​After waking up rather early to shower and stopping at an adjoining restaurant for our continental breakfast, we took an Uber to Bayside Marketplace. We liked wondering around the shops for a while, and of course we had a tropical smoothie. We were nearby AmericanAirlines arena – where the Miami Heat play – so we decided to go check that out. Nothing was going on, and ironically the Heat were in Milwaukee to play the Bucks, but it was still neat to walk by. On the way, we walked past a JFK memorial – The Torch of Friendship. In the background was the Tower of Church Of La Caridad Del Cobre On Miami, which was a pretty iconic sight in the cityscape of Miami.

Afterwards, we took another recommendation from our fellow Uber rider last night - we went to the Wynwood Walls . The Wynwood Walls is a hipster-ish place with contemporary of art and humongous mural style paintings outside on several walls. Admission was free and it's definitely worth checking out. We spent about a half hour walking through Miami to this location hoping to see more of the city, but it got boring half way through so we decided to call an Uber.

We were getting a little hungry so next we decided to find The Salty Donut (another recommendation). We were lucky, it was just a block away from the Wynwood Walls. I ordered an Apple + Dulce De Leche Fritter and Alicia ordered a Tangerine donut. This whole "let's try a fancy donut shop in each city we visit" tradition is starting to become a thing! These donuts were damn good, doughy and airy at the same time.

Next up - lunch. We hit up this gastropub (recommended again, of course) to DRB (domestic republic of beer) 180*. There, Alicia had a black bean burger and I a 50/50 burger. I don't know what all was on the 50/50 burger but it was loaded! A huge patty, fried egg, date?, fried mozzarella patty, and I don't what else but man that thing was massive. The first hamburger I've had to eat with a fork and knife. Correction, the menu reads: "chorizo (spicy pork sausage), prime beef, queso frita, maduras, fried egg, and spicy lime aioli." Since the place was called the “domestic republic of beer” I kind of had to get one, ya know . I ordered a delicious witbier Blanche de Bruxelles. 10/10 would order again, just what I needed on a warm sunny afternoon.

After lunch, we made our way back to our hotel. We changed into our beach attire and wandered down to the Miami's #1 thing to do according to TripAdvisor. Our hotel included beach towels and beach chairs at the beach; perfect. The beach was just a short walk away and included a walk through a quiet, tree-filled path. Once at the beach, it was a little confusing to find Esteban's Place (where the beach chairs were), but we finally did find it and were “assigned” a nice set of chairs and an umbrella by the beach. Taking a little nap on the beach was nice, but man was it windy. Something like 15-20 mph? It made it feel cold if the sun was not being covered by the clouds. A little ironic that we were feeling cold in 75-degree weather when it was currently 25 degrees in Wisconsin.

When the sun was out it did feel good to dip the feet in the water, even though the water was really cold . As the tides drifted back into the sea, the sand leaving the feet was sort of massaging.

After a shower, we decided to walk towards the Miami botanical gardens. Unfortunately, it was closed and road construction hindered our ability to observe it from afar. No problem, we had time to kill and the walk was through the same beautiful tree park we had visited last night. The sun was starting to set and Miami Beach was starting to come alive with all types of people.

As we made our way back to the Miami Beach boardwalk as that was the #2 thing to do according to TripAdvisor. We saw some guy feed a few adorable cats while he was on the phone – he must do this often. He had generated a little crowd, especially from a young child in a stroller. After walking the boardwalk for a while, we decided we wanted to check out a rooftop bar. Conveniently, we were walking right towards the 1 Hotel which hosts a rooftop bar up top - Watr. Navigating through the 1 Hotel lobby and finding the elevator was one thing, but it appeared that the elevators required a room key to operate. We tailgated into an elevator going to the 14th floor. Sadly, there was still more stories to go and we didn't really know what we were doing. Luckily, we (I) figured out the elevator system: the way it works is that you use the centralized touchpad to tell it where you are going (example: rooftop) and it calls an elevator and tells you which one to go to (example: elevator F) . Alicia didn't think I could do it, and to be honest, I didn't either for a brief second. Once inside the elevator you don't have to push any more buttons because it already knows where you are going.

After we finally made it to the top, we found a spot at the bar and ordered some drinks. Alicia ordered a strong (but rather tasty), citrusy drink called the Passsion Spice + Everything Nice. The menu read: Casamigos blanco, cointreau, lime, passionfruit puree, Serrano cocktail spice. I tried the house pale ale – not bad! The views over the beach and ocean were truly spectacular, especially at sunset.

After leaving we took an Uber to a sushi place we had a Groupon for, but alas it was closed even though we had made a reservation. It's weird because it's closed Friday and Saturday all day (apparently, it's a Jewish thing). We instead took an Uber to a sushi place that was just recommended to us by our previous Uber driver - Doraku sushi .

Doraku was an elegant but not over the top Japanese and sushi Bar. I ordered a Big Wave “Takanami” roll that included: Coconut Shrimp and Avocado, topped with Mango Salsa and Coconut Flakes (delicious). Alicia ordered a White Dragon Roll - Shrimp Tempura and Avocado inside, topped with Hamachi, Garlic Aioli, Eel Sauce and Garlic Chips. I loved my roll with the mango and coconut. Alicia liked it too but she said it was way too sweet for her to eat on her own. Doraku was located on Lincoln Road which is apparently a big deal (recommended by same Uber driver who recommended the restaurant). Picture it as State Street in a tropical climate and only a pedestrian walkway (no bikes, buses, or taxis on the road). Every restaurant had outside seating and several even had heat and fire lamps – crazy, I know! Alicia really liked walking past these as it was getting a little bit chilly at night especially with the sun missing.

After walking for what had to be the entire length of Lincoln Road, we found our CVS we had visited the night before. We needed to get some wine to bring on the ship – and we almost forgot! According to the rules, we each could bring one bottle in our carry-on luggage so we bought two bottles – 2 for $11 CVS special! And since we didn't want to pack a bottle opener we made sure to get bottles that were twist off. This definitely limited our options. We settled on two pinot grigios.

After returning to the hotel to drop off the wine we decided to stop by next door for some (frankly, way overpriced) margaritas. I mean, even the drinks at the rooftop bar were cheaper and that's saying something. Regardless, the drinks were delicious after a long day. Maybe the bartender felt bad for us because he gave us a free shot of some coffee liquor type stuff.

Sleepy time, especially with 24,5000 steps / 10.2mi. Big day today and big day tomorrow with our cruise leaving port!

I’m glad we had the opportunity to spend a day in Miami, a new city I can add to my collection. However, I am glad we decided on only ONE full day – that was plenty. Parts of Miami were really pretty, there were a ton of really awesome cars, but I don’t really have any intentions of wanting to go back.