Shopping Holiday in Florida, USA
Rating (9/10)
Miami is the shopping Mecca of Florida and boasts endless premier shopping malls and boutiques. For shoppers who want a taste of the local flavor, Bayside Marketplace and Biscayne Bay have a number of boutiques and specialty shops that sell everything from plastic fruit to high-tech electronics. The Mayfair Shops, located in the Grove, is a complex made up of boutiques and nightclubs. And Sawgrass Mills, with more than 300 shops and kiosks in a 2.4-million-square-foot facility makes even the most serious and dedicated shoppers feel like they've died and gone to the great big mall in the sky. In Aventura, dominating the landscape, the Aventura Mall has over 250 stores to choose from, plus 18 food court destinations and full-fledged restaurants. It includes, naturally, a movie theater (in the form of a 24 screen megaplex) as well as a giant indoor playground for the young (or young at heart, as long as they don’t mind being escorted off the premises by security when the children complain). In the confines of this sprawling, gargantuan monument to consumerism, you will find (amid mall standards like Macy’s, Sears, J.C. Penny’s, and Bloomingdale’s) shops devoted to past-times you would never expect to see.
Bayside Marketplace is one of Miami's primary retail centres in its downtown shopping district. Located over 16 acres, it includes over 150 shops, restaurants and outdoor cafes, and features a pedestrian link to the American Airlines Arena, Miami's hottest concert destination that has played host in the past to the likes of Mariah Carey, Eric Clapton and Madonna. Bayside Marketplace is also home to a large number of American and international retail stores, including; Gap, Claire's accessories, the Discovery Channel Store, the Disney Store, Foot Locker and Sunglass Hut; so Bayside Marketplace clearly caters to a variety of retail styles. Its eclectic mix of restaurants and cafes include: Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Los Ranchos, Chilli's and Hard Rock Café. In addition, Bayside Marketplace also offers live music events, hiring regular bands like Gypsy Heart and Brazilian Explosion, and making the retail experience offered by Bayside Marketplace much more original and exciting.
