Woke up to a beautiful day in Miami.
Sunshine makes me happy.
I hung out on the balcony and just took it all in while My Honey was getting ready to go.
First thing we did was head out and look for a place to have breakfast.
We didn't have to look very far.
This place "Fireman Derek's Bake Shop" was right across the street from our hotel room.
It looked interesting so we gave it a go.
Turns out they have the best key lime pie in Miami.
They had lots of good stuff to choose from on the menu.
Just look at the croissants - don't they look yummy?
We decided on Chicken Pot Pie.
Weird breakfast choice I know but I am so glad we chose it.
It was loaded with chicken, just absolutely loaded.
It is the best chicken pot pie that I have ever had in my life thus far.
My Honey decided to try the key lime pie for desert to verify if it was the best.
He concurred that it was.
I had a tough time making a choice but finally settled on the Cookie Monster Pie.
It was loaded with all sorts of things that I like and as soon as she mentioned cream cheese and pecans she had me!
It was fabulous - not too rich, just enough of everything to be balanced.
I would so have it again.
There were so many choices.
Everything looked delicious.
We will be back for sure because there are so many more things to try.
We planned on doing the Hop On Hop Off bus tour today and we knew there was a stop near the Wynwood Walls which was near by so we just set off walking, figuring it wouldn't take long for us to stumble across them.
This area is covered in art and murals just every where you look.
This statue we happened upon was very impressive.
Then all these little statues were nearby in the same field.
Not sure what they were or what the point was but it was cool.
We saw so many amazing pieces of art that I just want to share.
So a lot of the following pictures will have no captions but I couldn't leave them out.
Just artwork everywhere you look
This plaid shirt was created with tape - how awesome is that?
Even the sidewalks were full of artistic expression
Almost every surface you could see was covered with something.
This eye was gigantic - so amazingly detailed.
This was a little cafe.
Nice colorful building.
Even these giant structures didn't escape the beautifying.
Mario and Donkey Kong
"Tell my mother I love her"
This kitty was one of my favorites.
Original Gangsters
All the detail is just amazing.
We never did find the Wynwood Walls so we had to google a bus stop.
Just as we were getting there a bus pulled up so it was great timing.
We hopped right on.
There were no seats for us at first so we had to wait for few stops before we could finally move to some seats where we could actually see things in the top part of the bus.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day out there.
The tour guide was just up there talking away into the mic and we couldn't hear a thing.
We thought someone should tell him that his mic wasn't turned on.
Joke was on us though because we later discovered that if you tune the headphones they give you when you get on to the bus to a particular channel, you hear what the guide is saying.
Ha ha!
Some of the buildings in the downtown area.
When we got to this area we decided to Hop off and check things out a bit.
The color of the water is just so beautiful.
The Hard Rock Cafe was right there so I was able to pick up a shirt for my son like I always do.
I got a beach wrap for his girlfriend as they are going to Hawaii in April and those wraps always come in handy.
We walked around a bit but then hopped back on the next bus to continue on the tour.
Just us again!
We had a different tour guide this time and this guy was really good.
Very knowledgeable and funny too, that clever wit that I enjoy.
There were some cool looking buildings around.
Bayside
Port of Miami
Some of the houses along the water were just beautiful and they had there yachts parked out front same way we would have our cars.
Apparently the architect on this building is female - go girl!
More mural art.
Nice church.
We just stayed on the bus for the whole tour around Miami.
More artwork.
Wynnwood.
The tour guide was very knowledgeable about the mural artists.
I can't wait to come back and check out the Wynwood Walls more closely.
I guess the guy that does the oranges is a famous one around town.
We saw lots of his work.
What a cool effect from this paint job.
One of my favorite pieces that we saw.
I just loved this colorful building.
The bus took us through the ritzier section of town.
There were some very big beautiful homes.
We saw this juice place on one of the You Tube shows we watched before coming - we definitely need to come back later and check it out.
This was another I really liked, love how she is peeping out beside the roof there.
We stayed on the bus until we got back around to Little Havana then we hopped off.
The tour guide highly recommended this ice cream place so we beelined it over there.
They had so many flavors to choose from.
I had the tour guides suggestion - Abuela Maria.
He said it had crackers on it which really intrigued me.
I was expecting saltines.
Turns out they were more cookie biscuits and they were right in the ice cream.
Oh well, it was still tasty.
Just hanging out in Little Havana
It was full of artistic expression too.
She was peeping out from an alley way.
We stopped for some lunch at a little Mexican place.
We had their nachos to start.
They were ok.
There was a little bit of a language barrier because I actually wanted a grapefruit Juritos but she brought me Mandarin.
It worked.
I tried their tortilla soup too but I didn't like it.
My Honey went for the tacos, he tried three different kinds.
I had a bite of each too.
It was a nice little outdoor space
We enjoyed just sitting there and people watching for a bit after we ate.
Then we got on the move again, there was lots to see.
I ended up falling in love with a purse on sight and bought it asap.
It's the fastest purse buying decision I ever made in my life and I don't regret it one bit.
More cool murals.
These artists are so amazing.
Ha ha, this cracked me up.
They had all these roosters and I am not sure why but I loved them.
Maybe there is some significance, maybe not.
Doesn't matter, they are still fun.
