DAY 2 - FIRST DAY IN MIAMI

A LOOK AT WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY:

Flight to Miami✔ Settled into Four Seasons; Miami Hotel ✔ Dinner At Perricone's✔ Completed The First Of Several Shopping Trips ✔

Before we begin, we wanted to just remind each of you that we welcome comments as well as questions.  To post a comment or a question, at the end of any given post you will see a comments section.  If you click on the word comments, it will bring you to a screen where you can write a comment or ask a question, and then you will be asked to do a simple word verification. 

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We slept very well last evening at the hotel.  Although you can see airplanes taking off and landing, we did not hear andy noises associated with the aircraft.  The rooms are obviously very well insulated.  

Interestingly enough, the hotel does not provide a coffee maker in the room although they provide complimentary coffee which they actually make for you at an area located near the entranceway of the restaurant.  No problems though if you would like some coffee in your room.  The bellman who escorted us to our room, contacted housekeeping for us, and within fifteen minutes, a very nice Keurig Brewer was brought to our room with several selections of coffee, tea, sweeteners, creamer and bottled water.

All in all, the hotel worked out very well and service in all areas was at a high level normally found at luxury properties and overall the best airport hotel we have stayed at.

After checking out of the hotel, it was a pleasure to just walk literally one minute from the lower level lobby of the hotel over to the checkin counter.  

We arrived to the Airport check in counter early and no one was ahead of us.  Check-in was a breeze.  We both have the TSA pre-approval so no need to take off shoes, or to remove computers or the 3-2-1 liquids.  They do still do random checks and Anne Marie was one of the "luck winners" and she had to just take a moment while another TSA person took a special piece of paper and wiped it on the palms of her hands and then inserted it into a machine which likely check for residue from explosives and in a few seconds said "you are ready to go".

We then made it over to the Airline Club Lounge and read and had some coffee & water.

Often our flight leaves out of a different terminal, but today it was scheduled to leave from the terminal that we first entered from the Hotel which was only a couple of gates from the Airline Club Lounge.

The key word about our departure gate was that was the way it was supposed to work.  However a little while later our departure gate changed.  We got on a tram but due to a technical issue we had to get off and go on another tram that took another track in the reverse direction.  Although it took a lot longer to get to the terminal, we did get to see the entire airport (LOL) and it made the time go faster.

Our flight was delayed about 40 minutes due to some issue. However, the good news is that we arrived to Miami just a few minutes after the original scheduled arrival time.

All was good and this is just part of the flying experience.

We were met at the luggage carousel by the representative from the private car service which Crystal Cruises arranged for us.  With our luggage in hand the representative walked us to the parking garage where the driver and the SUV was waiting for us.

We arrived to the Four Seasons Miami Hotel which will be our home for the next seven nights.  This is our sixth stay at this property since 2007.  We like the hotel, as well as its location which we find to be in a relatively quiet part of town.  For those of you who prefer the beach then there are many alternatives in other areas to choose from including South Beach.  

After having lunch at the hotel as we waited for our room we changed and then went out on a walk.  While the skies were overcast it did not damper our spirits.  We are thrilled to be in Miami.

This evening we dined at Perricone's which has become a favorite for us the past several years.  It is a relatively short walk from the hotel of about one half-mile each way.   It features Italian Cuisine including a nice variety of seafood and some very nice salads.  It attracts not only tourists but many locals and has an inviting and warm family type of atmosphere to it.  There are several dining rooms both inside as well as outdoor dining in a courtyard type of setting.

For dinner we each had a nice green salad and then this was followed by two wonderfully prepared seafood entrees.  Keith's is shown below and was one of the special for the evening which was Pan Seared Wasabi Ahi Tuna Crusted over Spinach, Asparagus and a Glazed Sauce.  It was delicious.

Anne Marie enjoyed a wonderfully prepared Salmon Entree.

Afterwards we walked over to the Publix Grocery Store located near Mary Brickell Village.  There were lots of outdoor holiday lights.  We purchased some items for our stay such as bottled water and began to purchase liquid items that we could not take on the plane nor ship which we will need for our adventure.

Keith also spoke with friend Ricki while Anne Marie was shopping.

All in all a great day.  It was warmer as we walked back to the hotel for a typical December evening in Miami.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY............

"Getting on the plane, I told the ticket lady, send one of my bags to New York, send one to Los Angeles, send one to Miami."  "She said we can't do that!"  "I told her, you did it last week." - Henry Yougman

Keith and Anne Marie