4.06.2012

Miami

We stayed in the marine stadium for 3 days and then moved over to the Miami Beach Marina in South Beach.


Sunset

The anchorage in the marine stadium had both pros and cons.

The best part about staying here was Virginia Key, an island to the east that no one goes to with a beautiful trail.  It was perfect for the dogs.  ^_^





The downside of staying here is it isn’t easy to go to shore to the west.  There isn’t a dock and the beaches are a bit sketchy since the tide flux is extreme, you could either end up high and dry far from the water’s edge or floating a short swim away. 

Also, the boat was constantly besieged by crew teams training, so there was a lot of shouting and wake from the coaches in their john boats.

So annoying



We were able to make it to shore, however, and spent a day at the Miami Seaquarium, one of the most awesome places EVER.  Better than Sea World, seriously, take your kids, they will love it.

They had two shows featuring atlantic bottlenose dolphins flipping and leaping out of the water, a show with an orca whale and pacific white-sided dolphins with lots of splash action, and a seal and sea lion show with hilarious antics.  In addition there were lots of critters to look at: fishes, manatees, gators, crocs, turtles, sharks, tarpon, and even some deer!

The "Flipper Show":











"Top Deck Dolphin Show":



"Killer Whale Show":







"Golden Dome Sea Lion Show":




Critters!:
















The South Beach marina was ok…they didn’t have floating docks and the sea wall did little to stop the surge of the passing cargo and cruise ships traveling through the inlet, sending us into a very persistent roll.  However, it was easy to get around and we were able to get the things we needed before heading to the Bahamas.

Thursday night we headed west via taxi to the FIU campus to see our friend David and watch a taping of American Ninja Warrior.  For those of you unfamiliar with Ninja Warrior it is a Japanese show where contestants compete for glory by racing through and obstacle course where upper body strength is ~90% of the challenge.  It was awesome!!!







Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were spent around the town collecting items for our trip and seeing the city.  We even took in a movie!  (The Hunger Games, go see it, it’s probably the best movie out so far this year)






 

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