Unfortunately, when we tried to call our father, who was picking us up, cellular reception was terrible and Doug had been delayed by a traffic.
An accident on the side of the road which consisted of a half-burnt bus and numerous police cars had caused traffic to come to a standstill, and, as such, Dad was unable to meet us at the airport with his Santa hat and chocolate truffles, like he had planned.
However, when we finally all piled into our father's white Grand Marquis, we were extremally happy to finally be together.
As we talked and drove through the city of Miami, we headed to Havana 1967, a restaurant that we had been to previously, albiet in Espanola Way, where we had dined the previous summer.
The food was delicious and the atmosphere was amazing! We sat outside, because the band inside was extremally loud, instead enjoying the perfect outdoor cool, Florida air.
After our dinner, we went to our hotel and, after our long and exhausting day, finally fell asleep.
However, our peace was short lived, as pretty soon we were dragging ourselves out of bed, scarfing down our breakfast, and getting into our car to go and explore the city.
First, we visited Windwood, a place in Miami famous for it's beautiful street art (aka commissioned graffiti) and murals.
Doug SMASH!!!
All the art was amazing. The different types of art we discovered were extremally interesting, ranging from large colorful, surreal murals to black and white paintings of monstrous whales, alligators, and hippos!
There were paintings with amazing impressionist and optical effects, like a tiger drawn with running paint that had to be viewed from a distance to look real.
We also saw a group of guys who were hosting a BMW car show and numerous people taking pictures of the art, as well as a shop featuring stark white sculptures made out of Legos, Bioncles, and a Stormtrooper bust. (Insert "aren't you a little short to be a Stormtrooper" joke here.)
Next, we visited Little Havana.
We parked on the street, and being me, the first thing that caught my attention was a delicious-looking ice cream place across the street.
But, unfortunately, we had to eat lunch first, so we started down the street in search of a crosswalk we could use to cross the street to get to the restaurant that we were going to.
However, as we walked down the street with no sign of a crosswalk, we were bombarded with the sights and sounds of the Little Havana.
There was a tiny shop with fresh fruit, more specifically with fresh pineapple and a sugar cane press to make sugar cane juice.
As we walked down the street we found a Bay of the Pigs memorial, and I was treated with a full dose of History (yes, capital H) detailing the invasion of Cuba and John F. Kennedy.
There were also plenty of Cuban cigar shops that, while Charlie couldn't stand the smell of them, had long, big cigars in front of them that mom and Charlie couldn't help posing with.
It was a beautiful day, and I was feeling good- well at least until I saw this artwork in the door of a car shop.
In addition, running theme around Little Havana was rooster statues that lined the streets, so we couldn't help, of course, taking a few pictures.
Finally, after our long walk, we arrived at the restaurant, with delicious Cuban food (Anyone else noticing a pattern here?)
Finally, after that delicious meal we waddled back to our car and hit the road, without, it should be noted, stopping for the ice cream I had been promised at the beginning of the trip.
As we drove out of Miami and continued on our way to Fort Meyers, I obliviously sat in the car reading and waiting to see where we went next, completely ignoring the conversation around me, before finally glancing up and exclaiming at the lack of skyscrapers.
"Hey, we're not in Miami anymore!"
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