My Honey wanted to try a Cuban coffee so we dropped into this little place.
I forget what My Honey actually tried but I know it wasn't what he was expecting.
He liked it though.
I had a more girly one.
I think it was a couple that ran the store.
The husband was very personable and informative.
She didn't really speak English very well but she was super friendly too.
She was making the coffees while he was schmoozing with the customers.
I even got a little cookie with mine.
She asked if I wanted whipped cream, of course I do!
Just more art every where you look.
Another rooster.
These guys were cool looking.
They even painted the paint brushes!
Some good information just posted on the fence outside the Domino playing center.
We hopped back on the last bus to get back to the downtown.
Our plan was to hop on the tour that went over to Miami Beach.
By the time our bus got there, the Miami Beach bus was full so we skipped it.
We just stayed on the bus until we got back around to Wynwood Walls.
Yosemite Sam
The first thing I noticed was these cool benches.
Another one I loved.
At first it's hard because you are just trying to take it all in and there is amazing art just every where.
I thought these were really great.
Love the little kitty peeking over the fence.
Love the dog!
Looks like someone is sneaking into the clubhouse.
This was a giant mural of a camera - so cool.
My Honey found a kitty friend for a few minutes anyway.
Another giant mural - This was my absolute favorite of the trip.
It just looked so realistic and amazing.
There was some kind of event going on so this was as close as I could get to checking out those walls of art in the background there.
A strange sea/horse creature.
It was kind of creepy looking with it's lobster claw hoof thing.
Creative, but creepy.
Someone's take on the president.
MP - the initials of two of my favorite people in the world!
So many different styles, there was really something for everyone.
Wynwood Walls
If you are ever in Miami, you should check this place out.
Baby Hulk - we've seen him before in other cities.
He is awesome.
A cat made out of junk on a junky old plane.
Cute!
Now that is colorful!
We left Wynwood Walls and started walking in the direction we thought our hotel was.
Check out the super tall statue, weird and wonderful all at the same time.
Loved it.
LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO SIT IN THE PASSENGER SEAT
PAVE YOUR OWN PATH
Amen to that!
We were still treated to lots more art work on the walk to our hotel.
We came upon this little outdoor space on our way home that had a few food trucks in it and some seating so we popped in to have a look.
They had this cool storage container made into a pizza place.
My Honey loved it.
It was such a lovely little spot.
I just adore those giant plant tubs.
It's just the kind of place we love to find.
Lots of folks were there enjoying the space.
Love this eating area with the shade.
We decided to grab a bite to eat at this little hot dog stand.
There were some neat choices on the menu.
Would have liked to go back to try the carrot dog.
I went for the Miami Classic and My Honey tried the Chorizo Dog.
It was delicious.
He liked his too.
The sun was setting and the lights were coming on and that just added an extra bit of magic to the place.
I would love to have an outdoor space like this at home.
Awww - love this guy so much.
There was another container made into a little studio and those girls to the left there were doing a yoga class for all to see.
Yup the lights make everything look different and better somehow.
Eventually we headed back to the hotel.
This is the front of it.
We were on the fourth floor, second one in from the right.
Those balconies are awesome.
We were still hungry so went to this little place across the street from our hotel,
Beaker & Gray.
It was so nice that we of course had to sit out on their patio to enjoy it.
I love, love, love dining al fresco!
The waiter really gave us good descriptions of a lot of the menu items and he made them sound so interesting and delicious that we wanted to try them all.
We really couldn't try all of them so we picked a few.
This was an octopus dish that he said was his favorite and it was good.
I've never been blown away by octopus but this was better than any other I've tried so far.
These were Cheeseburger Croquettes which he said were a best seller so we had to try them.
They were ok but I wouldn't be running back to have them again.
This was the Sandwichito.
It had pork belly and pickled cucumber (which is just a pickle isn't it).
I normally don't like pork belly but he said this was made into a spread like liverwurst so I gave it a try because I am totally into liverwurst.
It was just ok too.
This dish, Flank Steak with Chimichurri, it won the day.
No scratch that, it won the whole trip.
It was the most delicious thing ever.
The steak was cooked perfectly and the chimichurri was bright and fresh and had a bit of a tang.
It went together so well and I just felt like I couldn't get enough.
I would go back for this in a heartbeat!
We were kind of full after eating so went for a little walk.
We made our way back to the little food truck area we'd been to earlier in the evening and they had some live entertainment going on.
People were up dancing and enjoying themselves.
It was really great.
They were a French band so had that kind of French sound but they mixed it up with some jazzy sounds.
Entertaining and fun.
We hung around and watched them for a bit before calling it a night.
Our hotel had a roof top pool that we never did use but I at least wanted to check out before we left.
The pool area was huge and open and really nice.
It had a pretty good view of the city too.
This was the view from our room.
The red building kind of in the center of the picture is Beaker & Gray where we had supper tonight.
TA-DA!
Here it is.
My new purse that I love so much.
Each little heart cut out has 3 little blingy beads inside which I didn't even notice at first.
I paid $70 for it which is a lot for me to put down on a purse but I've never loved a purse more so it was worth it!
It's been a wonderful day here in Miami.
We are going to hit the road tomorrow and head towards Orlando and I am looking forward to a new adventure.
Got lots of stepping in today!
That is all for today, until next time be happy!
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