I live in Miami. and rule # 1 is, any beach is a dog beach lol especially for the lil guys. DOGS RUN THIS! lol Dont bring a phanny pack, dont take pictures of random objects and dont take tours, because then evrey miami native will automatically hate you. Do not diss A) the miami huricanes, B) Cubans or C)gay people, because you'll most likely get the crap beaten out of you. South beach is all about cars, alcohol,partying and shopping, and at night, its all CLUBING so id recomend, especially to the MIA newbies, to visit southbeach during the day. There are a couple of main parts of miami:
1) Coral gables: where i live. its a great neighborhood, upper class, Shopping,safe, and great for people with dogs
2) Hialeah: just stay out of this place at night, and if possible, stay out of it all the time lol. Not a great place to be
3) Kendall: the suburbs, nice neighborhoods, old people, good for dogs, calm part of miami.
When buying anything whether its food,drink, clothes, ANYTHING, expect to pay twice as much as you would pay wherever you live now.. welcome to miami lol but dont worry, you get used to it and eventually learn shortcuts
WHEN GOING TO THE BEACH,BRING YOUR OWN COOLER WITH WATER,DRINK ECT.. Cuz if you dont, they will charge you 5$ a bottle, and when ur dying of thirst, they'll take advantage.
You dont need a backpack and or/phanny pack to come by south beach. come in a bathingsuit with a tank/shorts. some flipflops, and a beach bag. in the beach bag you put ur camera, some water bottles, towels, wallet, car keys ect..
if your gonna get there during peak tanning hours, expect to pay 20$ for valet or a parking garage and expect to walk to the beach.
there are alot of good schools in miami, i only kno the high school but the top list includes : La Salle High School, Carrolton, Ransom, Belen, Lourdes, Columbus and St.Brendan. those are the best private high schools just incase you have kids
Metro Zoo/Miami Seaquarium: fun places, great for kids, kinda pricey so bring your own water. the zoo is more calm,less crowded and the seaquarium is more fun and exciting and expect to get wet lol
Best places to shop: sunset place and merrick park
Find some one you know who lives in Miami, because thats the best way to get to know the greatest place on earth lol. completly ignore the tour books, because they will lead you to overpriced, boring tourist stops.