Yesterday was just a lazy day for us. We started the morning riding the people mover downtown. The downtown monorail is free… what a deal! We ended up at Bayside Marketplace where we ate on Thanksgiving. Almost nothing was open then. Yesterday it was alive and a pretty nice place to shop. We picked up a few to-shirts and some sandals for the cruise. We spent a few hours walking the Riverwalk and enjoying the beautiful condos, water views and spectacular skyline of Miami.

After relaxing a bit in the hotel we decided to go to the famous Versailles Cuban Restaurant in Little Havana. It was a short drive and a nice experience. You are totally immersed in Cuban culture in that neighborhood. Again, we had another excellent Cuban lunch.

Alton wanted a book to read on the cruise. I used my Blackberry and found a Borders close by. We drove to Coral Gables and on of the most beautiful shopping experiences I have been to. It was sort of a Legacy Village on steroids  with a Nieman Marcus and Nordstrom. The Borders was double the size of most of the ones I have been in.

We finished the day at a meet and greet with about 20 of our fellow cruisers. We lucked out and it was in the hotel next to ours at another locals style restaurant with great prices. After a good meal and a few hours of chatting we were off to our hotel and bed.

Later this morning we board the ship for a week in the Caribbean. My posts will be much less frequent.  Internet charges are pretty steep on cruise ships. We are looking forward to a relaxing week at sea. Bon voyage!