Bonus vacation!

Our flight from Bonaire to Curacao was uneventful, then we had a six hour layover in Curacao, which wasn't so bad since we were able to go sit outside in the sun and read for a bit, plus they have free wifi... Winter Storm Nemo was in full force, however, so we tried to talk to the gate agent about rescheduling our flights. She said we had to wait until we fly to Miami to reschedule, which we knew was going to be trouble...

We arrived in Miami just in time to see that our flight from Miami to Hartford was canceled, as we expected. We waited in line at a separate area for rescheduling flights (the wait was a half hour!), and they informed us that all flights were booked until WEDNESDAY! (this was Saturday) She keep looking for ways to reroute us, and finally figured that we would have to spend two nights in Miami, then fly an extra leg to Chicago, spend the night there, and then finally fly to Hartford on Tuesday morning. All of course on our own time - no help with hotel rooms, etc.

Well, I'd never been to Miami other than the airport, so we rented a car and decided to make the most of it. :) We checked out the Sunday market on Lincoln Road in South Beach, where I was delighted to find a Desigual store - one of my favorite stores in the WORLD since our Barcelona trip! We ate dinner at a nice restaurant called La Lupa di Roma - delicious Italian food and nice outdoor dining. Then we drove the half hour back to our hotel, only to find that Gavin had left not one, but BOTH our iPads (in one bag) at our table at the restaurant! So we had to drive right BACK and pick them up! We were really lucky they had found them!

Obviously a bit windy on Ocean Drive. :)

Me on Ocean Drive

Miami Beach - a kite surfer in the background.

Panorama of Ocean Drive

Our second day we didn't have to fly out until later at night, so we checked out late from our hotel and headed over to The Filling Station - one of the top restaurants in Miami! And I was craving a burger. :) It was a bit of a dive bar atmosphere, but DAMN good burgers!!! Then we headed over to Ocean Drive to happy hour - every bar along the drive said "two for one drinks," so we just picked one at random and sat down. I ordered a mojito, and Gavin ordered a beer. My mojito arrived, and it was the size of a small fish bowl... Luckily we had plenty of time for me to sit and drink it slowly... It was a really good mojito, and I am pretty picky about those...

...but it was DEFINITELY not worth the price... Gavin and I got the bill a couple hours later, and it was THIRTY TWO DOLLARS for my mojito, and he got his measly $8 beer for free! We checked with the waitress to see if this was correct, and she said that it is $1 per ounce, and the mojito was a 32 ounce mojito. Wow. Ocean Drive is too rich for my blood! :) She tried to soothe us by saying I could get free refills, but we had to leave to go to the airport, and I was plenty tipsy already. :)

Well, I'd never make a special trip to Miami - not really my kind of town (even the mannequins had fake boobs), but it was fun to hang out since we were stuck there anyway!

 

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