What a wake up call it was when I left London with a warm coat and arrived in Miami sweating my tail off!
Upon arriving I was showered with pet names, pats on the back and much affection from all the Miamians at the airport. And of course from my own family! I was glad to be in my home state.
My Florida adventures kicked off with a visit to Danny’s birth city of Miami. I was a tourist in Miami, just like many other people. And like other people, I wanted to try some of that famous Miami cuisine! We started off with a bit of exploring at South Pointe Park.
Even though Miami was much warmer than the UK, it was still December so there was the occasional slight breeze and at night it was very cool. I wore a red basketball jersey, the same color as the home team. Ain’t I such a tourist?
We walked around the park and past the beachside restaurants where I smelled everyone’s lunch with absolute glee and a happy tail wag.
As we strolled by the South Pointe Pier I gazed at the palm trees and remembered how beautiful this state was and how much I had missed it. Then I was so excited that I marked my territory at the park and pooed in the soft, lush Miami grass.
I still couldn’t believe how warm December was in Miami, especially compared to England.
Living in Europe I had grown accustomed to seeing marvelous and ancient architecture, but now that I was in Miami, I was surrounded by many sleek and modern skyscrapers and buildings. Such a world of difference between these two continents, yet both still fantastic.
After our visit to South Pointe we drove over to the famous South Beach in Miami.
Once we arrived in South Beach, I truly felt like a tourist as we walked down the main strip and we were offered an invitation to each and every restaurant. Of course those restaurants all had big Miami prices too!
I didn’t think we would be treated as tourists here because of me. Most people who travel usually do not bring their dogs, so I was surprised that they thought we were tourists. Or perhaps businesses in Miami treat everyone the same and invite them to enter their nice-smelling restaurants and cafes.
My experience with beaches in the last few years have been mostly with the British beaches of Bournemouth and Brighton! Bournemouth has a sandy beach and Brighton has a pebbly beach. In Bournemouth I would usually roll around in the cool sand, but it felt truly, and pleasantly, strange to roll around in the hot sandy beaches of Miami South Beach.
In Bournemouth, the month of December is no man’s land for the beach, but in Miami it was still filled with frolicking tourists.
We stopped for lunch at a small bar called Clevelander, which was apparently a hot Miami spot in the evening.
After lunch we took another stroll through the beachfront where I felt as if we travelled back in time to the 80’s and landed in an episode of Miami Vice. There were many pastel colored buildings and I found many restaurants and offices with Flamingo signs on it. I was ready to put on my own pastel-colored Miami Vice suit for a night out on the town.
My next adventure in the Sunshine State of Florida takes me to the Gator Country, aka, the Florida Gators campus in Gainesville, Florida. Can’t wait to meet some alligators! See you next time!
This is really helpful, thanks.