I won the trip to the VMA awards through Stuff magazine to Miami. We will be there 2 nights. We will have an afternoon, a whole day and the next morning to see sights. Anybody got some suggestions what to see or do? A must see list? Restaurants? Thanks

Wow, where to begin? What do you like to do? How old are you? Where will you be staying?

South Beach is of course famous. Beaches there are nice and for women, tops are optional.
Strolling down Lincoln avenue for shopping and food.
Lunch or drinks at the Clevelander on Ocean ave is required.
Nightlife on Washington is great, especially if you are younger.

You want to try Cuban Coffee or Cafe con leche and a visit to a Cuban restuarant is a good choice. My favorite is Los Rancheros.

Any of the water tours out of Bayside, next to the American Airlines Arena are touristy, but you get to see lots of celeb homes.

Coconut Grove has good shopping and food.
Vizcaya is a great place to tour if you like museums.

Let me know what you like and I can better send you in the right direction.

When are the VMA awards?

Check out www.chowhound.com and go to Florida. Lots of discussion of everything food from hot dogs to pizza. It is my US food bible. Linda

Whoops, I meant to say from hot dogs and pizza to haute cuisine. L

I lived in Miami for 20 years, so let me know what you like...pbiflyer is obviously very knowledgeable as well, and has great questions and suggestions.

Viscaya is more than a museum -- it's a renaissance-style mediterranean home built on the bay, complete with maze gardens and Louis XVI furniture. There used to be a renaissance festival there every March, but they killed it (Viscaya itself asked it to move, and that killed it... I was one of the performers).

Bayside is another downtown shopping area that has lots to offer, but we can't really recommend places unless you tell us your likes/dislikes!

I, too, won a trip to Miami about 3 years ago. We stayed in South Beach but went out to the Parrott Jungle and the Seaquarium. I'm 50 years old and I found both of them to be a great way to spend a couple of hours. We just had to go to Little Havana and try a Cuban restaurant, Versailles, I think. Very good. Don't worry about a language barrier even in Little Havana.

Thanks SO much for the suggestions. We are in our mid 40's and ithin kthis will give us a good start. I know we are on ly going to get to see a small portion but we can walk fast!

I've been eating at the great Versailles Cuban Restaurant on Calle Ocho (8th Street) in Miami's "Little Havana" since the mid-1960's. My dad says that he used to eat at the original in Havana "in the old days," and this place is much like the original. You'll see lots of families enjoying their meals... The Versailles, along with the nearby "La Carreta" restaurant's main location down the street are mainstays in the Cuban-American community. The coffee bar outside is great for a pick-me-up cafecito of strong, sweet cuban coffee.
http://icuban.com/3guys/versailles.html

As an infrequent visitor, I love Versailles - the coffee saved my life once as I awaited an airport arrivial after a night out in SoBeach... I have also enjoyed David's Cafe (I/II) though not as much...!

Here are links to some of the above mentioned destinations:

Viscaya
Miami Seaquarium
Parrot Jungle
Joe's Stone Crab
Lincoln Road Mall
Bayside Marketplace
Clevelander Hotel and Restuarant
Mango's Tropical Cafe - Watch Salsa Dancers

Miami...especially the Coral Gables area...

If you can, try some Cuban food: Fried plantains, black bean soup, and best of all a real Cuban sandwich.

Too much else to do or even think about, but try the Cuban food if you can.

I appreciate everyones suggestions. I had even printed a few of the links out but now hurricaine Katrina is supposed to hit tommorow! We were suppose to fly in then! According to the rules we can' get anything in place of it. So we have probably lost this trip . BOO HOO!!!