Miami at the end of July! Let's make it happen!

This was the reaction my friends and I had last September when the 2019 MLB schedule was released. July might not be considered the peak time to visit Miami, but there really is not a bad time to go. Plus, the flights were darn cheap.

We originally looked for a weekend trip that would work, but a quick look through the schedule yielded no great choices. We generally do not take this trip prior to Memorial Day weekend, so despite interest in going to Philadelphia, that option was not going to happen. Coupled with prior trips to Seattle, Texas, Kansas City and last year's trip to Chicago, we pivoted to what the most fun location would be. Considering our preference is to attend games at an NL park due to how infrequently the Twins play each NL team, Miami jumped off the schedule.

Trip logistics:

Like I mentioned previously, it did not cost much to get to Miami from Minnesota in July. I flew in and out of the Rochester, Minnesota airport due to proximity, but both Rochester and Minneapolis offered very affordable flights.

Once in Miami, we used Lyft and Uber to get around, which I would recommend highly for this city. I consider myself to be a pretty good driver, but I would have struggled in Miami. The naming convention of the streets is weird, there was a lot of construction which led to many detours, and every single local driver's vehicles turn signals were broken (or so it seemed) so merging and changing lanes was always an adventure.

We stayed at the YVE Hotel Miami which was perfect for us. We basically used it to sleep and shower. We were across the street from Bayfront Park and Bayside Mall, which are both pretty touristy spots. Lots of good food/drink and shopping opportunities. A couple of the food spots we went to in this area that I would recommend were Station 28 and The Egg Spot.

We spent one morning/afternoon in Miami beach. It was about a $10 Lyft ride to get there from the hotel we stayed at. We had brunch at one of the dozens of places that line Ocean Drive, and later had a couple drinks at a different place. There are so many options for food and drink on Miami beach that I will not name specific places we stopped. The beach itself is beautiful, and was not terribly crowded the day we were there.

After one of the Twins/Marlins games we attended, we went up to the Wynwood Walls area to see the art. There were a lot of people out and about in this part of town, considering it was 11 pm on a Wednesday night. One of our Lyft drivers mentioned it was one of the best places to experience the culture of Miami, and I would say he was right. The graffiti was stunning.

Finally, we spent a little time in the Brickell area, just south of the hotel we stayed at, the final night of our trip. Having spent a little time in Brickell, the only thing about the trip I would change is that I would have looked for a hotel in that area. Granted, it was less than a mile from where we actually stayed, but the nightlife and energy was just a little different.

Marlins Stadium and the games:

My goal here is not to provide game recaps since the writers for Twins Daily already do that and do it much better than I ever could. Instead, this will be my thoughts on the stadium and surrounding areas, and a couple of notes regarding the games themselves.

Prior to game 1, my buddies and I went to Nightlife Brewing Company since it is right next to the stadium ($8 Lyft ride from our hotel). There were less than 10 other people in there. As we were looking for some sort of pregame atmosphere, that was a let down. The beer was fine.

The plaza area around the stadium is really nice! The landscaping looked great, and there were a lot of open areas that, should the Marlins ever draw a decent crowd again, could be a great spot to hang out before and after games.

Marlins Park is a nice stadium as well. It is, perhaps, unconventional in regards to stadium design, but it has a lot to like. There are big glass windows out in left field that provide a great view of the Miami skyline. The Bobblehead Museum was a lot of fun to look through, and the Budweiser Bar in left field offered a really nice vantage point of the games for those who like standing. With wide concourses and small crowds, walking around the stadium was easy. There are a couple of concession stands in right field that offer "deals" on select items. Hot dogs, for instance, were $3 at this location and $6 elsewhere, so there is some affordability of eating at the ballpark if you go to these areas.

Unfortunately, the Marlins removed the home run sculpture after last season, so we did not have a chance to see it in person. I would have loved to see that thing! Additionally, the roof of the stadium was never opened, so we did not get the experience of outdoor baseball, which would have been nice as well.

We did not purchase tickets ahead of game 1, choosing instead to scalp tickets to avoid fees. We got lower level seats for $12, which felt like $11 too much given the attendance, but the cheapest available seats either online or at the box office were $10, so we did alright. Our seats were for a section down the right field line, which we sat in for a couple innings. Those seats were actually quite good. I do not think there is a bad seat to be had in the stadium. We did decide to give ourselves an upgrade and relocated behind home plate about 20 rows up.

Game 2 was easily the best ballpark experience we have ever had on one of our trips. We decided to purchase tickets to the Dex Club, which is the Marlins equivalent to the Champions Club section at Target Field. As we normally spend a good chunk of money for tickets for 1 game per Twins road trip, and then buy cheap seats around the park for the remaining games, this was our big ticket purchase. The seats were $225 each, and worth every penny. The Club itself was beautifully set up with a bit of a beachy vibe; plenty of tables to sit at, a lounge area, and some standing tables all blended together. The food was all excellent, the beer and wine was unlimited, and there is even a view of the Marlins batting cages from inside the club. We sat in seats in the section right next to the Twins dugout, which gave us a great view of the masterpiece Jose Berrios threw that night.

Game 3 was a bit of a repeat of game 1. We scalped our tickets for the same price, but instead of sitting in seats, we hung out in left field at the Budweiser Bar and watched from there until the 8th inning or so. One item of note from this spot is that we had a great view of Buxton crashing into the wall in right-center. He slammed into that wall at full speed, and almost made an incredible catch in the process. I could not believe he stayed in the game after that play, or that his next at bat resulted in a huge 2-run double (we had a good view of the chalk kicked up from the ball landing on the line) given how hard he hit the wall.

Game 3 was also a noon game, and there were about 25 groups of kids from various summer camps at the game. Whenever the stadium scoreboard would call for fans to get loud, these kids went crazy. That was the only time considerable noise was made inside the stadium.

One of the really fun things about these trips are getting to see players making their Twins (or MLB) debuts. I was in Kansas CIty in 2015 for Miguel Sano's debut. I was at Wrigley Field last summer for Willians Astudillo's debut. In Miami, I was able to see Sam Dyson's debut. I will never forget his first game as a member of the Twins, that is a fact.

Overall:

Miami was a blast! There is a lot of energy and culture in the city (although there is almost none at the ballpark). The ballpark itself was very nice, though not particularly memorable in any way.