Its a weekend! What I love most about moving to South Florida is, I've got the beach right on my doorstep. Well, maybe not literally at my doorstep but, actually, close enough. :)
Together with my Tito Bobbet, Papa, Mama, and I drove to nearby Miami Beach. Our first stop was the Bayside Marketplace on Biscayne Bay because we planned to take the Island Queen Bay Cruise (by now you probably know that my family is a sucker for sightseeing cruises!).
Maybe we should reconsider if there are indeed sharks swimming in this bay...naaah!
Our view of Biscayne Bay.
Our boat!
All aboard!
Just testing my sea legs!
Miami skyline behind us.
This is Fisher Island. Accessible only by private boat or helicopter, beautiful people like Oprah Winfrey, Tom Cruise, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graff, Ricky Martin, Julia Roberts and the late Luciano Pavarotti own homes on this man-made island. Sossy!
The highlight of the cruise actually is the pass on Millionaire's Row. Here are some of the houses we saw.
I will try to remember what movie this house was used for. The Godfather nga ba?
The blue structure beyond the palm trees (if you can see it) belongs to designer Donald J. Pliner (but was owned before by Sylvester Stallone).
The house on the left is home to Miami's most famous Sound Machine frontwoman, Gloria Estefan. The structure on the right is a high-tech recording studio.
This huge shack belongs to the huge Shaq! We even saw his children playing on the trampoline. :)
Shaq's neighbor is no less than Miss Elizabeth Taylor.
This huge mansion belongs to the guy who owns viagra. No wonder he could erect such a huge house. See those palm trees that line his facade? The tour guide said each of those costs $10,000 to import from South Africa. Wow!
Shakira shot a music video in this house.
Al Capone lived here.
We took a lot of pictures of other houses but Mama couldn't match the pictures with the owners anymore, hehe. Other esidents include Rosie O'Donnel, Tiger Woods, the owner of Cache whasisname, that bachelor guy who built the Portofino Condos, Marimar, este, Thalia whose home was then purchased by P.Diddy, etc.
This is the Flagler Monument on Flagler Island.
The Miami Heat plays here. This is the American Airlines Arena.
With no fixed bridges and plenty of deep water, Miami Beach Marina affords accessibility to fishing, sailing and cruising. The famous Art Deco District is nearby with exciting shopping and the night life of trendy South Beach. More HERE.
A Cruise Ship.
Another one.
Back on land, here's me cooling off with some Marble Slab Ice Cream.
So then we drove down Ocean Boulevard on our way for a little swim at South Beach. All I can say is that this place has a lot of character. :)
This car has Alcatraz painted on its side.
And this car has a fake James Dean driving it. :)
Hey fashionistas! Mama and I are here in front of Versace's House.
Our view of South Beach.
Not wasting any time, Papa and me on the beach.
I love the beach!
Sandcastle making contest.
Taking this very seriously.
Beach babe princess on the hill. (Tito Bobbet is making muni-muni in the background, hehe.)
Ninety degrees today.
Time for dinner!
Because there were just too many restaurants to choose from, we played it "touristy" and decided to have dinner at Larios on the Beach, one of the two restaurants owned by the Conga Queen Gloria Estefan.
We were seated outside so we had a great people-watching vantage point.
We were not able to take pictures of our food because my Mama's camera's battery was running low. My Papa got the Roast Pork (really good. tasted like our pinoy Asado), Tito Bobbet had Garlic Shrimps (too salty), Mama had Cuban Fried Rice (too salty, too) and Mango Shake (yummy!!), and I had Chicken Soup (it was okay). But hey, Mama (and apparently, Tito Bobbet, too) prefered bland food, so to each his own. :)
We heard that Gloria's other restaurant Bongos had the same menu with Larios (only more expensive!), which was probably why they also shared table napkins, hehe.
We called it a night afterwards. Yet, there's still so much we haven't seen so I'm sure we'll come back some other weekend. :)
Signing off from Ocean Drive!