Spicyland takes South Beach

I may have already lamented that we had a brutally early flight leaving Minneapolis the morning of January 24.  So terribly, ungodly, insanely EARLY.  DT and I dozed on both legs of our journey south – well, dozed as best as one can in a plane seat.  (I’m not very good at sleeping on airplanes.)  We were tired and a little weary by the time we landed in Miami, but guess what?  It was only NOON!

This year we extended our stay in South Beach to two nights….the only time we’ve done that was four years ago, on our first cruise.  I’m so glad we made the time for two [nearly] full days….we got lots of sunshine and were able to enjoy the energetic nightlife scene to boot.

DT surprised me with a return visit to The Richmond….another trip back to our first cruise in 2009 when we didn’t know anything about the area and just happened upon this little gem.

South Beach is filled with boutique hotels like this and we’ve stayed in a few….but The Richmond is definitely a treat. And, it’s on the beach side of Collins Avenue.  Perfect!

We showered and made our way to the Lincoln Road Mall, a great pedestrian street we love to roam.  5 Napkin was a favorite spot we found last year, so we made our return.

We found this snack at Yuca:  guacamole habanero with plantain chips.  It was seriously one of the best things we ate on this trip.

After searching every corner we could think of from a vague memory of four years ago, we finally found this little cantina-style restaurant on Espanola Way.

Oh! Mexico….there you are!

We were so excited to find it again!

A beautiful mango margarita, just for me….

Espanola Way is beautiful at night, lined with restaurants and cafes.

It was a lovely kickoff to our vacation!

On Friday morning, we took a long walk on the beach.

Can you imagine seeing this every day?

We found a coconut.

DT’s new friend.

After lunch, we lounged the afternoon away by The Richmond’s pool – it’s positively serene.

Our evening was spent people watching at Van Dyke Cafe on Lincoln – it was a perfectly central spot.

We’re already looking a little rosy!

The Richmond is so pretty at night….

Then came Saturday, which was….CRUISE DAY!

Our route this year was a repeat of what we did three years ago.  We felt the need for a “redo” since two of the ports turned out to be a bit of a bust.  We were clueless and hadn’t done our research. Since then, we (and by “we” I mean DT) thoroughly research each and every port to find out exactly where to go, what to see, and what to do.

We boarded the Carnival Liberty as soon as we possibly could that morning.

And quickly found the beanbags….

Downtown Miami from one side of the ship:

Windy!

Look at those houses!  And boats!  My goodness, the life.

We set sail at 4:00.

Goodbye, South Beach!

Going….

Going….

Getting farther and farther away….

And we’re off!

Here was the little critter we found in our room the first night:

He’s cute!

So is he, from the second night:

Next post:  Spicyland takes Cozumel!

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