Editor’s Note: Thank you to Joanne Davis for filling in this summer as our guest editor with all good things to do in Miami. Lois Whitman-Hess returns in the fall.

Joanne with Serevene’s Executive Chef Pawan Pinisetti

August in Miami brings less rain than June (it’s been true so far) and many fun activities. Miami Spice is Miami’s version of NY Restaurant Week and it lasts two months with dinners as low as $45/$60! Miami Spa Months started in July and runs through August – with treatments starting as low as $109. Miami has lots of fun visitor attractions all year long. And if it’s stormy out, there are wonderful museums.

Miami Spice

Miami Spice started in 2002 as Miami Spice Restaurant Month, during which restaurants were expected to offer a discount of at least 40% to entice locals and tourists into Miami-Dade County’s high-end establishments. Starting out with 40 local restaurants, there are currently more than 200 restaurants participating including some of our favorites such as Serevene, Via Emilia 9, Joe’s Stone Crab, Donna Mare Trattoria, Ocean Grill, Sardinia, Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill, Stiltsville Fishbar.

And what’s not publicized is many of the restaurants keep their Miami Spice menu into October – so look around because food is for your eyes too!

As I promised to share more restaurant tips in my July column you can salivate at some of our favorite dishes and experiences and a few of our favorite bartenders.

Blue Ribbon Tartar with caviar

Via Emilia's langoustines

Donna Mares Seafood Marachiara

Joe's Stone Crab

Ocean Grill's Fish of the Day

Serevene Suckling Pig

Via Emilia's homemade pasta with sausage

Rao's Miami Bartender Beppe

Donna Mare's head bartender, David

Lucus at Baries Grill South Beach

It’s better than New York Restaurant Week because it lasts longer – just another reason to love Miami! As the head Miami Editor, Lois always reminds us so delightfully. GET THE DETAILS.

Miami Spa Months

If you like to get your spa on with treatments starting at $109 there are many choices. Miami Spa Months started 15 years ago based on the huge success of Miami Spice. There are 34 spas this year including many in top hotels such as Bamford Wellness Space at 1 Hotel (a major treat). Others include the Biltmore Spa (home of one of the largest swimming pools in the country, not just Miami), Lapis – the Spa at Fontainebleau, the Spa at Mandarin Oriental, the Spa at Carillon Miami and the great Miami Ritz Carltons and the Spa at the Miami Edition.

I build my own treatments with an amazing masseuse who make “house calls” and my favorite place for facials is Flawless by Melissa Fox in Coral Gables. Denise is hands down (pun included) the best esthetician I’ve ever met. With a couple of skin allergies, I carry my “allergy test papers” whenever I meet a new “spa” or Esthetician. Denise was the first who actually read pages of my allergies and thanked me so she could customize the products.

 Miami Sights and Attractions

Visitors to Greater Miami will discover a whole wide world of exciting attractions, from the natural wonders of Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park to the postcard-perfect architecture of South Beach’s Art Deco Historic District. Creating your perfect itinerary means choosing from the nearly endless variety of enticing options.

History and architecture buffs will want to explore Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, a romantic Italianate villa overlooking Biscayne Bay in Coconut Grove. It was once the winter home of wealthy industrialist James Deering. In Coral Gables, the Venetian Pool is a one-of-a-kind natural swimming pool set in a coral rock quarry.

Most of my visitors prefer the beach, jet skis and football games, but we’ve taken the Art Deco walk (perfect for my short attention span) and Vizcaya Museum and Gardens (where I had the pleasure of helping Scott and Bianca take their engagement photos) – have a look. For more activities click here.

Miami Storms

The husband of a good friend of mine was a newspaper feature’s writer. He did a very entertaining piece on what percent of our time the average American spends talking about the weather. According to a YouGov poll, half of Americans (50%) say they read, watch, or listen to the weather forecast for their local area at least daily, including 20% who say they get it multiple times a day. Here in Miami we talk about it even more – with Uber and Lyft drivers, doormen, restaurant owners and staff as well as friends.

So, if you get rained out, Miami has great museums to get you through the storms including Pérez Art Museum Miami: Art Inside and Out.

Overlooking Biscayne Bay in Downtown Miami, Pérez Art Museum Miami was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron, who drew inspiration from the iconic Stiltsville homes built offshore in the 1930s. The structure – with abundant outdoor space and swoon-worthy views – is worth the visit alone. Inside, the museum’s thought-provoking contemporary collection focuses on international art of the 20th and 21st centuries from the perspective of the Americas. Feeling hungry? There’s also Verde, a lovely onsite cafe that provides more inspiring views.

The Bass: Miami Beach’s Contemporary Art Museum

Set inside a landmark 1930s Art Deco building that’s on the National Register of Historic Places, The Bass houses 16,000 square feet of exhibition space. This South Beach institution in Collins Park is dedicated to international contemporary and public art, including Ugo Rondinone’s massive “Miami Mountain” totem of neon-painted limestone boulders and Sylvie Fleury’s “Eternity Now” neon sign on the museum’s façade.

 Wynwood Art Walk

3 million people visit a year, making it a big attraction. Like the walls in South Africa, Northern Ireland, Berlin and many other cities, it’s fun to see street art. NYC is trying but Wynwood has NYC beat. https://thewynwoodwalls.com

Here’s a link to the Golf Cart tour several of our friends have enjoyed. https://wynwoodartwalk.com

A Planetarium & An Aquarium: Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science

Miami’s landmark Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science overlooks Biscayne Bay in Downtown Miami. It’s one of only a few science museums in the world that boasts both an aquarium and a planetarium under one roof. The hands-on, interactive exhibits make for a perfect family-friendly museum outing. The aquarium spans three floors and includes an open tank on the rooftop, where you’ll spy mesmerizing hammerhead sharks and stingrays swimming in the 500,000-gallon tank.

If there was more space in this column we’d share ideas for indoor mini-golf, pickleball, axe throwing. I will happily share another time.

Wishing all a lovely break for Labor Day and cheers to Miami Spice, Spas, Sights and Storms. Salute, Skoal, Sante!