Coconut Grove back to Sunset Islands, Miami Beach, Florida

This morning we got an early start on the Coconut Grove Trolley to Douglas Station at the Metrorail to transfer to the Coral Gables Trolley and then got off close to Versailles Restaurant in Little Havana. After a delicious breakfast, we walked down Calle Oche, Eighth Street to the Sidewalk Hall of Fame and past Domino Park. Between 13 and 17th street were all the tourist spots. We continued our walk to pick up the Brickell Trolley back to Dinner Key Marina. We did laundry and grocery shopping at Fresh Market before we let loose of the mooring and headed back out of Biscayne Bay to our protected anchorage near Sunset Islands in Miami Beach.  The wind ramps up over the weekend so this is a better spot to be.

Starting with the roosters at City Hall, the old Pam Am Headquarters

The city hall roosters

The most famous Cuban restaurant

Delicious baked goods

Rooster at the entrance to Calle Ocho

Roosters everywhere

Cigar smoking rooster

Welcome Center rooster

Patriotic rooster

Popular ice cream company

One of many stars on the sidewalk

Domino Park

A 55 member-only domino playing club

Numerous tobacco shops

Produce market

Monuments to the heroes from the Bay of Pigs Invasion

In memory

On Friday before the wind picked up we headed ashore at the Marine Police Station for a walk across the new pedestrian bridge towards Ace Hardware and Trader Joe's. The wind picked up as predicted and we joined Irish Eyes on their boat for happy hour. It was great catching up with them as we met them at the dock in Bimini on our very first Bahamas trip.

On Saturday the wind was howling at over 20 knots but we are in a protected spot so not much wave action. We had a lazy day on the boat as it was sunny and only a  few other yachts came into the anchorage and stayed for a bit. Luckily no jet skiers or water skiers today made for a pleasant day.

On Sunday it was overcast but mostly sunny as we walked past the Holocaust Memorial to the path to the Miami Free Botanical Gardens. Since we were here last, they have made great strides with more signage and plantings and were setting up for a symphony event for this evening. We strolled on new paths and then headed down Meridian past the Convention Center to Lincoln Road Mall on our way to Lime Mexican Grill for a late lunch. We had a few raindrops as we headed back to the dock after checking out where the Miami Beach Middle Loop Trolley stop was across from Walgreen's.

Along the canal

Holocaust Memorial

Holocaust Park

Arbor at Holocaust Memorial 

Canal entrance to Botanical Gardens

New park in front of Convention Center

Along Lincoln Road Mall

Lincoln Mall street art

Mural on Wells Fargo Bank building on Alton Road

On Monday we headed out to ride the Middle Beach Trolley to find breakfast at The Tavern on Collins Avenue. It was great outdoor dining serving delicious breakfast until noon of their waffles and cinnamon pancakes with caramelized banana topping. We walked over to the beach and they have finished replacing the boardwalk with pavers and have it beautifully landscaped from 45 to 25th street. We walked back through Collins Park and along Collins Canal which has been lined with Humanoid sculptures amid the trees along the path by the Convention Center. We finished the walk along the Botanical Garden path for a quick stop at Publix Market before heading back to the boat. We watched the rain move towards us while eating dinner of sweet and sour pork on the flybridge. The rain finally came after threatening clouds all afternoon,

Interesting table at The Tavern

North Miami Beach

Surf's up

Beautiful new walkway

Outside of the Art Museum

Collins Park

Along Collins Canal

Steps down to the canal

Art along the path surrounding the Convention Center

New paths along the canal

Series of Humanoid sculptures

Joins path past Botanical Gardens

Beside the reflecting pool of the Holocaust Memorial

On Tuesday, we got an early start to go ashore along the seawall in the anchorage to go to breakfast at the Bagel Cafe at North Beach. We were some of the first customers and enjoyed an excellent omelet and bagel breakfast. We walked to the Ace Hardware store and then back to the boat for lunch and a lazy afternoon.

