Martel Family · Florida

Do these first

Three things that need you

⏰

Submit Turo driver info tonight. The Tesla Model Y booking (#58779998) cancels if your driver info is not submitted by June 30, 9:00 AM EDT (that is 8:00 AM Austin time, before your 7:06 AM flight). Do it now: turo.com/r/58779998.

🏨

Book a hotel for June 30 night. It is the one open night. Recommendation: stay in Coral Gables so you wake up inside the area you are scouting. The Biltmore for the wow, or Loews Coral Gables for ease.

🚗

Sort the car pickup + return. Turo pickup is at 22910 SW 130th Ave, about 35 minutes south of MIA, not at the airport. And the return is set for 10:00 AM July 10, the same morning you fly home from MIA. Text host Alex number in your calendar to arrange airport hand-off both ways.

The plan

Day by day

All times are Florida (Eastern). Tap any 📍 to open the map. Every booking is mirrored on your Google Calendar.

Tue
Jun 30

Land + scout the SW corridor

Sleep in Coral Gables

7:06a

Fly AA 2294, Austin → Miami flight

Lands MIA about 11:03 AM EDT.

11:00a

Turo pickup · 2023 Tesla Model Y car

Host Alex number in your calendar · Res #58779998 · free infant seat on request for Bella. 📍 22910 SW 130th Ave

12:30p

Drive-by: Alpha School Miami

Anchor the commute in your head before you look at homes. 📍 8000 SW 56th St

1:00p

Pinecrest

Acre lots, lush canopy, top schools, 5-10 min from Alpha. Drive the gated enclaves (Pinecrest by the Sea). 📍 map

3:00p

South Miami + Palmetto Bay

The value play: where a 5-7k/mo house and an 800k-1.2M buy actually pencil out, still minutes from the school.

5:30p

Old Cutler Road into Coral Gables

The canopy drive at golden hour. Detour past the Cocoplum and Gables by the Sea guard gates.

8:00p

Dinner · Miracle Mile / Giralda Plaza

Walk it after. The "could we do this every Friday" test. 📍 map

Wed
Jul 1

Finish Miami, head to Fort Lauderdale

Check in: Embassy Suites

7:30a

Morning coffee in the Gables

The ordinary morning is what you are really buying. Sit with it.

8:30a

Coral Gables gated enclaves

Cocoplum, Gables Estates, Gables by the Sea, the classic Granada and Coral Way streets.

10:00a

Coconut Grove

Walk the village, then the Vita at Grove Isle sales gallery (by appointment). 📍 map

1:00p

Key Biscayne

Cross the Rickenbacker Causeway. Beach test, Ocean Club, the village. Your "wake up on the water" answer. 📍 map

3:00p

Drive Miami → Fort Lauderdale

About 40 minutes north.

4:00p

Check in · Embassy Suites Fort Lauderdale 17th St hotel

Conf B_54656782 · suite with balcony · free breakfast · through Jul 5. 📍 1100 SE 17th St

Thu
Jul 2

Fishing + Jarrod & Lana

Fort Lauderdale

6:00a

🎣 Deep-sea fishing with Jarrod

Out early, back around noon.

1:00p

Family time + dinner at Jarrod & Lana's

Afternoon chill, then dinner together.

Fri
Jul 3

Fishing + seafood with the kids

Fort Lauderdale

6:00a

🎣 Fishing with Jarrod

Round two.

6:00p

🦞 Seafood dinner with the kids

Venue to be picked. Add the reservation once booked.

Sat
Jul 4

Independence Day with Jarrod & Lana

Sitter for Ariel & Bella in the evening

12:00p

🎆 July 4th with Jarrod & Lana

The whole day together.

7:00p

🍽️ Dinner reservation · adults

Sitter has Ariel & Bella. Crystal is lining up a sitter via Care.com. Confirm time + venue.

Sun
Jul 5

Drive to the Keys

Check in: La Siesta, Islamorada

11:00a

Check out · Embassy Suites

Pack the car.

12:30p

Drive Fort Lauderdale → Islamorada

About 2 to 2.5 hours down the Overseas Highway.

4:00p

Check in · La Siesta Resort & Villas hotel

Conf B_54656581 · Studio King Suite · through Jul 10. This is Islamorada, about 20 min south of Key Largo. 📍 80241 Overseas Hwy

Mon-Thu
Jul 6-9

The Keys, wide open

Islamorada · La Siesta

all

Family days in Islamorada

Beach, boats, sandbars, sunsets. Nothing booked on purpose. Add anything you lock in (a charter, a dinner) and it slots right in.

Fri
Jul 10

Home to Austin

Early start out of the Keys

6:00a

Drive Islamorada → MIA

About 1 hour 45 minutes. Leave early. Arrange the Turo return near MIA with Alex (the booking says 10:00a, but your flight is the same morning).

