DAY 5 - THIRD FULL DAY IN MIAMI

A LOOK AT WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY:

FIRST DAY OF 2014 ✔ NEW YEAR'S DAY AT SOUTH BEACH AND SURROUNDING AREAS✔ LOTS OF WALKING TO START THE NEW YEAR OFF ON THE "RIGHT" FOOT ✔ 

We wanted to begin our first post of 2014 by saying Happy New Year.  We wish each of you the best for 2014 and we wish you have a safe, healthy and Happy New Year.

We took these photos of ourselves just before we left our room.

We rang in the New Year with dear friends Bob & Glo.  

We met Bob and Glo at the Hotel Lobby and we walked together over to Truluck's which is located approximately 20 minutes from the Hotel.  We enjoyed a pleasant walk.

We last saw Bob and Glo on March 30, 2013, the last full day before the end of the 2013 World Cruise.  It was so wonderful to not only catch up with our dear friends in person, but to also celebrate the start of the new year with them.  

Truluck's has a total of ten restaurants located in ten states, including Florida.   We have dined at three of their locations.  This was our third time dining at their Miami location.  We dined there with Bob & Glo on New Year's Eve, December 31, 2010, and the two of us dined here by ourselves on New Year's Eve, December 31, 2012.  While Truluck's does served poultry and beef there is no question that their specialty is Seafood and last evening was no exception.  As in the past, they featured a special New Year's Eve Menu.

When we first arrived, we enjoyed a drink in the bar lounge before it was time to be seated. We were at a nice table in a corner of the restaurant.  We were seated at 7:30 PM.  There was also live music.

We ordered from a pre-set menu which included one flute of champagne, an appetizer, salad or soup, entree, and dessert.  It was certainly a lot of food and the portions were relatively large.

We began the meal with a flute of Champagne that was also included.

For our appetizer, Anne Marie and Keith had the Shrimp Cocktail.  It was served over dried ice making for a very interesting presentation with smoke coming from the ice when the appetizer was served.  Sorry we missed the smoke in the photo.  The shrimp were definitely jumbo in size and very tasty.

We then enjoyed a Salad.  Anne Marie had a green salad with all sorts of "goodies" on top including nuts and apples and Keith had the Caesar Salad which was served in larger pieces rather than all cut up.  

As was the case last year, Anne Marie and Keith had the 16 ounce South African Cold Water Lobster Tail which was accompanied with Parmesan mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli and Bob and Glo also had this entree.  While we thought it was prepared far better last year, it was still quite good and none of us could eat the entire lobster given its enormous size.

If the dessert was not included as part of the dinner, we likely would all have passed on trying some, but since it was included we all had dessert.  There were four desserts featured on the menu and we each ordered a different one and we all shared some of it with everyone else so we all got to taste each one.   Keith had the Sugar Free Coconut Pie, Anne Marie had the Chocolate Cake, Bob ordered the Key Lime Pie and Glo the Carrot Cake.  They were all terrific.  Still, we each left quite a bit on our plates.

All in all it was a superb and a very special evening and a terrific way to kick off 2014.  

We spoke with our family on New Year's Eve.  We did Facetime with our daughter Jennifer, son-in-law Gui and Grandson Andre.  We also were able to Facetime with son, Eric, and daughter in-law Kara.  They are on a skiing trip with Kara's parent, and her brother and girlfriend so we got to see each of them momentarily on the screen as they were walking around the local town.  While there were snow flurries where they were, we had much more moderate temperatures where we are.

We didn't stay up until Midnight but our New Year's Eve Celebration was perfect.  

Keith made it down to the Hotel Lobby area at around shortly before 5:30 AM and even at that late or early hour depending on your perspective he saw three or four couples who looked like they were just arriving back to the Hotel from New Years Eve Celebrations as they were all dressed to the Nines in dresses and in suits and ties.  We probably could do that back in the day, but that was a long time ago.  

We enjoyed breakfast in our room as we have done the previous two days of our stay in Miami.  When the breakfast was being delivered at 7:00 AM this morning, Keith asked the room service person if it was slow and she said it was quite busy as people were ordering dinner (yes dinner)  t their rooms as late as 5:00 and 6:00 AM.  

We had an absolutely terrific day to start of 2014.  We walked quite a bit and the weather was just wonderful.

After breakfast, we left our hotel at around 8:15 AM and we walked over to the Intercontinental Hotel which is located a couple of blocks from Bayside.  From there we took at Taxi and we had the driver drop us at the South Beach Art Deco District at around 5th and Ocean Drive where we could start from the beginning of the area and work our way North.

It was still relatively early when we began our walk so it was not very crowded although that would change in a short time.  They closed Ocean Drive off to motor vehicles which they do this time of the year which we find very nice.

On our left we could take in the beauty of the art deco facades of the hotels and restaurants.

Since the road was closed off to motor vehicles the restaurants could place tables and chairs right on the street.  Many restaurants were serving breakfast.

This old time automobile fit in very well with the art deco buildings.

As we continued our walk we stopped to take this photo which will  remind us not only of the beautiful weather from today but also that we took this photo on the first day of 2014.

On the right side, was the beach area and ocean with many beautiful palm trees lining the area.

Eventually, we came to the board walk and walked quite a bit of it as we enjoyed all of the views surrounding us.

Later during our walk we walked up a street that took us West and then we made a right on Collins Avenue which runs parallel to Ocean Drive.  This street is home to many hotels, restaurants and stores and residential condominiums.

This area also features many of the art deco buildings.

At one point we turned around to walk on the other side of Collins Avenue and then walked quite a distance past where we had first entered Collins Avenue until we got to Lincoln Road.  From there we went West and walked the area that is just for pedestrians.  There were many restaurants that also had tables and chairs outside and the restaurants serving breakfast were very busy. We also passed an old time theatre.

We walked for awhile longer and then we took a Taxi over to Bayside and then from there we continued our walk, making  a few more stops and before we walked back to our Hotel.  At that point, we had walked 10.5 miles.

We enjoyed a light lunch in the early afternoon.

After lunch we were back at it  and we walked another 3 miles and at one point we ran into friends Bob and Glo. We chatted for awhile and then we walk some more.  

Before dinner we spent time reading and writing.

We started off the new year in a terrific way with great weather and nice walks as we took in the sounds and sights of Miami.

Once again, we wish each of you a very Happy New Year.

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

"Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right." - Oprah Winfrey

Keith and Anne Marie