On Wednesday, the Bass Art Museum reopened for the week and we walked down Collins Canal Promenade again. We enjoyed a latte in the cafe before beginning our tour of the contemporary art museum. The original donor's collection of old masters is dispersed with new art along with special exhibits. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with the wide variety of awesome exhibits.

Miami Beach Bass Contemporary Art Museum

Neon welcome signs in 70 languages

Bursts of color

Striking portraits

Fabric and glass art

Unusual sculpture

Haitian art

Suspended art

Words as art

Flower petals as art

Refrigerator art

Expansive murals

Interactive display with broken guitars to make music

Shoe clock

Waving your hand initiated music

Snapchat art we didn't get

World War I Art Deco Hotel

Humanoids along Collins Canal Promenade

The path between the Convention Center and Canal

This morning we went ashore and walked to Einstein Bagel for a cup of coffee before boarding the bus to downtown Miami where we got on the free Metro people mover and then transferred to the Brickell trolley. We walked through Regatta Park and stopped at Dinner Key Marina to pick up our 5 packages and then walked to Coconut Grove to Barracudas Restaurant. We ordered the local draft beer brewed near Wynwood Walls and a snapper sandwich and a steak sandwich which were tasty with waffle fries and onion rings. We retraced our route back to the boat.  We rode some miles with less than five dollars bus fare.

Regatta Park next to Dinner Key Marina

A mobile 24/7 Covid Testing Van in the park

Dinner Key Marina facilities facing the water

Picnic tables on the closed street at Barracudas

Casual spot on a closed road in "The Grove"

Downtown Miami free metrro mover

Overhead metro mover

On Friday, we headed back to the bus stop on Alton Road to head to downtown Miami across the causeway and onto the metro mover to the Freedom Tower on the Miami-Dade College Campus. We stopped at a coffee shop for an empanada and latte before going into the Freedom Tower Museum of Art and Design. Originally built for the  Miami Newspaper, then became The Refuge for Cuban immigrants and on the National Historic Register. We then walked over to the Miami History Museum and ended up with a free voucher to return since we barely made it through the north building. The buses were crowded on the return ride. The wind has picked up and it is supposed to blow strong over the weekend as front passes and temperatures dip.

The Freedom Tower

Entrance to Freedom Tower

Mural on second story of museum

The impact of the Pedro Pan Cuban refugees

The contemporary art

Colorful art gallery

Amazing colors

Art in boxes

Amazing display

Front entry to Freedom Tower

Metro mover

Miami History Museum plaza

Mural to Miami

Boating history

Fresnal lens from lighthouse in museum stairwell

Miami Public Library

Government Center plaza

Sunset tonight

Irish Eyes sailboat in front of lighted high rises

We spent Saturday waiting for the front to come through with high winds and bouncy seas but no rain. We had hoped for rain to wash off the boat. The temperature dropped 30 degrees overnight.

We forgot about losing an hour due to daylight savings time so we got a late start on Sunday to take the bus to Miami to use our voucher to see the second half of the Miami History Museum. What a great collection of Miami history.

Old boats

Refugee boats

Tourist attraction

Floyd fruit stand!

Old electric trolley car

Art Deco theatre with film

Aerial view of Dinner Key back with seaplanes

Early posters

Flamingo collectables

Orange collectables

Gator collectables

Miami fashion

Boat collection

Waterfowl art

Postcard collection

Old signs

Hurricane damage

Street art called camouflage

Lobby mural

Bead and shell art

On Monday it was overcast all day as we took the Alton Road bus to Miami and boarded the Metrorail to the Coconut Grove station. We headed to Berries in the Grove for a beer and nachos and then over to Crook and Crook Marine Supply for some boat parts. A quick stop at Trader Joe's for a  Mediterranean spicy meatball dish for dinner.

Tuesday started with rain off and on all day. We made a dash in between the rain showers to Ace Hardware and CVS Pharmacy. We got sprinkled on but the heavy rain happened after we were safely back to the boat.

We head back to Biscayne Bay on Wednesday to anchor out before heading south to Key Largo.