33BA - Day 6 - Back in Miami

Alarm was set for 7:45. I woke up feeling pretty crappy. Headed upstairs for breakfast. We were doing “self assist” getting off the boat. Too risky to trust anyone else with our bags at this point of the trip. It was not nearly as chaotic as last year, and we were out on the streets by 9:15. We took a cab to the hotel we were going to be staying at near the airport, even though it was only 10:00 by the time we arrived. It wouldn’t have been that late but the driver took us to the wrong hotel first. He tried to drop us off at the Embassy Suites, insisting it was the La Quinta. Because, you know, I can’t tell the difference.

The woman at the front desk was actually willing to let us check in early, but she needed about a half hour to get the rooms cleaned. By now I’m just exhausted and my head is still pounding. The beer and lack of sleep is catching up to me and I’m just feeling terrible. We were sitting in the lobby watching Family Feud for about 45 minutes, then we were finally able to get into a room.

Pretty much immediately fell asleep. Nap ended up lasting about 3.5 hours. Woke up around 2:45 and felt pretty refreshed. We decided to walk next door to Wendy’s to get some lunch (grilled chicken sandwich and a baked potato) and then we planned on walking to a grocery store to pick up some last minute necessities before we head off to China.

First we walked one direction but then the sidewalk ended so we turned around and walked the other way. We ended up walking through a super creepy industrial area. Probably every other car honked at us. Unsure if it might be because we are female, or because we were the only crazy people to be walking outside in that ridiculous heat. After an hour we have seen nothing resembling a grocery store or pharmacy or anything, so we go back. We ask at the gas station and the guy tells us he is sure there is one right down the street.

We headed back down and had to walk pretty much on a major street because there were no sidewalks. About 50 minutes later, we FINALLY end up at an intersection of commercial civilization! A Walgreens, Starbucks AND a Publix. L got a Trenta sized Iced Coffee (who knew this wasn’t a myth??!) and then we picked up our groceries at Publix, reapplying sunscreen for the walk back. Quick stop at Walgreens for some travel sized sunscreen and then we arrived back at our hotel around 7:00.

L throws in a load of laundry, then we walk next door to Denny’s for dinner. Ordered some barbecue chicken, fiesta corn, mashed potatoes and a dinner salad. Tasty!! Arrived back at the hotel and immediately had to take a shower. My feet were BLACK from walking around the city all day.

We made sure to have all our stuff packed, then we had a Criminal Minds marathon, heading to bed around 11:30.