Sunday, July 7, 2013

Second home away from home



My favorite way to find places to stay is VRBO.  Vacation Rentals by owner.  I find so many amazing deals everywhere I go.  I use that way more than hotels.  Well, Miami was so frustrating!  It was so hard to find somewhere to stay.  It was full of con-artists and shysters.  I was so lucky to finally find this place but it was booked!  I was so sad.  It is a pool house on the back of someones 3 acre lot.  After I found the other hotel for 4 days I called this lady again to see if we could do a partial week and it ended up the people were leaving early and it would work out perfectly.

 
We were so pleased with how beautiful it was and how welcoming and warm the owners were.  We had full use of the pool and this large beautiful spot!  It was far from the beach so we never did see it again except when we drove down to Key West.  We did all the other parts of Miami like the Everglades, Key West and Monkey Jungle.  So it worked out perfect.  I hope to go back and stay at this same house.

 
It was so pretty inside.  They had built it and their daughter had lived in it with her family while she finished school.  It was nice to have this home away from home.


 
 
The master bedroom was huge!  I don't think this picture justifies how huge.  That was a king size bed and it looks little in there.  This is where I had my first attack that started my downward spiral of health problems.  Now 5 months later I finally have some answers. 
 
 


Ocean Drive Fun!

 
 
 
Here it is, the famous Ocean Drive!  I looked for movie stars but never saw any.  We took a double decker bus tour and had so much fun!  It was so interesting to learn all about Miami.  There are a lot of movie stars that make it their home.
 

 
The board walk.  I love these.  They were everywhere leading you to the most amazing beach!
 
 


That is London and me in the distance.  We rented these Deco bikes which were such a great way to get around.  All over Miami Beach you could rent these bikes.  They were self serve. You just put in your money and a bike would be released from the locks.  You then could drop them off any where there were the stands and pick them up again after you were done shopping.  It was so fun!
 

 
When ever we go somewhere I am so thrilled to see palm tree's.  I never tire of it!  I wish I could grow one in my back yard!

 
 
Tree hugger that shaves her legs!
 

 
Me and my honey!  I should have hidden behind the tree, isn't that a sure way to look skinnier?  I hate pictures of me but then I hate when I don't have any pictures of me.  Sigh....




I just love these two!  They are the best of friends.  So much alike.  I get spoiled by both!
 

 
More of the walk way.  Tons of people out and about. 



Art Deco buildings
 


 
Another day of biking.
 



Miami Nights

 
It was so fun after laying on the beach all day to shower and go down to Lincoln Avenue which is famous food and great shopping.
 

 
 
Miami Beach is famous for its Art Deco neighbourhoods.  The buildings were so amazing.  Some were still run down but they are in the process of updating everything.  It was fun to do at night and see the way each hotel was lit up. 
 



 
Many hotels were swanky despite their age.  You should have seen all the Ferrari's, Lamborghini's and other fancy cars driving around.  Sean was always ohh.. and awww....everywhere telling me how expensive and how fast that car was.

 
 
 
The corner of Lincoln Rd where all the shopping was.  We had the most amazing steak dinner down here!  Yummy.  I regret that we didn't eat there on our last night. We tried somewhere different and it was yucky!  The number of people walking at night was crazy!  Each restaurant was packed.  It was fun to sit right on the street side and watch people walking around.  It was so expensive though!  I was shocked at the prices of food.
 

 
 
Sean picked up this tee-shirt and showed it to me and said it would be perfect for my dad.  I was shocked! Why that one?  Well, it was so funny as it wasn't the one he had picked out. He grabbed a different one by accident!  lol  Needless to say we didn't bring that one back for dad!
 

 
Look at the cuties I found down on the strip?  Pretty cute huh?  Besides Sean's shirt.  I have no control over his shirts, the louder the better in his mind.  Between his t-shirts and his Hawaiian shirts I can always pick him out of a crowd!




Each entry was so cool!  I could just imagine the movie stars in the 70's walking out of these places.



Here is some of the cool architecture in our hotel the Shelborne.  It was so fun!
 

 
Movie star pose



Can you tell that Sean is sick of me taking pictures?  We walked for miles on this vacation.  It was so much fun!