Thursday, October 25, 2018

October 2018 – Days 1 - 4


Monday – October 22, 2018

A perfect time for a trip as our summer had been really, really hectic with the most car events we have ever attended and also produced and 2019 is shaping up to also be a big year.

The 6am flights were really hard, getting up so early, so this time our flight was at 11:42am giving us lots of time in the morning to get ready to go.

The flight was perfect and we arrived in Miami at 6:00pm.  We took the moving walkways over to the Dollar Rental Company and they upgraded us from a compact car to a full size.  We asked to have one with GPS and they tried 3 different cars before finding a Malibu, just like ours that had a gps that worked.

Off we went for the 40 minute drive to the hotel, the Residence Inn Miami Beach Sunny Isle Beach  This was a new Marriott that we saw being build last year and it is in a perfect location, being only 5 minutes away from our favorite beach, Haulover Beach.

They upgraded out room to the 13th floor looking out on Collins Ave and the Atlantic Ocean across the street.  It is a beautiful hotel.

For dinner, we walked right next door to a Chinese restaurant that the hotel manager had recommended and it was very good. 

We walked around a little, but being tired from the trip, it was time to go to bed.  It was a good travel day and very uneventful – the way a travel day should be.

On Tuesday we awoke to a wonderful day at 75 degrees.  We first drove to a shopping area and bought Kahula and Pepsi to take on the cruise and then we went to a deli for lunch before heading to the beach.

We spent 3 hours on the beach in perfect weather with the temperature getting up to 85 degrees.  The sun was so hot, we started out with #4 lotion and it was a good thing we did as by the time we left the beach, parts of us were just starting to get too much sun.

The area we are in, Sunny Isle Beach is a very expensive area filled with big condo buildings, include two Trump buildings and with lots and lots of little shops and restaurants.

We ate at a Peruvian restaurant called EL Tayta and the food was wonderful.  After that meal we walked a little and then had a crepe -  little too much food for the evening, but it was just fun!!

Then it was back to the hotel for sleep.

On Wednesday we go up and let the room at 11am and went to one of the little restaurants we had found and had a great Cuban lunch of roast pork, rice and beans and plantains.

Then of course we went to the beach.  We spent 3 hours on the beach before going back to the hotel to clean up for the evening.

We had found a South Beach Food Tour on-line and we drove to South Beach to join our tour at 5pm.  There were 4 other people on the tour and it was the best food tour that we have ever been on.  It was also a local South Beach Art Deco Tour and our guide was very knowledgeable.  For the 2 ½ hour walking tour, we ate at 5 different restaurants and has some wonderful food consisting of many different countries.  On of the restraurants we went to was Gloria Estefan's right on Ocean Drive - wow was it beautiful!!

After the tour, we drove back to our hotel and walked around for a bit before going to sleep.

On Thursday, again we woke up to another beautiful day.  As had been the custom for the last couple of day, Ed got up first and went to have breakfast while Barb slept in for a little bit.  Then we got ready and went out at 11am for lunch at a neat little restraurant that specialized in Argentine foor and then headed to Haulover Beach for another afternoon in the sun.  

After the beach, cleaning up and changing, we drove to central Miami to the Wynwood distinct to one of the largest open-air street art collections in the world.  It was a fun night walking the area and we ate at a Peruvian restaurant and the food was wonderful.

Then it was back to the hotel to pack for the morning as we are boarding the Celebrity Equinox for a 10 night Southern Caribbean cruise.

We had perfect sun, a great hotel and wonderful food during our stay in Sunny Isle Beach.

We are meeting friends from Washington DC who we have cruised with before, Barb and Tim Freeman and another couple who are friends of theirs.  Barb and Tim are fun and this will give us a great blackjack table in the casino!!

Our trip will take us to Grand Cayman, Aruba, Curco, Bonaire and Key West with 4 days just at sea so it should be a very fun, relaxing trip.

Photos from the first 4 days.
Dinner - our fist night

Breakfast

The Pool Deck

The view from our  room

Lunch on Tuesday

Lunch on Tuesday

Dinner on Tuesday

Ed;s snack

Moon over Miami

A late night Margarita

Food Tour 1

Food Tour 2

Food tour 3

Gloria Estefan's restaurant

Eating at Gloria Estefan's restaurant

Pastry stop

Amazing bread from the pastry shop

Barb loves the bread
Appetizer - Chevich

Red Snapper



Flan

Some of the street art in the Wynwood section of Miami


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