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!!
