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We woke up late the next day. Our Jeep was not taking fuel and it was getting to us. Two of us went to change the vehicle and the others had nothing to do in the morning. We got fresh and waited for a new Ford seven-seater to be issued. After we got our car, we faced another problem. It was Christmas day, and all the stores were closed. We needed breakfast so the two of us went wandering down the street. We found a 7-Eleven and a gas station open but heavily understaffed. The shops were crowded. We bought sandwiches, bread and bananas and got back to the AirBNB. The food was fulfilling nonetheless. We then set out for Bayside Marketplace at 12.
Bayside Marketplace is practically a more developed Burmese Market. We found parking at the market’s common parking lot, something we had not expected. Again, the parking charge was $2 an hour. Bayside Marketplace is both crowded and happening. And it is huge. The markets sell clothes, food, liquor, e-cigarettes, souvenirs, hats, sporting goods, delectables, among other stuff. We walked along the bayside for some time. There is a historic restaurant here that serves American cuisine named the Hard Rock Café with a huge Ferris wheel right next to it. This is the Hard Rock Café that we have seen in postal stamps from Miami.
On the Bay were several parked cruise ships. Each of these ships are owned by different groups, and they take you out cruising through the waters of Miami for a fixed rate. We bargained at some places until we got fixated on one that cost $35 per person for two hours. However, they did not have vacancies for 11 people till 4 o’clock. It was just 2 then so we decided to roam the market.
At first, we were wondering what we were going to do for two hours. By 3:30, we hadn’t even covered half the area! The market is bustling, and we bought souvenirs and visited quite a few stores, including Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
We went to our ship at 3:30 and the queue was already long. Within the next 30 minutes, the end of the queue was not visible anymore. We hopped on the ship and a crew member took a photo of our group with the official DSLR. We then made our way to the roof and sat down.
The ship was pretty big for its capacity. It was two-storied, and the ground floor had a bar. There were benched areas both in front of the bar and on the roof. Besides, the area in front of the captain’s cabin also had a scenic seating area. However, we never found any space there, but the view from the roof was amazing. We vibed to the Spanish tunes the DJ threw at us. We looked at some properties owned by some very rich celebrities while on the cruise. This strip even has a name, “Millionaire’s Mile.” It started drizzling while we were halfway through. We still made it till the end of the cruise; however, we would have liked it even more if it was sunny.
Some key properties we spectated while on the cruise are:
- The bridge that Paul Walker (Brian) jumped out of in 2 Fast 2 Furious
- Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s mansion
- Jackie Chan’s mansion
- Jennifer Lopez’s mansion
- Shaquille O’Neal’s old mansion (currently owned by his ex-wife)
- Cee Lo’s estate
- Madonna’s former house
- Ricky Martin’s house
- Shakira’s house
- Peter Dunn’s mansion (the inventor of Viagra)
- Wiz Khalifa’s mansion
- A property owned by a common construction-worker (slight assurance that anyone can be a millionaire)
- Fisher Island
The time we did not spend ogling other people’s residences, we spent on the rooftop dance floor. A Latino family joined us, and we had a great time. At about 6, we bid our farewells and got off from an experience. We then fetched dinner in Downtown Miami.
After dinner, we decided to go to Hollywood beach and reached there at 9 PM. Parking was available there. The weather was perfect, and so were the waves. There is a boardwalk right next to the beach. We spent some time on the beach listening to the waves and then got on the boardwalk. The boardwalk had beautiful Halogen bulbs and LED figurines of fishes, manatees, seahorses and cockatoos. We walked down the paved path. There were lots of open restaurants, well-lit, where you could sit, have a meal, and raise a toast to the sound of the seas. The energy in the place was ecstatic to say the least. We enjoyed the waves on one side and the murmur on the other, and then headed back to our car at 10:30. We then started for Little Havana.
We reached Little Havana at 11:30 PM. By the time we were there, everything was already closed. There was nothing to do, so we decided to walk the Ocean Dr again.
While we drove down Miami, we noticed that the stores and shops were mainly closed. We started to get a little disappointed. Where was the city that never sleeps? The disappointed sides of our brains got confused when we arrived at the Municipal Parking lot and found it to be at capacity. Road parking was available for $4/hour. We booked two spots, each for an hour, and started our walk down Ocean Dr.