Hello Miami! Time for a Road Trip.

Container ships being loaded in Port of Miami

We safely made the trip from Fort Lauderdale to Miami sailing half the time in a fairly quiet ocean. The wind actually wasn’t quite strong enough to move us at the pace we like to go when trying to make miles, so we sailed with the motor the second half of the trip.  Arriving in Miami definitely gave us a variety of things to look at which we have not seen else where.



Miami skyline.

We made it to the anchorage by 2pm where our friends on Sequence and Jubilee were located between San Marino and Di Lito Islands near South Beach.



Welcome Happy Hour on Jubilee

 Later in the day they had a welcoming happy hour on Don and Sue Engler’s boat, Jubilee. It was a lot of fun meeting the other couples on boats in the anchorage who are all waiting to cross over to the Bahamas as well. Englers and we are the only “newbies” being our first time. One couple has done this fifteen times and most of the rest have done it three or more times. Some said they have waited as long as 3-4 weeks for a weather window. I hope it isn’t that long for us but it is not looking too good at this time.

Our  Own Little Christmas Tree



Al praying or thinking?



On Sunday Al took Sue and I to the dock in South Beach where we caught a bus to church. The bus cost all of $.25 a ride which is great for getting around town. Before going back to the boat we stopped at the local Publix to get a few more things and could not resist some free greens next to the Christmas Trees. Back on the boat I decorated for the holidays while Al worked on doing navigational "stuff" for the Bahamas or maybe he is praying for a weather window!  Who knows???

Later the Mershons and Englers came over to discuss how we might get to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens in Coral Gables to pass the time while waiting for good weather. We talked about moving the boats to the mooring off Dinner Key Marina in Coconut Grove and taking bus transportation, but finally decided on leaving the boats here and renting a car to get the six of us there.



Al, Dave, Toni, Sue and Don ready to explore Fairchild Gardens

It took some time to figure out all the logistics but we did it and it was well worth it. We spent the day touring the gardens and looking for the wild life. We started the day with a tram ride to give us an overall view of the 83 acres that is included and to learn about many of the tropical plants there. One fact we learned was that there are 2700 species of palms. And I thought there were only a dozen or so! Being so chilly in the high fifties, we were afraid we would not see any butterflies but after lunch in the warmth of the sun they came out of hiding. Not quite so true for the birds but we enjoyed the magnificent gardens with all the various sculptures, flowers, insects and cacti. It also felt great to just walk most of the day on solid land instead of sitting and moving on the boat. All agreed it was a great road trip!
Hope you enjoy the photos of what we saw.

  



Don't miss the two bugs kissing!