Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Miami Day 1

Our annual mother-daughter vacation kicked off in Miami this year. Last summer, we went on an Alaskan cruisetour with Holland America. This year, we picked Miami and the Keys because although we've been to Florida a couple of times before, we somehow always managed to skip Miami.

Prior to departure, I read on weather.com that the forecast for the entire week is rainy. Great. My vacation was ruined before it even started! On the drive from the airport in Fort Lauderdale to Miami, it started drizzling. Since when did the forecast from weather.com become accurate? All went well in the end because unlike the rain clouds that seem to linger around forever in Texas, the clouds rolls by quickly in Miami, allowing only intermittent rain fall. After arriving at the hotel, the rain stopped.
We booked our vacation from SouthwestVacations.com, and there was a special for booking Holiday Inn-Miami Beach (6th night free!). Don't expect free continental breakfasts and parking at any of the hotels on Miami Beach. The pretty much inescapable valet parking is $25 per day and breakfast is I think $12 per day. I used the valet everyday but skipped out on the breakfast. See tips on eating well on a budget on my food blog. Other than the annoying habit of leeching off guests at every given opportunity, Holiday Inn-Miami Beach is pretty nice, well-located (Central Miami Beach-easy access to North and South Beach and downtown Miami), and economic (relative to other hotels in Miami).




Holiday Inn-Miami Beach
After settling in and freshening up we drove to the southern tip of Miami Beach and finally found parking at South Pointe Park. Our goal for today was to dine at Joe's Stone Crab (review of Joe's Stone Crab here).

South Pointe Park

After a fantastic dinner, Mom and I walked around South Pointe Park. This park is less of a tourist spot and more like an exercise destination for the rich condo dwellers of South Beach. We sat lazily on a bench and watched cargo ships dock as I hummed the Burgmüller etude I used to play as a kid, Barcarolle (The Chantey) in A-flat major.


South Pointe Park

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