While in St. Petersburg for work, I decided to tack on a trip to Miami to experience life in a tropical city. It was fantastic although admittedly my timing was a bit off. For example, the Ultra Festival was going on downtown with 400,000 people descending upon the city. This caused traffic to be worse than usual and made going anywhere near the downtown area and most of the interesting sites difficult. In addition, it was Spring Break for many, which added to the melee. Needless to say, I was happy to be staying north of everything but, it all dissuaded me from going anywhere near the madness. So, I didn't do as much as I thought I would and spent almost one whole day in my hotel room (which was cute but, seemed a bit of a shame).
When I first arrived, I went straight to the beach while I waited for my hotel room to get cleaned. The beautiful white sand beaches and turquoise water was exactly what I expected to see while I was there.
The second day had me touring the city and its surrounds on a gaudy tour bus run by Miami-Nice Tours. It was a great way to see all of the things I wanted to see from above the crowds and mayhem. The bus was hysterically ugly and our guide was a crazy woman whose patience was tested more times than I could count by the traffic, the patrons, and the rain. However, when she blocked traffic for fifteen minutes, she was the first to tell complainers to back off and give her some time. We drove through Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, the financial district, Calle Ocho, and visited the Art Deco hotels and South Beach.
At the end of the tour, we took a cruise around the bay and saw the homes of the rich and famous. Here are just a few snapshots of what might be JLo, P Diddy or Ricky Martin's homes, as well as a view of the city.
Day three was all about visiting Bal Harbour and the infamous high-end shops. Only steps away from my hotel, it was a nice afternoon browsing the likes of Trina Turk, Versace, and Dolce and Gabbana. Honestly, it did not appear that anyone was really shopping but, I don't doubt that folks staying across the street at the beautiful St. Regis hotel spend time there on a regular basis. It was a bit off-putting after catching most of the documentary A Place at the Table, on HBO the night before. Especially since most of the employees of the high end stores were drinking coffee and eating pastries or lunches brought from home during their lunch breaks.
Day four was supposed to entail the Wynwood Art District but, ended with a multi-hour stint at the airport where I wrote most of this. It seemed an unwise choice to leave after arriving and waiting in the very long security line. It just means I'll have to come back... after much research on what is happening at the time of my visit. It will not be Memorial Day since it is Hip Hop Weekend, which my Super Shuttle driver claimed is the busiest weekend in Miami. Duly noted....
The Daddy O Hotel Miami
The second day had me touring the city and its surrounds on a gaudy tour bus run by Miami-Nice Tours. It was a great way to see all of the things I wanted to see from above the crowds and mayhem. The bus was hysterically ugly and our guide was a crazy woman whose patience was tested more times than I could count by the traffic, the patrons, and the rain. However, when she blocked traffic for fifteen minutes, she was the first to tell complainers to back off and give her some time. We drove through Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, the financial district, Calle Ocho, and visited the Art Deco hotels and South Beach.
At the end of the tour, we took a cruise around the bay and saw the homes of the rich and famous. Here are just a few snapshots of what might be JLo, P Diddy or Ricky Martin's homes, as well as a view of the city.
Day three was all about visiting Bal Harbour and the infamous high-end shops. Only steps away from my hotel, it was a nice afternoon browsing the likes of Trina Turk, Versace, and Dolce and Gabbana. Honestly, it did not appear that anyone was really shopping but, I don't doubt that folks staying across the street at the beautiful St. Regis hotel spend time there on a regular basis. It was a bit off-putting after catching most of the documentary A Place at the Table, on HBO the night before. Especially since most of the employees of the high end stores were drinking coffee and eating pastries or lunches brought from home during their lunch breaks.
Day four was supposed to entail the Wynwood Art District but, ended with a multi-hour stint at the airport where I wrote most of this. It seemed an unwise choice to leave after arriving and waiting in the very long security line. It just means I'll have to come back... after much research on what is happening at the time of my visit. It will not be Memorial Day since it is Hip Hop Weekend, which my Super Shuttle driver claimed is the busiest weekend in Miami. Duly noted....
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