Traveling to Miami

Saturday, June 12th – Traveling to Miami

I had brought along some muffins and along with coffee from the in-room coffee maker we had a decent breakfast before leaving for the airport. The hotel shuttle left on the hour and shortly before 8 a.m. we hauled all of our luggage down to the front door…and a sizable amount it was!! Bob brought all of his scuba gear and that comprised two large bags just on it’s own.

 

So much stuff! Between regular clothing, formal clothing and scuba gear the bags add up!

Sharing the shuttle with us were quite a few folks who had missed connections the previous night due to the storms and had spent the night at the hotel. The airport was rather busy when we got there with people trying to re-book flights, but it really didn’t take us long to get our bags checked. Our flight didn’t leave until 10:30 am so we had a couple of hours to read and “people watch”.

Waiting to board our Northwest Airlines flight to Miami.

The flight was uneventful and we landed on time at 3 p.m. in Miami. 

Hello Miami!

As soon as we had our luggage we grabbed a taxi and were on our way to the Radisson in downtown Miami where I had booked two rooms at an incredible rate of  $35 each using Priceline. I think the cab fare was around $25 before tip…I do remember we hit some traffic snags which upped the price just a bit. The “motor lobby” is on the street level of the Radisson, but you must then take the elevator up to the 4th floor to find the main lobby. I had called several days prior to request a room on an upper floor with a view of the port. Half of my request was granted…we were on the 18th floor with a city view. I was surprised to see that we were in our room by 4 p.m….only an hour since we had landed at the airport!

Bob decided a nap was in order, but I was too keyed up to sleep. To pass the time till our friends arrived, I set out to explore the hotel. I had read where the pool was on the first floor so I jumped in the elevator and headed down. When the elevator doors opened I was looking at a major construction zone! All of the rooms on this floor were being totally remodeled…obviously this wasn’t where I was supposed to be! Turned out the pool is located right off the main lobby on the 4th floor. 

Knowing that there would be some ships in port I asked if there was some place I could go that had a view in that direction. I was sent to the top (21st) floor. Just outside the elevators there was a small sitting area with windows overlooking the port. My timing was great because the Triumph was just coming towards the “turning basin” to get ready to head out to sea. The ship moved ever so slowly and then stopped and pivoted 180 degrees…truly amazing to watch!

By the time I got back to the room, Bob had gotten up from his nap and I convinced him to come see the view from the 21st floor. The Triumph had sailed out of site, but now the Imagination was repeating the process of turning around getting ready to sail away!

  

Back in the room the cell phone rang…Kent & Laurel were in a cab on the way to the hotel. Knowing it would take them some time to get to the hotel, we piddled around for a few minutes and then decided we would go down to the “motor lobby” to greet them when they arrived. Once down on the street level we waited and waited. Finally the cell phone rang again. Kent & Laurel were already checked into their room and wondering where we were! Their trip from the airport had obviously gone much quicker than ours!

The plan was to head to Bayside Marketplace to spend the evening and grab a bite to eat. I had read that the Metromover was nearby and offered free transportation. We inquired about directions from the bellhop in the motor lobby and he suggested we use the hotel shuttle instead. Normally the shuttle only makes the trip on the hour, but he summoned the driver and he agreed to make a special trip for us. The cost was $1 per person.

In the hotel lobby.

There are a variety of restaurants at Bayside but we just opted to eat at the food court on the upper level. We spent a considerable amount of time contemplating the many various options of ethnic food all the while yacking and catching up on each other’s lives! Bob and Kent decided on Japanese food, I chose Greek, and Laurel (not being very adventurous when it comes to food) ordered spaghetti! We found a table outdoors and that was when I truly felt like I was on vacation!

 

View from the upper level food court at Bayside Marketplace.

Following dinner we had fun browsing through the many shops at Bayside. A band was playing but they weren’t really that good so we didn’t linger long. By 10:00 the day’s travel was starting to catch up with all of us. Rather than wait on the hotel shuttle, we just grabbed a cab and headed back to the hotel. Cab fare was around $5.

  

Although I had booked both rooms together, we were on the 18th floor near the elevator and Kent and Laurel were on the 17th floor a loooooong way from the elevator. Our room had two double beds, theirs had one king sized bed. Both rooms had floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city. The window sort of gave me the creeps because it felt like that if I got too close I would go right over the edge! We ended up in Kent & Laurel’s room sharing pictures we had each brought…it had been a long time since we had last seen each other and there was lots of catching up to do!

View through the floor-to-ceiling windows in our room.