9:25a

Fly AA 620, Miami → Austin flight

Home by early afternoon.

Receipts

Bookings at a glance

✈️ Flights

Out: AA 2294 · AUS → MIA · Jun 30, 7:06a

Home: AA 620 · MIA → AUS · Jul 10, 9:25a

🚗 Turo

Car: 2023 Tesla Model Y

Host: Alex · number in your calendar

Pickup: Jun 30, 11:00a · 22910 SW 130th Ave

Return: Jul 10, 10:00a · Res #58779998

2,000 mi included · free infant seat on request

🏨 Embassy Suites FLL

In: Jul 1, 4:00p · Out: Jul 5, 11:00a

1100 SE 17th St, Fort Lauderdale

Suite + balcony · free breakfast

Conf B_54656782

🏝️ La Siesta, Islamorada

In: Jul 5, 4:00p · Out: Jul 10, 11:00a

80241 Overseas Hwy, Islamorada

Studio King Suite, Garden View

Conf B_54656581

🌙 June 30 night

Status: not booked yet

Recommended: Coral Gables (Biltmore or Loews)

Book before you fly.

👶 Sitter · Jul 4

For Ariel & Bella, July 4 dinner

Crystal sourcing via Care.com

Confirm and lock the time.

The strategic part

Miami: where could we actually live?

Anchored on Crystal's work. Alpha already runs a Miami campus in the southwest (8000 SW 56th St), and Alpha Miami Beach opens Fall 2026 on the water. The neighborhoods that reach both, sit about 15 minutes from the ocean, and carry real prestige are Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, and Key Biscayne, with Pinecrest and South Miami right next to the live school.

Budget honesty before you fall in love. The Wolf Ranch feeling (a gated single-family home with a real clubhouse and pool, near water) lives in the 2.5M to 5M tier in this corridor, not the 800k to 1.2M tier. Renting first is the right move while you learn the streets.

Tier	What it buys in the corridor
800k - 1.2M	A luxury condo or townhome with resort building amenities, or an older or smaller non-gated house in South Miami / Palmetto Bay / the edges of the Gables.
2.5M - 5M	The dream: gated single-family in Cocoplum or Pinecrest, or a large unit in a 5-star building (Ocean Club Key Biscayne, Vita at Grove Isle).
Rent 5k - 7k/mo	A house (not a condo) pencils out in South Miami, Palmetto Bay, and parts of Coral Gables. Tight for a house in prime Pinecrest or waterfront Key Biscayne.

1 Coral Gables

The capital. The address people nod at, 15 minutes from the Alpha campus. Start here and sleep here night one.

Gated enclaves: Cocoplum (pool, 8 clay courts, gym, marina), Gables Estates, Gables by the Sea.
Drive Old Cutler Road, Granada, and Coral Way. Walk Miracle Mile and Giralda for the dinner-and-stroll life.
Entry single-family now runs past 1.1M; the gated waterfront tier is 3M and up.

📍 Coral Gables 📍 Cocoplum

2 Coconut Grove

Waterfront, leafy, genuinely walkable, and it sits between both school anchors.

For your budget the play is a new luxury condo with resort amenities: Vita at Grove Isle (private gated island), Mr. C, The Fairchild.
Single-family pockets off Main Highway and Ingraham for the gated-house feel.

📍 Coconut Grove

3 Key Biscayne

The wake-up-on-the-ocean test, and a real family town. Kids bike to the park, one of the safest spots in Miami.

Ocean Club: 52 oceanfront acres, private beach club, 8 clay courts, gated. Condos start around 1.5M.
Single-family on the island is mostly 3M and up.

📍 Key Biscayne

4 Pinecrest

The most land and the best schools, 5 to 10 minutes from Alpha.

Acre lots, lush canopy, gated enclaves (Pinecrest by the Sea, Craigdale Manor).
Buying runs 1.5M to 4M+. House rents average around 12k/mo, so it is more a "buy when ready" than a rent-cheap area.

📍 Pinecrest

5 South Miami + Palmetto Bay

The value and rent-first landing pad, still minutes from the school.

Where the 5k-7k/mo house and the 800k-1.2M buy actually work.
Walkable Sunset Drive, bigger lots toward Palmetto Bay, gated options like Old Cutler Bay.

📍 South Miami 📍 Palmetto Bay

How to actually see homes midweek. June 30 and July 1 are a Tuesday and Wednesday, so public open houses are thin. The high-value moves: one excellent corridor agent who pre-pulls rentals and lines up a few private showings, plus the weekday sales galleries (Vita at Grove Isle by appointment, the Ocean Club office). Steve, say the word and I will line up the agent and the showings before you land.