December 11 - Miami, FL

morning view from our room

street art

Weather – 22º, sunny, not humid, and WINDY!

Steps – 18,773

One of my priorities when considering a hotel is their HVAC system. We made the mistake once (and ONLY once) of not ensuring the hotel had AC. That doesn’t mean the AC is actually good, but it’s the best we can do. I was a bit worried when we arrived yesterday…the room was a bit toasty, and I couldn’t seem to adjust the thermostat. Eventually, I figured it, and things cooled off – so much so, that it

Miami skyline with cruise ships

was quite chilly. Every hotel seems to have a different thermostat, all of which are mysteries to me. Eventually I persevere, sometimes even googling for “hotel thermostat hacks” …why be uncomfortable when a fix seems like it

cool buildings

should be so simple.

Today was our one and only full day in Miami, so we went full-on tourist. No included hotel breakfast means we have no real reason to get up too early. We were out of the room and on the hop-on, hop-off bus by

former car factory

11. HOHOs are both super touristy and efficient. They give lots of info via a running commentary delivered through headphones AND let you cover a lot of area. We’d never see what we do via HOHOs for as low a price (41CAN) as they cost.

HOHOs are usually open-top, and today’s weather was almost perfect – warm (but not hot) and sunny. Almost perfect because it was a bit too windy – the wind coupled with the wind caused by riding in an open-top bus and my hair was what my mother might

requisite Wheel amongst the yachts

describe as a “rat’s nest” – it took more than a bit of effort to brush at the end of the day.

Despite endless tangles to contend with, the top deck gave great views of Miami.

We saw…

Miami Beach, including South Beach - where we stayed last time we were in here (2020) and Mid Beach (where we are staying now) and North Beach. The entire area teems with Art Deco style and vibe - nightclubs, restaurants, boutiques and hotels. Definitely a good choice for where to stay in Miami as far as what we like.

J Lo, Ricky Martin, Pitbull???

Little Havana, where if we had more time would be a cool place to wander around in and eat.

Miami’s design district, where you could shop till you dropped.

Wynwood Walls and surrounding street art hub, where you can’t lay eyes anywhere without seeing – street art. Another cool place to wander if we had more time. Wynwood Walls specifically is a series of warehouses covered with murals that admission is charged to visit. However, buildings in the area surrounding are covered with murals that you can see for free.

random art

Miami Beach art deco style

We hopped off at Bayside Marketplace to hop on to the Island Queen, a boat with a 150-person capacity to cruise around Biscayne Bay and Millionaires’ Row. This 90-minute excursion took us past homes of the rich and famous including Oprah, Ricky Martin, Pitbull, and J Lo. Here was my first bit of food for the day…popcorn, Doritos, washed down with a beer! I’m pretty sure this is the same tour my mom and I did back in 2006.

Then we hopped back on to take the HOHO back to near our hotel so we could change into something a bit warmer for when the sun set, and we were on our evening food tour.

first food stop...dips

We could have walked the 40 mins or so to Lincoln Road (a pedestrian street lined with shops and restaurants) where our evening food tour was to meet, but we decided to take the free Miami beach trolley – these are vintage trolleys – or at least they look vintage that ferry people up and down the 9 miles of Miami beach. Taking the trolley got us to Lincoln Road with time for a quick happy hour cocktail.

ice cream!!!

We joined Sabrin our guide and 5 Polish tourists here for business and pleasure on tonight’s food tour – this group of 8

Venezuelan patacones

was the perfect size. We made 5 stops starting with a few dips, then a stop for Cuban sandwiches and Cuban coffees, next was Venezuelan patacones (description in photo), second last was a Turkish spot for baklava, and we ended with kosher ice cream – I opted for
dulce de leche…they said it was their best flavour. All along the way Sabrin told stories, talked about the food, and described how these foods are significant to Miami’s culture.

another art deco hotel

art deco hotel

Food tours have become our go-to tours. I
would recommend them even for the not-so-adventurous eaters. Chris isn’t exactly adventurous, and he likes them…maybe he does it a bit for me, but not entirely.

everything is painted

Although we didn’t exactly eat a meal today, we weren’t hungry and just wanted some chill time at the hotel…me blogging and Chris watching the football games,

more street art

so we picked up some snacks and a bottle of
wine at the CVS across the street and were in by 8:30.

the art is endless