The good life - it feel like Miami

Apologies for the grammar of the title, but today is the day that we head to Miami and I think Kayne West's words help set the scene for the town, though I suspect that it is the CSI Miami title sequence that most evokes Miami to me. For Drew the relevant title sequence is that of Miami Vice.

This was today's route:

The first 3/4s of the route being very similar to the route we took to get to Key West, including a return visit to the Cracker Barrel in Florida City. 

Mass

I slept really well last night and didn't wake up until 5am, which is my 'normal' US waking time it seems.

I uploaded last night photos, showered, shaved and began the latest blog report.

I left the room at at 7.15 for the short walk to Mass. Again accompanied by a chicken or two along Amelia Street. 

Today was St. Dominic's day and the theme of today's Mass was listening to God's word in all aspects of our life, just as Dominic proclaimed God's word through his ministry.

On the way back I noticed it was bin day, and that the storms the day before had knocked branches off trees, which were now in the bins.

Breakfast

On returning to the hotel we had breakfast. Today the eggs, which have changed every day, were a ham omelette.

Drew decided he needed to fill up for the travelling ahead. This is his breakfast plate of bacon and omelette, prior to his nut muffins.

After breakfast we went back to the room and I completed and posted the blog post and we finalised our packing.

At 10.10 we took the luggage to the car and checked-out of the hotel departing at 10.15am

Back up the Keys

I fell like Bilbo Baggins:
"The road goes ever on and on"

Drew was driving the largest bit of the route today, up US1, the Overseas Highway, before I took over for the City driving into Miami Downtown. The route was the same, in reverse, as that we followed on Saturday, but the traffic was much more free flowing than then. The sites were still amazing and Seven Mile Bridge (note spelt correctly this time, not like the Severn at home, thanks Lloyd for pointing out my earlier mistake) still took my breath away, but not perhaps with as much impact as when we had seen it first.

It was interesting to note that in the first 2 1/2 hours of the drive we travelled 105 miles compared to the 44 miles we were able to do in the same time period on Saturday. 

Lunch

We agreed before the journey began that it would be easiest to swop drivers somewhere we knew. So we again stopped at the Florida City Cracker Barrel, arriving at 1.15pm. This, of course, also gave us the opportunity to have some lunch. 

I had been discussing with two friends (Den and Kath) on Facebook earlier today the nature of the Southern USA delicacy called Country Gravy, this prompted me to go all Country in my lunch selection and I choose: the Homemade Chicken n' Dumplins (note the n' and dumplins are the correct spellings in these parts) this was served with three 'Country sides', I chose with Fresh Steamed Broccoli, Whole Kernel Corn and Brussels Sprouts n' Kale Salad it also came with two Corn Muffins. Even though Chicken n' Dumplins looks pale and white it packs a lot of flavour. As under the sauce it is almost impossible to distinguish the Chicken from the Dumplin it is always exciting once you bite into it to find if it is suet or meat you are eating. The fresh vegetables were also lovely.

Drew opted for a Open-Faced Roast Beef Sandwich which, as you can see, is two big slabs of beef served on sourdough toast with a rich beef gravy, mashed potatoes and slaw. He loved the whole thing, saying that the gravy was very rich and the beef, well-done but juicy.

The Hampton Inn and Suites, Brickell, Miami

We left Cracker Barrel at 2.15pm and I drove up the Ronald Reagan highway onto the Florida (FL)  874, then the FL826 and FL836, which at one point became an eight lane carriageway onto the I95 and onto street level on Southwest 1st Avenue and into Southwest 12th Street and up to the front of our hotel.

Though the eight lanes were a bit intimidating and the last few turns were challenging, we managed to arrive with no problem at 3.06pm. The man outside the Hamton Inn and Suites pointed us to the Car Park (beside the hotel) and told us to drive up to the 3rd of 5th floors park and then get a lift to reception which is on the 6th floor. We did this and parked easily and were checked in by 3.20pm. 


When we are on holiday we normally stop at travel hotels - Best Western, Comfort Inn, Quality Inn or the equivalent. But staying in Downtown Miami there were no such options. So we are staying in the Hampton Inn and Suites, a Hilton company, a noticeable upgrade in style from our usual accommodation. The hotel has five floors of carpark, then a sixth floor with Reception, Fitness Centre, Breakfast Room and Bar then ten floors of rooms. We are on floor 11. In Room 1002. We settled into the room and took the required room photos. Unpacked our cases and settled in.

Brickell City Centre

Downtown Miami, the oldest part of the City (which was established in 1896, the year of the American-Spanish War), is to the North of the Miami river. To the south of the River is a new City Centre development (2010s) in an area that was called Brickell. Just to confuse people this is now referred to as Brickell City Centre, though it is the City Centre of Miami. Around our hotel are more than 100 restaurants and a whole selection of shops and office. 

We went out at 5.30 to explore. Our walk went like this:

Out of the hotel to the corner of North Miami, up North Miami past the amazing buildings, some of these designed in a bendy style to look almost impossible to stand up. Passed restaurants and shops and other colourful building. Up onto the Drawbridge over the River Miami and in to downtown proper. 

Unlike the bustle of Brickell Downtown with its restaurants and nightlife, north of the river is much quieter, with most of the shops shut for the day as they target the office based workers in this part of the City. We walked up to the oldest Church in Miami, the Gesu Church, but it was shut so we only have external pictures.

Miami-Dade County has a free light rail system for commuters and others called MetroMover, this provides a large range of free travel around the wider downtown area. We got on at Miami Avenue station, changed trains onto the Brickell loop at the Government Centre and were dropped back at fifth avenue, from where we walked along the riverside path and then went to a Colombian restaurant for dinner.

La Moon

Having tried Cuban and Mexican food, and some creole, it seemed time to try another Latin American style. So we went to La Moon Restaurant on Fifth Street in Miami Bricknell Downtown. This was a great choice as the food was delicious.

I opted for Morcilla con Arepa, I have had Morcilla (blood sausage not dissimilar to black pudding) many times in Spain and the Colombian version is similar, though a bit spicier. This is served with Arepa, a dish I had not had before, Arepa is a key element in Colombian cuisine, made of maize but unlike the softness of Mexican corn tortillas it is fried thick and tasty. It was a nice accompaniment to the Morcilla.

Drew decided to go for an Empanada de queso. On Saturday in Key West he had opted for two empanadas which was a bit to much, here of course, the empanadas were smaller, so poor Drew had a tiny cheese pastry.

For mains I went with the house-speciality Bandeja Paisa, this mixed meat dish included Frijoles rojos, arroz, chicharrón,  carne de res, salchicha, huevo frito, plátano, aguacate y arepa (red beans, rice, steak, sausage, pork belly, fried egg, plantain, avocado and arepa). Every element of it was delicious. The cruncy pork was like crackling, the suasage was of chorizo texture, but a lighter taste. It was just all Wow.

Drew, keeping to his beef theme from earlier in the day, opted for Sancocho de res, a lovely beef stew, this was served with rice, salad and the ubiquitous arapa. This was a lot of food, but the beef was so soft it was easy to eat and the broth, with potato and carrots, was rich and comforting. Drew enjoyed every bit of it.

We walked back to the hotel and after uploading our photos we were in bed for 10pm.