"ICW Trip 2001 Leg 28 December with the Grandkids" Top 5 Page for this destination Miami Travelogue by grandmaR

RosalieAnn at MiaMarina

After our overnight from Ft. Pierce, we got up about 7:30, and about 8 or 9 I started calling marinas. No room at Dinner Key and they wouldn't know anything else until 1 pm. No room at Crandon Park. So I called Miamarina, and they said yes they had space. But they didn't sell fuel.

So we picked up the anchor and went to Crandon, and got fuel, and then went to Miamarina. It is right in the middle of downtown. The AA arena is on the north,, the big cruise ship docks are right across Dodge Island to the east, there is a big mall area with lots of shops and restaurants to the west, and to the south are the big bank buildings and the Hard Rock.

We tied up in slip C9. It took Bob some time to put the boat in the slip so that I could get off. I went up and paid for 11 days - we will leave here on the 21st. Then went back and had another nap.

When we finally roused ourselves, we went to dinner at the Hard Rock (I had a coupon from the AAA book), and called our son in Charleston (we are filing float plans with him so someone always knows where we are) and our daughter who lives in Miami.

Bob attached the TV cable, and we went to bed. Couldn't even stay awake to see the end of the football game.

Our Christmas Tree

Got up and ran the refrigeration and Bob went up to get local rental car numbers from the marina phone book. I called around for rates. Rented a car from Budget, which was on Bricknell Dr, just across the Miami RIver from us.

Bob walked up and picked up the car, and we went out to the BoatUS in north Miami to turn in the squashed fender (see Isle of Palms) which won't hold air. Got a new fender. Then went to AAA to pick up new maps and tour book for FL. We had lunch at Burger King and went to our daughters. She was working in the morning (she is an airline pilot).

We had dinner there and then went back to the boat, ran the refrigeration and went to bed.

(Note - the refrigeration is not automatic. It can be run either with the engine or with shore power, but it has to be turned on and off manually.)

Although Bob hasn't been able to get the reindeer for the staysail area, we do have the boat decorated for Xmas. We have (1) Santa hats and candy canes around the cockpit. The mast inside the saloon (2) is substituting for a tree, and we have lighted angels (3) on the staysail boom triangle. We also have a wreath on the bow and I have the wreath our grandson made hanging with the oil lamp over my bunk.

Dec 12: Got up and ran the refrigeration, and then Bob dropped me at our daughters house (she is working all day today.), and went down to the base at Homestead to the commissary. He also went to an RV store to pick up 12V light bulbs. They sell them for 95 cents that West Marine wants $2.95 for. I spent the day trying to fix the Toshiba (unsuccessful, but I did get the virus software updated), and uploading digital photos to Photoworks (successful, but takes a long time). Also took some photos of the grandkids.

Wreath on the bow

Bob took our grandson to basketball practice and we ate dinner at our daughters's and drove back to the marina - discovered that there is construction at night on the route that was OK during the day.

Dec 13 - Our daughter is off today, so we ran the refrigeration and then went to her house and I worked on the computer some more. We were held up on the way over by the Miami River drawbridge going up. Bob pointed out the car parked on the bridge (not the opening part obviously) which belonged to the bridge tender. He has his own parking space right there on the bridge.

Our daughter was shopping in the morning and she ended up behind us on the expressway. We ordered dinner from Ron's the local Cuban place.

Cockpit decorations - santa hats and candy canes

We took the car and ran up to Ft. Lauderdale to go to Sailorman (a consignment marine store), but didn't have any luck there. Went to a couple of other local retail marine stores and bought some minor stuff.

Talked to one other CSY owner, and tried to contact another one, but he was (we found out later) out on his boat changing the oil. We ate lunch at Lester's (a diner) and came back to the marina. We went up to the mall and walked around and had dinner and ice cream up there, and watched the tour boats going in and out.

Dec 15. Bob ran the engine and changed the oil. The marina has free disposal for oil. We went and saw our grandson's basketball game with our daughter and granddaughter, had dinner, and got back in time to see the tail end of the Miami boat parade. I thought the big Ft. Lauderdale one would be on TV, but it wasn't.

Sandy child

Dec 16th - went to our daughter's and then went next door for brunch and the gift exchange for the kids. Our granddaughter (just 2) was wearing her choice of a dress (not the one our daughter wanted her to wear) and cowboy boots, but I didn't manage to get a picture of her in the boots which came off immediately she got there.

While the adults were making and eating brunch, the kids all went out(two age 5, grandson age 7, granddaughter age 2, and one age 3.5) and started playing in the sand that was in the yard with water from the hose and/or pool. They got very sandy. They all had to be de-sanded, and dried off and redressed - this time in our daughter's choice of dress.

I gave our daughter and son-in-law their presents, and they gave us theirs. We left in the afternoon and went back to the boat. Picked up a turkey at Publix on the way home.

Stiltsville

I woke up this morning with the sudden realization that I had meant to allow 3 days to get to Key West from here and had made the mistake of saying we'd be here until the 21st when we were due in Key West on the 22nd. I had meant that we'd be here until the 19th and leave on the 20th instead of here until the 20th and leave on the 21st.

Also Bob is getting antzy. I listen to the weather, and hear that people are taking a weather window to the Bahamas. So we decide to leave a day earlier than we originally thought we would.

Dec 18 - went to our daughter's in the afternoon and did the last bit of computer stuff, and then went with them to the Enchanted Forest for the evening with several of their friends. The rides were included in the admission, and I went on the bumper cars with our grandson, and on the ferris wheel. Our granddaughter was fearless about riding almost any ride.

Note: Photo is of Stiltsville. That's a controversial area where people have built vacation homes on stilts.

Cape Florida Light

Bob drove the car back and walked back to the marina. He said he wanted to leave by 10. I went up to get a refund, and use the bathrooms and download the last bit of pocketmail from the pay phone. Got underway at 10:00, but Bob had really wanted to leave before that, and go out Government Cut, which we could have done because there were no cruise ships in, but I thought it would be better to go the other way. So we went down and out around Cape Florida - past No Name Harbor. I took some pictures of the lighthouse.

Next - Passing through

Marathon