Exploring Miami

Last night we had to say goodbye to Sid, Steve and Nod as they were flying back home early this morning.

After having a bit of a lie in we decided to explore the area around the hotel. Our first stop was Miami Ink which has become world famous for its tattoos. We could only take some pictures from the outside as they didn’t open til later in the morning.

As we wondered down Washington Street we found a lovely little cafe and stopped for breakfast. Their juices and smoothies were delicious as was their Acai bowl.

We walked all the way down Washington Street past some beautiful buildings including City Hall, the Police Station (with a pink police car), the Wolfsonian Museum and a diner from an old air bus.

There was also an old Bridge Tender House which is one of two stainless steel hexagonal structures at the end of what was the Northwest 27th Avenue Bridge over the Miami River. The bridge was rebuilt in the 1980s but the Tender House was saved from demolition.

We also walked past a nightclub that had some great modern architecture.

At the end of the street we ordered an Uber into the city of Miami. The first place we visited was the area of Wnywood where there is some amazing street art. It has become a haven for aspiring painters, graffiti artists, creatives and young innovators.

Back in the 1970s Wynwood was just a collection of aging warehouses but in 2009, Tony Goldman opened Art Basel and the neighbourhood became an open air art gallery and a neighbourhood of art appreciation. One of my favourite murals was the one below.

Whilst we were in Wynwood we saw one of the Miami trolley buses.

After a coffee break we decided to get the bus back to the city centre and have a wander around Downtown Miami. We passed lots of huge court buildings.

There were also a lot of chickens just walking around the streets and lying down under the trees. Until 12 years ago ‘chicken busters’ would round up the feral chickens from the streets but thst service no longer exists.

We also saw one of the skyline trams pass overhead.

We walked down to the Freedom Tower. This is currently a contemporary art museum as well as an office for the Miami Dade University. During the Cuban Revolution it was used to house Cubans fleeing from communist Cuba to Florida. There is a huge Cuban influence across all of Miami.

From here we walked over to the Port of Miami. In 1897 the Port started to be used as a passenger service between Miami and Key West. Since then it has grown to become the ‘Cruise Capital of the World’ and is unique in that it caters for both cruise ships and continental cargo vessels.

At the port there is a Global Structure which represents all of the various modes of transport that have reached Miami to develop.

From here we walked through Bayside. This is a two storey shopping centre wrapped by Biscayne Bay with the marina at its side.

There were some Angel Wings here too so we took photos, and also a live wall too.

Hard Rock Cafe is located in Bayside so we paid it a visit to buy some tops and have a beer.

As we were sitting outside having a beer a little bird came to pay us a visit, I don’t know what it was.

It had started to rain as we were drinking our beer so we called an Uber to take us back to our hotel.

We had a few pre-drinks before heading out to an Italian restaurant at nearby Espanol Way.

Ali and I had a Mojito cocktail which was rather large and came with a sugar cane stick. The food was delicious – I had oysters and shrimp pasta.

This was a great restaurant for our last night as everyone was really friendly and the waiters got us all waving our serviettes to a particular song. Mark pretended it was his birthday so the waiters also came and sang happy birthday to him.

After dinner we headed back down Ocean Drive and decided to stop at a venue called The Palace as they were playing great music. This venue was hone to some great drag quenns and some nice looking bar staff!