Miami FL

So the first train run of the year and we kind of missed it. We left Orlando at 9pm and arrived in Miami at 9am, so pretty much slept through it or it was too dark to see any of it. Still it was nice to be moving on the train again.

Miami was nice though not quite what I was expecting. It was cold, really, really cold, the coldest Florida has been since records began. Still warmer than the UK in the snow though.

The train yard was fairly nice as far as train yards go. It had grass instead of dust and stones, a real result. We had been told that the strip of water that runs beside the train was home to manatee and alligators. I was quite excited about seeing both though maybe not the gators from close range. After a few days though we found out that they had blocked the entrance so they couldn't get in. We did have quite a few Iguanas as neighbours though. The Iguanas didn't like the cold either apparently they freeze and fall out of trees.



The American Airlines Arena was situated Downtown which is great for us as we are often on the outskirts of town. Right across the road was The Bayside Mall which was OK but it didn't have many shops that interested us that much but you could go and listen to live music while having a Haagen Daz. The Mall was situated next to The Bayside Park which was quite nice and we went there a few times. Willow liked the play park and I liked the free wii fi.



We went to South beach when we first arrived in Miami but the weather wasn't beach weather. We did manage to get a good day there though, the day before we left. It is a shame we didn't manage to spend more time there but at least we did get one nice hot Miami day which gave you a feel of what it would be like there peak season. Ocean drive must be one of the best spots in the world for people watching even of peak. There are young and old trying to catch someone's (anyone's) eye on skate boards and skates. Some with large snakes draped over their shoulders and some doing remarkably good Peter Stingfellow impersonations. Some were just going from A to B as they flew down the middle of the road dodging the traffic.

Along Ocean drive there are also some amazing Art Deco buildings.



South beach also has Lincoln Road Mall which is a fairly big outdoor shopping area mainly filled with expensive boutiques and food places. It is also a great people watching spot. At the top end of the mall we also found a nice reasonably priced Chinese restaurant.

Public transport in Miami is pretty good. We had a bus that stopped as close to outside the train as you could get, without actually coming into the train yard. We could then either catch a couple of buses downtown or a bus and train (Metrorail) and some of these had built in free wifi, though it was incredibly slow. Once downtown there was a free metromover train that ran a loop. We used it a couple of times but usually once we were downtown we preferred to walk. Public transport was made a lot easier and cheaper with an easyticket that you prepay and just swipe as you get on.

Circus life seems to have resumed as normal with a few parties already under the belt. It always seems so much easier if the weather is warmer.

There are all the usual 'tourist' things here like Jungle Island and a children's museums which were all close by but we didn't really bother with any of them. If we had I would have liked to have gone to the Everglades and gone alligator counting or down to Key West.