational Church, Venetian Pool, Biltmore Hotel, Merrick House, Alhambra Water Tower, Coral Way, and original villages including French Normandy, Chinese and South African Dutch. We stopped at Sunset Place Mall where we walked around the shops and had the added bonus of stumbling upon the South Miami Arts Festival. Had lunch nearby at Five Guys Burgers. Drove 35 minutes to the beginning of the everglades and took a Coopertown airboat tour which was hokey but fun. Next we drove to Coconut Grove and walked around Grand Avenue and enjoyed an excellent dinner at Jaguar where we tried ceviche for the first time. Monday we had a tour of the UM campus and attended an admissions info. session. We had lunch at the campus Rathskeller with a student from our home town, then had a tour of the Communications School. The campus is a great size and well laid out. It is impressively clean and beautifully landscaped. My son loved it and moved it to the top of his list. For dinner we drove around Calle Ocho and ate at Versailles which served massive portions of tasty Cuban food. Tuesday we went to Bayside Marketplace and took an Island Queen harbor cruise past the impressive Port of Miami and equally impressive expensive waterfront homes then hit Hard Rock Caf</p>
<p>It’s a great city and a good school. Sounds like a great visit. Glad you enjoyed Jaguar.</p>
<p>Great report! It sounds like you were able to get a real feel for UM and the area. Good luck to your son.</p>