Miami | Taryn's Mad Hatter Adventures

10/17/23

Day 4

Miami

Fun Times for Today:

Today was our Miami day! We woke up on the early side so we could grab breakfast before getting off of the ship. We really wanted to try the burrito place on the Lido Deck!

I didn’t get a photo of the menu, but you could pick from different meats, potatoes, eggs, etc.

Mine had ham, eggs, cheese, and hash browns.

It was good but not outstanding. I like that this option was available in addition to the crazy busy buffet.

Our approximate ashore time was 8:15 a.m. We had scheduled the Hop On/Hop Off Big Bus excursion through Carnival, and that meet time was 9:00 a.m. just outside the terminal. I had looked into booking this excursion through Viator, but the convenience of having the bus picking us up directly at the terminal and dropping us there after was a much better value! I didn’t want to have to mess with Ubers. This is how close the buses were to the terminal.

We debarked and headed to the bus right after breakfast. (Our bus was full before 9:00 a.m. so we left right when it was full!). There were buses lined up, so there must have been many people who booked this tour. They took our tickets and we boarded. Inside the bus there were headphones we could take. You can plug them into your seat and hear some commentary while driving the route.

We got seats on the first bus, up top. It was a gorgeous day. Chilly for Floridians, but perfect for me! 60 some degrees. It was perfect until we started driving. Then it was FREEZING and windy! I brought my light jacket and was able to put that on but I was still chilly.

Before we pulled away, the tour operator came up top and gave us instructions. He explained the route, the app, the times to be back at the bus stop to return to the ship, etc. We decided there were three stops where we wanted to get off.

This is what the app looks like. You can see live where buses are and where the stops are. It also gives you a wait time.

Our first stop was going to be South Beach, and that was for sure one stop that we wanted to explore. The sights along the way were very cool!

The architecture was amazing!

Where Miami Heat plays:

SO MANY YACHTS!

IT WAS WINDY!

We drove past our ship!

This is Star Island. Star Island is a neighborhood in Miami, located on Biscayne Bay. It has been touted as the most expensive neighborhood in the US. Many of the homes on this island are/were owned by high profile celebrities including Sean Combs, Gloria Estefan, Shaq, and Rosie O’Donnell.

This is the entrance.

I couldn’t help but notice this unique house. I had to google when I got home to see what it was all about! It actually is a green-energy, luxury houseboat!

We made it to the first stop at 9:20ish. You did not have to get off if you didn’t want to. Most people did not. I’m assuming because they had no idea what was going on, and were confused by what the guide instructed us earlier. He made it sound like we should stay on for the entire loop and then go back around and get off. We didn’t have time for that!

Art Deco district in Miami Beach:

There was absolutely no one on Ocean Drive, unless they were sitting and eating breakfast. No cars! And no mobs of people either on the beach or walking.

There were so many cute, boutique hotels on Ocean Drive!

I would really love to see this at night sometime!

Between Ocean Drive and the actual beach, there were a bunch of volleyball courts, an actual fitness area with machines and weights, and a large walking path.

I really wanted to just set foot on the actual beach. It was empty! It was only about 9:45 a.m. at this point, and still slightly chilly according to Florida standards. We didn’t walk to the water.

We went back out to Ocean Drive, because the only other thing I wanted to see here was the Gianni Versace house, which is now a hotel. It actually seemed like they were renovating it. There were workers all over the place! I am a true crime addict, and had seen the documentary about his murder. It happened right on the steps at his front door. Such a senseless tragedy.

We walked back to the bus stop to reboard the hop on/hop off bus, and get to our next stop. Some more views along the way:

The architecture is just AMAZING!

We drove through the Fashion District.

Our next stop was Wynwood! The art throughout this city is just unbelievable. Wynwood is known for its murals and art, restaurants, nightclubs, breweries and more! We spent some time walking up and down the streets here.

This is just SOME of what we saw!

Each mural was totally different. Most of them had information about the artist somewhere on the wall.

We went back to the bus stop, and waited about 15 minutes for the bus to come. It was getting noticeably more crowded at this point. There was a line for the bus and the bus had many people on it already when it pulled up.

Our next stop was Little Havana. I had stopped here before and loved this little section of the town. The bus stop here was right in front of a bakery. I hopped in immediately to check it out.
LOVEEEEEE! I knew this is where I wanted to eat!

This reminded me so much of France in Epcot!

I did a quick browse, and we headed on down the street to check out everything else.

There were several tour groups from other cruise ships with an actual tour guide. The area around the bus was consistently crowded with those arriving and those trying to get back on. There were several shops and restaurants on this little strip.

I love this little park where they still come to play dominos!

This sign is not wrong…

My friend Chrissy reallllly wanted a Cuban and a mojito! So this was her lunch:

I walked back to the bakery, and this was my AMAZING lunch:

Crossaint with ham and cheese, and whatever that fabulous dessert was! I actually couldn’t decided on a dessert. There were too many that looked good!

Chrissy also got this dessert:

It was all so delicious!

After eating, we got in line to get on the next bus. We were done with our stops and heading back to the ship. To do so though, we had to take a bus to Bayside Marketplace and then get on another bus there to bring us back to the ship.

Bayside Marketplace has several restaurants and many shops! It’s not a bad place to explore if you just want to hop off the ship and have nothing planned. You would just have to take an Uber there.

We made it back to the ship around 2:30 p.m. This was waiting for us in our room!

I took a nap and showered for dinner.

Tonight’s menu:

We started with this warm and perfect bread.

Italian Wedding Soup (herbed beef and pork meatballs, vegetables, parmesan, orzo).

I LOVED THIS! It had such great flavor. I was actually so impressed with their soups this whole week!

Caesar Salad:

I was not feeling any of the menu items how they were pictured on the menu. But the Bucatini Alla Crema Di Aglio (pasta, garlic cream, zucchini, asparagus, zesty Provencal crumbs) sounded amazing. It was just missing chicken! So I asked if that could be added and our waiter said yes, no problem.