Yesterday evening on his daily update the captain warned us that Miami would be particularly busy this weekend as in addition to the Spring Break student holiday, the annual Miami Music Festival was taking place. It didn’t concern us too much as we had planned a quiet day looking at the shops in the Bayside Market Place followed by a walk in the adjacent Bayfront Park.
After a leisurely breakfast we departed the ship to board the free shuttle bus to the market place. Unfortunately about half the ship must have had the same idea as the queue for the bus snaked down the street. Not knowing if there was a pathway across the long bridge that connects the cruise terminal to the mainland, we decided a walk was out of the question. We therefore opted for a taxi ride.
Our destination was only about a mile away from the ship but as we neared it we could see that many of the roads were blocked off by police cars due to the music festival. This caused a little delay in getting out of the cab and a slightly more expensive journey as the meter continue to tick over!
The marketplace as its name suggests sits on a small marina with a mix of pleasure craft. It’s made up of numerous small shops, cafes and bars all focussing on the many tourists that visit. In common with many tourist cities Miami has its own version of the London Eye, an observation wheel that is located at the end of the shops.
It was at this stage that we realised we wouldn’t be able to visit the park as this is where the music festival was to held. Now in my youth I would be quite partial to a good festival but if I told you the headliners here today were Tiesto, Marshmello and David Guetta, you would understand that this was not my scene.
We were amazed by the amount of police vehicles that were around as there didn’t appear to be any crowds going to the festival. In fact most of the visitors were cruise passengers from the six cruise ships that were here today. It was interesting to note some of the markings on the police cars.
Having explored the shops in the marketplace we decided to make our way slowly back to the ship taking in the sights and sounds of the city as we went.
In the middle of the modern high rise buildings stood this quaint older structure. Dating back to the 1920s it is now part of Miami Dade University but was originally an immigration facility.
We were going to walk back to the ship having ascertained that there was indeed a footpath over the bridge. However as it was getting very hot in the midday sun, we spotted a vacant taxi and caught that instead.
We spent most of the afternoon laying in the sun on the open decks with the occasional walk around to cool down. The other cruise ships around us one by one started to leave, each seeming to turn up the volume on their music as they passed. Just before we were due to leave an medical emergency was called over the tannoy, yet another passenger was in trouble. This delayed our departure as we had to wait for an ambulance to take the casualty away.
The final one of the other cruise ships glided past us looking like a stealth battleship, it was the new Virgin ship, Valiant Lady.
I don’t like the look of this ship as it hasn’t got the appearance of a normal cruise liner, but as I probably don’t fit its passenger profile I’m sure Richard Branson wont mind.
It was now our turn to depart and as we slowly moved down the channel it gave an opportunity to look at the large waterfront houses each with a berth and a boat.
The quietness of the scene was soon broken with police sirens as around 15 squad cars in bunches of 3’s and 4’s speeded towards South Beach. They were all State Troopers which apparently had been called in by the Governor because of trouble with the Spring Break crowds. In fact last weekend there were two fatal shootings. I hope there’s not too much bother tonight.
As we left Miami behind us we captured the crowds still enjoying the beach……
….and the sun slowly setting on the tall buildings.
Tomorrow our last port of call in the USA, Port Canaveral, where we plan to visit the largest mall in Florida away from festivals and Spring Break!!