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Published: January 8th 2015
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Had a reasonable start to the day - headed off towards the Miami area. All good until we hit a traffic jam on the freeway. Took ages to get down to Miami in stop/start traffic. Finally arrived in Dowtown Miami around 11am.
This part of Downtown Miami was very different from the Miami we saw yesterday. Found some metered parking (3.50 per hour) and walked over to Bayside Markets and the Bayfront Park. Although the plaza area was quite nice the surrounding area was not so good. A lot of homeless people hanging around and we sure wouldn't feel safe wandering around this area at night.
The views of Port Miami were lovely - and there were lots of restaurants overlooking the Port. There was a large Hard Rock Cafe in the plaza - have to say we experienced the worst customer service ever in the retail store. Geoff likes to collect a pin from every Hard Rock store he visits. The customer service representatives at this store couldn't be bothered even acknowledging customers! Resentfully we purchased the pin - and then we were out of there!
We took a drive over to the Port but not much
to see there. Only one lonesome ship sitting in the port - Seven Seas Navigator. Not one of the bigger ships but one of the more $$$.
Trolleys are a green form of cost free alternative transportation available in Coral Gables and Downtown Miami. Trolleys are both aesthetically pleasing in their golden oldie charm and environmentally sustainable; they alleviate congestion, provide opportunity for carpooling, and make much needed connections in public transportation. Trolleys take a load off the stress of parking in busy commercial areas and run steadily throughout the day.
Along our ride we passed through Midtown Miami, The financial district, design district, freedom tower, Museum Park, Southside Park, Simpson Park and Brickell Park.
It was a relaxing way to see downtown. The round trip was 1.5 hours - not bad for a free ride. After the trolley ride we jumped on the metro mover. Everybody rides free on Metromover. This 4.4-mile electrically-powered, fully automated people mover system connects with Metrorail at Government Center and Brickell stations and with Metrobus at various locations throughout downtown. Such great initiatives this city has with public transport.
Next on our to do list was South Beach Miami where
parking is an absolute nightmare - driving up,and down the streets looking for a park is no fun. Finally found a private metered carpark priced at $5 per hour. We quickly headed over to the beach area to catch a few sun rays. The beach was quite busy for late afternoon. Geoff didnt think too much of this well known beach but I thought it was lovely. I could see myself laying on the beach for a few days reading a good book - that will have to wait till I get on our cruise ship next week.
Decided on having dinner - Ocean Avenue overlooks the beach and is jam packed with restaurants all trying to get your business. Eventually we settled on eating at a lovely Al Fresco place called Leslie's. We shared a meal of Baby Back Ribs, Grilled Chicken with mash potato $23. We tried out one of their famous "large" style mojotis. Oh my Gosh they are seriously huge! It was happy hour when we visited and the server said the cocktails were 2 for the price of 1.
We ordered one each but when we got the bill we were charged for
the two at $25 each. The servers told us 2 for 1 doesn't mean what we thought it means you get the second round for free! Geoff was not happy and asked to speak to the manager. After a bit of discussion the manager agreed to bill us for the 2 drinks for the one price! Guess he didn't want a scene. After all we couldn't even manage to drink even half with our dinner and had to ask for the drink to be put in a "to go" plastic cup (this would never happen in Australia).t
That's us for the day. Hoping to have an early night as tomorrow we head off to our accommodation in Key Largo.
Happy travels ??
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
We are serious about super sizing everything
Looks like you are having no trouble working your way through the mojito. Love following along and reading your impressions. Eager to hear more. Enjoy the Miami traffic.