From the fun and sun capital of the world, Miami Beach! That’s from the inrto to the Jackie Gleason show in the 60s, and it is a pretty great place. Miami Beach is an island across from the city of Miami and they keep it pristine. The South Beach portion along Ocean Drive is a mile or so of beautifully restored properties from the Art Deco period of the early 20th century. I wish we had seen it at night when all of the neon lights up!
The Port is adjacent to the island of Miami Beach and there is freeway connecting the Port to the Island. Super convenient…..but….they didn’t build direct access to it from the Port. You have to drive into downtown Miami to enter the freeway. So after 20 minutes of driving and $23 of cab fare we drove back toward Miami Beach, passing within 200 yards of our boat. I guess they didn’t have enough money in the budget for a right turn.
We had a Seinfeld moment at the espresso bar on the ship. It’s a long bar and there is no obvious queue. After attempting to verbally verify with the other patrons that we were next, I placed the order and the guy next to me — who had just been handed his coffee — said “you jumped the line” (he sure looked like Larry David). I told him we came in right after him and he just kept repeating “You jumped the line. You jumped the line”. No point arguing with someone convinced of their virtue, so I ignored him, which wasn’t easy. When the barista set my espresso on the bar, he grabbed it and headed the opposite direction loudly proclaiming to everyone that I had jumped the line. Meantime, the barista had taken the next order and I had a bunch of people staring at me. Now what? A social dilemma. I clearly was getting no support from the mob (5 people), so making a scene was probably not the smart option. I performed my loudest eye roll and walked out. A bit embarrassing, but honestly the coffee is not very good so I felt no great loss, other than my already low opinion of New Yorkers dropped a bit more.
The picture is moments after our departure from the Norwegian Cruise Lines terminal, which means we are 50 yards into the “around-the-world” part of our trip. We arrive back at this spot in exactly 6 months!
