Seeing South Beach . . .

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My sister, Melanie, and her friend, Jessica, are down here cruising with me. This ship only does 4 and 5 day cruises, which seemed pretty short for them to come all the way down here for, so the girls are here for two back-to-back five-day cruises. Today is debarkation for their first cruise and embarkation for their second cruise, so we’re back in our home port of Miami. But for us this was exciting, because we had a day in Mimai!

After doing the necessary immigration and customs things, we met outside the cruise terminal, hopped in a taxi and took off for South Beach! I was so excited for this as I’d never been to South Beach before! It seems crazy for how long I’ve been on ships, but until this contract, I’d always been on ships out of nearly every other home port: Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Port Canavral, San Juan, New Orleans . . . And when I have to work every other home port day all day, it limits how often I can get out to begin with. So today was about time I finally got down to Miami’s famous South Beach!

It was such a great day. We spent awhile along Lincoln Road’s outdoor pedestrian mall, wandering in and out of the shops, and of course doing some purchasing! Not that I need more clothes - I do have to pack and go home in a few more weeks! - but I still found something I couldn’t do without. And I discovered a bookstore that I am in love with. It has a great outdoor café at the front, with what looked like nice food and yummy cupcakes. Then you walked through this little alley, that had cozy-looking patio chairs in little corners to sit and read in, before you entered the store. Then all of the book sections were in their own little rooms. It felt like walking through somebody’s house, except the only furniture were tables and shelves lined with books. I wish I could pack up that store and move it to wherever I eventually settle down!

I’ve always known about South Beach’s shops, restaurants, night clubs, hotels, architecture, but I didn’t know that there is a solid arts scene too. We passed so many galleries that I would have loved to have wandered through. There were a couple theatres, including one for a contemporary dance company. It filled me with so much joy to be amongst an arts scene again. I can’t wait to return to that back home.

After the shopping, we went to the bottom of Lincoln Road and down to the beach. We walked for awhile along the ocean walk pathway - it’d be so nice to regularly walk, bike, run along there. The girls commented that they couldn’t imagine running in the heat and I thought again that I’ve acclimatized to the tropics - I can’t imagine living in the cold anymore! Then we went down to the water to do some wading and walking. The beach itself is pretty pebbly, but the water was lovely. I see the blue water down here all the time, but it still amazes me, and it’s really beautiful there.

Then we wandered along Ocean Drive, where there are lots of nightclubs and restaurants and hotels lining the street. We weren’t sure if it’s a daily thing or just because it was a Saturday afternoon, but nearly every place we passed was having happy hour specials. So we ended up sitting down in one of the sidewalk patios and had a nice lunch and some drinks. It was really nice.

And then eventually, we had to return to the ship. Back to work for me. But another fun-filled cruise with the girls lies ahead!

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