Bienvenidos a Miami

Our week in Miami was my second time visiting Miami. My first time was a short day trip from Glenn's house in Wellington to see Rags at the Coconut Grove Playhouse several years ago. I really only had time to see the show and then drive back. So this actually felt like my first time in Miami. (Especially since the Playhouse went under a couple of years ago)

So after spending a week there, I can say that with a few exceptions I did not really enjoy Miami. It goes without saying that the weather did not agree with me. I am not a person who enjoys going to the beach so I did not even make it to South Beach. Downtown Miami is mostly uninteresting office towers and condo buildings. Also I knew going in that Spanish was really common there, but it really seemed like there was more Spanish spoken than English. Not that that is a problem. It just reminded me of the fact that I took 3 and 1/2 years of Spanish and remember almost nothing!

Our hotel was terrible. We were not in walking distance to the theatre so we had to bus to and from the theatre every day. The hotel itself was an Extended Stay that had obviously outstayed its welcome. It began when they screwed up our reservations and I ended up waiting an hour just to get a room. My floor smelled like feet. One of our cast members woke up with bites from bed bugs. Another hotel guest left his room key in the door at night and woke up to find that his truck had been stolen. They also expected payment up front, but did not tell any of us that. They started charging every one's card without our knowledge!

On the positive side of my week, the Adrienne Arsht Performing Arts Center is pretty amazing. The building is only 3 or 4 years old. The main stage theatre is really beautiful and state of the art.

Miami has a decent public transportation system, and I was able to get a good mall and Target. On our day off, I made the 4 mile trek out to the Seaquarium on Key Biscayne from our hotel. It was a fantastic walk that involved crossing the Rickenbacker Causeway over the water. The walk provided a great view of Downtown Miami. The Seaquarium was an outdoor complex of several buildings. I got there later in the day so I missed most of the shows. I did get to see the Sea Lion Show though. Actually I spent the most time though in front of the jawfish tank. I really wanted to get a good picture of the jawfish spitting pebbles. The second picture below was my best effort.

On Sunday, I had what was by far my best meal on tour so far at the original Joe's Stone Crab with Glenn. Glenn decided to make the trip down to see the show on Sunday night with Johnny and Barbara. It just so happened that the theatre was about 15 minutes from Joe's, and it was the second week of stone crab season. I mean come on we are only human after all. So we indulged in all of Glenn's favorites at Joe's, and afterwards he introduced me to the maitre d'. I apparently now have an in at Joe's. Now if I could only get on a union tour, I would be able to afford to eat there!