WELCOME TO MIAMI

Final Items Completed  ✔   Private Vehicle Transported Us To The Airport   ✔   Flights On Time   ✔

Met At Miami Airport By Driver   ✔   Settled In At Hotel  ✔   Ready To Explore Miami  ✔

We awoke very early in the morning as we had a pickup at our house by the private transportation company at 3:30 AM.  Yes, you are reading this right.  It was AM not PM.

After getting ready, we took care of the final items on our checklist around the house.  The driver arrived early and we were picked up in an executive van.

Crystal Cruises took care of all of the details for our private vehicle transfers based on input they had requested from us this past October.  While we could have had two vehicles sent to our home with one dedicated to the luggage and one just for us, we find that the luxury van works very nicely.  This way we have one vehicle that easily can accommodate the two of us plus all of our luggage without the need to have two vehicles caravan all the way from our home to the airport.  This van can accommodate eight-to-ten passengers.

As we made our way out of our community there were no vehicles on the road.  The driver only had to watch out for the many deer who roam the area and live here.    Given the time of day, there were very few vehicles on the highway as we made our way to the airport.  While there was a light rain drizzle this did not dampen our spirits.

We enjoyed a nice conversation with the driver on the way to the airport.  We learned he and his wife had spent most of their lives in Minnesota and that he was a former teacher and that they moved to Texas so she could take a director position in Finance for Dell.

The inside of the vehicle can hold up to twelve people.

A few minutes after arriving to the airport, we checked in for the flight, including all of our checked luggage and we whisked through security.   There was only one person in front of us.  The TSA utilized the new screening machines.

We stopped to take a couple of photos as we walked over to our departure gate.  There were very few people at the airport as you can see in the next two photos.

Our first flight took off and landed a couple of minutes ahead of schedule.  We then waited in the airline lounge until we boarded our next flight to Miami.  The flight departed about twenty minutes late as they needed to replace one defective seatbelt and we arrive to Miami about ten minutes late.

As we waited for the flight to Miami to take off Anne Marie saw them loading the luggage onto the flight and actually saw each of our pieces of luggage loaded onto the plane.  This was a first for us to actually see our luggage being put on the plane.

A couple of other items to note.

The flight crew on both of our flights were quite good and really made both flights comfortable for us.  The other comment is Miami Airport.  We know that some people do not care for this airport and some of that may stem from their experiences in years past.  We remember when we flew here back in the 1970's how terrible the airport was and even in 2007 they were doing major construction to the area we arrive in.  Since then we've seen it get better and better and today we noticed how beautiful the terminal area is with lots of nice shops and restaurants and the lighting is great as well.

It didn't take long for our luggage to arrive and we were then taken from the airport to the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Miami.

The good news is our room was ready.  We have a beautiful view of the water and will try to post some photos tomorrow of the view.

After settling in, we took a nice walk and picked up some items that we need for the voyage.  We will do more of this over the next few days.

Afterwards, we dropped the items off back at the hotel and then we went to dinner.  We dined at a restaurant that has become one of our favorites called Perricone's.  We both enjoyed a nice salad and then we each had salmon for our entree.  The salad contained very fresh vegetables and the salmon was not only tasty but quite moist.

This is a photo of our salmon entree.

The restaurant was busier than normal for that time of the night because Thursday evenings at Perricone's is pasta night with specially priced pasta entrees.

We then took a nice walk around the area and then walked back to the hotel.  Several of the trees on Brickell Avenue are lit for the holidays.

We are thrilled to be here and to have the flights behind us and rest assured we will sleep very well tonight.

Tomorrow we plan to take a nice long walk in the morning and in the afternoon we will plan to pick up additional items we need for the voyage.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY...........

“I am a passionate traveler, and from the time I was a child, travel formed me as much as my formal education.” – David Rockefeller

Keith and Anne Marie