DAY 7 - FIFTH FULL DAY IN MIAMI

A LOOK AT WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY:

ANOTHER LONG WALK✔ DINNER AT ATRIO RESTAURANT✔ 

Last evening, we had a terrific time at the Miami American Airlines Arena where we saw a National Basketball Association game between the World Champion Miami Heat versus the Golden State Warriors.  Although we are fans of a couple of other teams around the league, Miami is certainly one o,f if not the top team again this year, with the third best record in the NBA and regardless of the standings we just enjoy going to see an NBA game.  

It is nice that we can walk to and from the arena from our Hotel.  The arena is located very close to the entranceway that takes you across the bridge over to the Port Of Miami.  It is about a 45 minute walk each way.

We arrived to the Arena shortly before it opened.  Once inside we got settled in our seats and watched the both teams warm up.  We had great seats.

The fans cheered and stood when the Miami Heat were introduced just before the start of the game.  You do feel the "Heat" from those flames.

Jump ball to begin the game.

Stephen Curry is one of the stars for Golden State and let all scorers last night scoring 36 points.

League Most Valuable Player, Lebron James.

Ray Allen who played for Seattle and then the Celtics before signing with the Miami Heat a couple of years ago. He won two Championships with the Heat and one with the Celtics.  Likely a future member of the Hall Of Fame, at age 38 he still can amaze.

Miami Captain Dwane Wade who is also a future Hall Of Famer.

Golden State won the game by a score of 123 to 114.  There were a couple of points in the game where it looked like the game was turning in favor of the Heat but then Golden State put the "pedal to the metal.  All in all it was a great night and we had a lot of fun watching the game.

As we walked back to the Hotel, we saw many areas lit up with Holiday Lights.

The weather was great with a highs in the low 80's and lows in the 70's.  

We were fairly tired by the time we went to sleep given the time of the night and also since we had logged in another fourteen miles of walking.  

We enjoyed breakfast in our room before we started another full day in Miami.  The local weather forecasters called for a cool front today.  Keep in mind cool for Miami is quite different than cool in some other locations   

We enjoyed a very long walk and the temperature seemed to vary depending on where we were walking.  It ranged from moderately cool and breezy and even cloudy to warm and sunny with almost no breeze.

We began our walk by walking towards Coconut Grove as well as the Bridge that takes you over to Key Biscayne.  We walking trough several residential areas.  In some cases, former homes have been taken down and replaced with newer homes.

Later in the morning we walked over to an area to view the Port Of Miami.  There were three cruise ship in port including one each for NCL and Royal Caribbean as well as the Oceania Riviera shown below.  We hope that there are not too many people fly by plane today to catch their cruise that are impacted by the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Winter Storm.

When it was breezy, we needed to wear a jacket or fleece and we each wore blue jeans today.

During our walk we also ran into a couple of Fellas.

We walked another eight miles in the morning.

We did take time this afternoon to pack as well as to get organized. We have picked up several toiletry and other related liquid items needed for this adventure since arriving to Miami and Anne Marie packed all of those items.  Keith took care of some items including verifying that all is set with our transfers to the ship this coming Sunday morning.  

Before dinner, we spoke with our son, Eric, who had just arrived back from his ski trip with Kara as they were both driving home.

This evening, we dined at Atrio Restaurant which offers beautiful views of Miami from its location atop the 25th floor of the Conrad Hotel.  The location is in relatively close proximity to the Four Seasons Hotel and we first dined at Atrio last year.  

We had a terrific time.  While we were dining there were only a few other couples there just adding to a nice, quiet evening.  We enjoyed beautiful views of the city.  Our waiter was Edwin, who was just terrific.  We both ordered the same items from the menu.

The first item was complimentary from the Chef and included duck.  It was very tasty.

We both enjoyed a Caesar Salad.  We had the dressing on the side, but just had them put a touch of the dressing on the salad.

For our entree, we both had the Salmon.  It was prepared simply but very tasty and was accompanied with some clams as well as some small potatoes.

We also had two dishes of the grilled Asparagus which was delicious.

All in all we had a lovely evening.


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

"When it gets down to it, basketball is basketball." - Larry Bird

"The idea is not to block every shot.  The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot." - Bill Russell

Keith and Anne Marie