Miami

Thinking back I should have blogged these two in reverse, but oh well. It will just be backwards. Friday morning we headed off the boat and took a taxi to our car rental place. Well we were early so we took a walk on Miami beach. They steam roll the sand by the hotels so it was pretty hard. We ate at this little gelato shop and paid $8 for a sandwich. It was like eating on the Strip though I think a bit more expensive. Once we got our car we decided to go to Key West. We thought it would be a pretty drive and I suspect it would have been, but it was over 110miles away and we did not want to drive that long so we stopped at Key Largo and went to a state park and SHELL WORLD. At the park we walked around on some trails and then decided to snorkel in this little cove where a ship wrecked in 1715. It creeped me out and I could only stay out there a little while, but we saw a ton of fish, even more than in the Bahamas. The water was really dark and murky though. It was interesting to see something so old though. Shell World is a sea shell store about the size of Michaels only full of things made from shells and shells themselves. I bought a coral looking thing to put in our 2nd bathroom. My path of leaves! LOVE it!

We saw lots of wildlife too (squirrel, crab in his hole)

We got dumped on, not just rained, but dumped, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Rain in Miami is not what we are used to from Las Vegas, and I am thinking they had some discount civil engineers plan the city/roads because the flooding was ridiculous! There were lakes everywhere! We took refuge in Walmart and luckily it calmed down when we were ready to leave, but it was still flooded all over the parking lot and streets. The picture does not really show what that rain was like. There were people waiting just inside the Walmart door with their groceries waiting for the rain to calm a little. I wont lie I was a bit nervous. After that adventure we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner. I had never been there before, but always wanted to ever since I saw them when I went to Iowa, and would you know they have my favorite dinner, chicken fried chicken and mashed potatoes! I was in heaven and they have the cutest little rocking chairs. I decided I want one for my kids, one day. Then the horror that was our drive to the hotel. We had the brilliant idea of staying on Miami Beach, one of those hotels that you walk out the back and you are on the beach. Sounds like a good idea right? Well you have to cross a bridge to get from Miami to Miami Beach and it took us over an hour and 1/2 to get over that bridge. Why? You guessed it, flooding. There was a big puddle/lake just off the bridge and about 10 cars stalled trying to cross it and so we had to wait for the water to drain and the cars to be towed. We were so tired and annoyed by the time we got to the hotel. Then there is no parking and we learned that Miami Beach is their Strip and there was this crazy party at the hotel next door so bodies everywhere and loud music each night until about 4am. We ended up with an ocean view though, beautiful, so I guess it was worth it. :)

This was hanging on our room door, and no we did not pay this much. I was shocked when I saw this is what the usual rate it. The hotel is kind of falling apart, but I guess being right on the beach allows you to overcharge. We only paid $50/night. Score!!

Saturday we went to an estate built in 1910. It was a European style estate with huge gardens. I was in heaven! I have to select pictures carefully because we took a billion, but it was fun and yes we got caught in the rain while we were checking out the gardens. It was fun though.

Sunday we went to Sawgrass Recreation Area in the Everglades. We went on an airboat ride, which was a neat experience, but we did not see any alligators during the tour. They had some exhibits which we enjoyed. The best part was while we were listening to staff talk about some of the animals there we saw in the pond/river behind her an alligator swimming along. It was pretty cool. We walked around after trying to find it again, but no luck. At least we saw a wild one though. Brady was happy those are his favorite.

After the everglades we had some time so we grabbed lunch and headed to Dania Beach in Fort Lauderdale where we again got caught in the rain. We ran to our car and got soaked. I was still a little wet on the plane ride home almost 5 hours later.

We were so tired and glad to be home. I love vacation, but as Dorothy says, "There's no place like home" :) I tried to keep the commentary to a minimum. I hope you enjoyed!