ceilidh1

The app is already crapping out

All checked in! Boarding now

1:15. Headed inside

I’m still yet to figure out why virgin, who has a beautiful big new terminal, insists on having people line up outside. Why? I get not allowing people to board until later but why aren’t the lines inside? Anyone know? This whole outside thing just causes confusion and congestion. What is the terminal even used for?

I will say, it’s not that busy right now but staff seem overly confused. I was pretty much escorted through to priority but others are being turned away and told they’re too early. I’m keeping my head down and not making eye contact 🤣

Bag dropped. Deep Blue Extras checked. In priority line for check in and boarding. Woot!

It’s a scorcher out there today! Back at the hotel now and packing the last of my stuff before heading down to the lobby. Planning on ordering the Uber around noon. Hopefully by the time it gets to me, gets to the port, and I drop my case it will be pretty close to my designated arrival time!

Once I had my fill of solitude, I crossed Miami ave and decided to continue on past Brickell ave to the water. Once again, this turned out to be a better option than looking at stores that contain items equal to my paycheque!

My plan this morning was to walk to Mary Brickell village and window shop. Since I had time to kill, I took a different route from the hotel and that paid off big time! I came across a cute little park that reminded me of a dollhouse sized version of Stanley park! It had a welcome centre but I didn’t feel like peopleing so chose to just walk through and enjoy the solitude. It was so peaceful!

I’ve walked past this ever day, initially I thought it was some quirky coffee shop but judging by the lines every time I pass by, it has to be more than that!

Woot woot

Breakfast was very busy this morning. As a result they ran out of some of the food. Scrambled eggs and hash browns were out when I got down at 8:15am and I heard the staff tell a guy there was no more. I’m content with my waffle, but people are mad! lol. I have to say, this is hands down the worst homewood suite’s breakfast I’ve ever had and I tend to stay in Homewood a fair bit. This would definitely impact my choice to stay again if the price was comparable to other hotels in the area. The Hampton Inn breakfast was a million times better! The hotel itself was fine. Nice location, easy to get to everywhere I needed to get, clean, quiet, great room. When I booked, there was some kind of deal on so it worked out about $209 less than booking Hampton inn for the 3 nights. I was also able to use points for one of the nights so in total I paid $572 which seemed like a decent price (until I converted it to CAD!

It’s cruise day! I found out my hotel DOES offer a shuttle to the port, but it leaves at 11am and that’s too early for virgin. It’s also $15 per person. I’m pretty sure I could get an Uber for that. I opted instead to request a late checkout. The latest they would give me was 12pm, but better than nothing. Heading to find some breakfast and then need to pack up. I think I will wander Brickell village to kill some time this morning…

I’m now going to roll myself back to the hotel, take a shower, and head out for drinks at The Gabriel with the group from the other site!

You may recall that I forgot to eat lunch yesterday? Well, today I purposely skipped lunch as I wanted to try the all you can eat sushi place in Brickell village. So, after the boat cruise, I headed up to Kan Sushi. It’s $25 per person for lunch and $35 for dinner. The menu is extensive and it’s all made to order. I wouldn’t say it’s the best sushi I ever had but definitely worth $35. I am stuffed to the gills! In addition to the rolls, they had sashimi, salads, ramen, appies. It was a little overwhelming to be honest! My choices to come….

Miami from the water

After the museum I headed to Bayside and got tickets for the millionaire boat cruise. I’ve done this before and enjoyed it and it was included in the go city pass. I had planned on doing the Thriller boat but there was a two hour wait so I opted not to.

I gotta say, I’m getting to be a pro at navigating the transportation system here in Miami! I’ve used the metromover, the bus, and the free trolley. All incredibly easy and convenient! Bonus is that buses and metrorail are free until the end of the year! Score. I haven’t figured out how to get to the port tomorrow - the hotel doesn’t have a shuttle

Paradox Museum - one of the coolest places I’ve visited in a while!

This morning I headed to Wynnwood with a quick stop at Target! I walked the streets and looked at the art but opted not to pay the $12 for wynnwood walls (thanks @sid_9169) Then I headed to The Paradox Museum, which is an optical illusion museum. It was very cool and I highly recommend it!

Uhhhh no I was not aware! Lol. Going to try that right now!

Another great night sleep and woke around 7:30am feeling refreshed. No pictures from breakfast as it was more of the same from yesterday and not photo worthy. Planning my route for today - the one downside to travelling without data is not having access to google maps. A few times yesterday I got myself turned around and ended up walking the wrong direction… Starting today in the Wynwood area and hitting up Paradox Museum. I would have liked to see the street art but it seems they now charge $12 to walk through. Hmmm.

They do a great Moscow Mule in there and the burgers are to die for!