Palace South Beach

We are having drinks at Palace on Ocean Drive in South Beach. Brunch and Traffic-stopping Drag Shows! Margaritas are pretty good too!

Last Day

We are checking out of our hotel now. I can't remember if I mentioned that we were staying at the Hyatt Regency Downtown. We were in a very nice room that Donna arranged through Hotwire. She got it for $97 a night. Regularly it is around $500 per night. We have some time to kill before we fly out tonight, so we are going over to Little Havana now.

Art Deco

I will have to post more photos when I get back home. We toured the Art Deco district this morning before going swimming in the ocean.

Breakfast

Breakfast was on a patio looking out on South Beach.

South Beach

Today we started with a walk on the beach. This is South Beach at about 12th & Ocean. This is the rainbow flag area, but it is so early that no one is here yet. We plan to come back later and swim. We did have excitement tho. There was aman swimming very far out and yelling at us on the shore. We weren't sure if he was saying help or hey. I went over and told a couple of policemen about it.

Ask and you shall receive.

I came back to the hotel with a delicious peach smoothie. I was thinking tho - this really would go great with some nuts. The snack bar in the lobby didn't have any. She told me to ask in the bar. So I did. They gave me a full cup of WARM nut mix. Free.

Bayside Marketplace - Miami's Pike Place (sorta)

Shopping. Did I mention that it is 80 degrees here? In late November!

Mmm lunch

Indian Salad from the Gourmet Salad place. It had raisins, coconut, nuts, peas. some sort of curry dressing, lots of lettuce, and croutons. YUM!

Hyatt

We are staying at the downtown Hyatt this time.

Metro Rail goes right thru this building.

U.S. Courthouse

Gesu Catholic Church

Great Miami Hurricane of 1926.

Piazza in Miami Dade Cultural Center

Maurice Gusman Cultural Center For The Performing Arts

I'm taking a walking tour of downtown Miami.

Arrived Miami

I made it to Miami! After several issues with the airplanes, I finally walked into my hotel room at 1:30 this morning. My trip from Denver to Dallas was pretty uneventful. In fact it was pretty pleasant. I worked Sudoku puzzles and Chicktionary. I even had an empty middle seat next to me. Probably the only one on a very full plane. But it was my Dallas to Miami leg that trouble-ridden. I arrived in Dallas early, but in Concourse C. My connection was in Concourse A. A speedy ride on their Skylink and I arrived just in time to hear them announce (& I quote) "the plane is broke". Luckily, or is it, they found us another plane. Back to the Skylink, we now go to Concourse D. As we wait, we are given the announcement that this plane "service issues" and is going to be delayed. An hour & a half later we finally board. Preparing to back the plane, we are then told we have to now wait for a
mechanic to replace a seatbelt that someone must have stolen on the last flight. Arrival 2 hours late.

Making Plans Again

Two new trips are planned for my near future. In a couple weeks I will be meeting Donna in Miami. Sun, beach, and spicy Cuban food! Then, in December, back to New York City! YES!

Donna gifted me with a new suitcase. My old, beloved pal was a Jeep carry-on size. After many years, and many trips, the handle gave out. It had also begun to fray on the edges and just looked like it was ready for retirement. Actually, to be honest, it is now being used as my mobile tattoo shop. But, back to the suitcase now.

I then picked up a bright pink wheeled carry-on at a thrift store. It was pristine. It was Bright! And, contrary to what I had believed to be true, it was a rather popular color in the travel world. On the first trip there were 3 other pink bags, and 2 of them were the exact same model! Plus, it was small. Too small.

So I began to use Donna's old suitcase. It was a Samsonite and had been to the repair shop to replace a zipper that had gone out. She had already purchased a new one though, so this one was spare. And it was bigger than the pink one. Well, actually, too big. Twice I was scolded because it wouldn't go in the overhead with the wheels sticking out.

Now, I have a new shiny suitcase. It's black. Shiny black. Beautiful. I have added an applique to individualize it. Well, to be honest, Donna ironed it on for me. But I'm ready for the next trip. Yay!