After getting back on the road from Savannah, I got about 2 hours north of Miami in Palm City, FL where my car decided to die again. I was on the side of the road for about 7 hours trying to get a game plan together on how to get the car to a shop that could fix it. Apparently not an easy task in south Florida. Finally being able to locate a shop that would take it, I was able to catch a ride on the tow truck to Miami and finally get to my hotel around 11:30pm. Needless to say it was a very long day. Biggest downside is that I no longer have a car that I can go explore the area with, my Keys trip was also not going to happen. But, I was not going to let this beat me. I was staying in the downtown Brickell area which is incredible. The buildings are large and beautiful and seem to go on and on. The river running down the middle of the city was absolutely beautiful and watching the boats go by, made me really which I had more money haha. I had never seen floating billboards before. The city reminded me of the utopian ideas of futuristic cities. They do a very good job of utilizing all they space they can. Even using the area underneath the rails for outdoor gyms and basketball courts.
Now I will say, there are FAR worse places to be trapped. Looking at you York, Alabama. But what is really nice about Miami, is that it is very walkable. The whole city is about sea level so there’s not really hills or anything outside of the bridges. There are a lot of shops, restaurants, and things to check out all close by. In Brickell, they have the City Center mall which was amazing. 5 levels of shops that I couldn’t afford, many places to eat, and even a mini golf course all in this mall. The architecture was incredible. This was super handy because after only a few hours of being there it started to rain. So much for walking around the city, now I feel even more trapped.
So while I am trying to save what I can of my adventure, I found the oldest bar in Miami. Tobacco Road in Brickell was built in 1912 and is regarded as the oldest, however, the original building was torn down a few years ago. It has moved to another building but still on the same block so I guess that counts. Tobacco Road has a very cool old school feeling as they were able to keep and preserve a lot of the decor from the original location. They have an amazingly friendly staff, great drinks and a very solid menu. If you’re ever down that way, stranded or not, go check them out!
You can find them at – https://kushhospitality.com/locations/tobacco-road/
I didn’t get to spend as much time as I wanted t check out Miami and south Florida. Part of me wants to try this adventure again sometime but maybe with a different car. I spent Thursday event at the hotel’s rooftop bar which was very nice. I stayed at the AC hotel Brickell which was incredible. Very comfy beds and a rooftop pool as well. I have been a Marriott Bonvoy member for a little over a year now, and if you’re like me and travel lot, join Bonvoy, The rewards program is awesome and being a platinum member, it saved me a lot of headache through out all of this. I will do a whole bit about how awesome Bonvoy is another time but it definitely pays to do research on your hotels and paying a little extra to be in a good area for those “worst case scenarios” happen. I wish I had more to talk about with Miami, another day for sure. I would like to go back and try more of the Cuban food. They don’t mess around when it comes to pork haha.
My creativity and focus was pretty weak this trip after everything was said and done. The overwhelming feeling of defeat and stress really got to me especially on those rainy days. I will go into more detail about my take aways from this trip in an upcoming post. Until then, I will be sure to talk about the drive home and where life was able to take me. Just always remember, it’s okay to be knocked down, just as long as you get back up. Maybe I will see you again someday Miami.
Here’s to the road
