Walking, Swimming, Bussing and Biking to South Beach

Since we weren’t technically home quite yet, we treated Miami Beach exactly like we treated all of South America. We explored via many different modes of transportation…only once borrowing the rental car to get groceries. This insistance to bus, walk and bike may have seemed strange to Dusty’s family. We got plenty of strange looks and several, “You mean taxi, right?”. Ha ha ha…no.

I actually like bussing now. You see so many different people, it’s cheap and you don’t have to do a thing except keep your eyes peeled for where you might get off. It’s a little easier to find these things out now that we can simply open our mouthes, allow English to spill out and be understood. The tiny stress of preparing a Spanish statement is gone!

The other form of getting from here to there that has gotten us some crazy looks: walking. You know it’s sad when walking is considered weird. I suppose if you’re in a hurry or have things to carry or if it’s extremely far, it is not cool. But, I’ve learned to LOVE walking. Things are so much less stressful when you’re not jumping in and out of a car all day. Also, for some reason Dusty and I come up with some great ideas while we’re hoofing it. I guess we just have a dedicated time to chat instead of just staring at the TV (computer screen) or stuffing our mouthes at meals. The other cool thing….finding random stuff to play on and/or gawk at. Dusty’s sister, Courtney, got in on it. Our first recruit!

And then, we did something I wish we had done in Argentina. I have to admit that I just didn’t want to step out of my comfort zone to figure out the bike rental stations (read: figure out the Spanish) in Buenos Aires. Miami was no problem. While not free like in Buenos Aires, the bike stations scattered around Miami Beach and South Beach were pretty sweet. Just pop your credit card in (yep we’re home!), select the bike of your choice and you’re off!

We chose to take this biking opportunity to check out something we probably shouldn’t have lusted over while in South America. Those delicious, mouth watering, gluttonous American meals on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. Mmmmmmmm. We watched these shows for the first time while traveling, which was probably a terrible mistake. After seeing what Guy Fieri was stuffing his face with, we began to miss food from home VERY VERY badly. (There was even talk about traveling the U.S. just to sample food from all of the DD&D restaurants.) We got our fix for a little while when we chose to bike to the 11th Street Diner and help ourselves to some of their home roasted turkey.

And, just like in South America, we shared the turkey wrap and shake. Some new habits are going to stick I tell you. Our wallets and (smaller) guts are much happier this way. Please Wendy, remember you said this! We even remembered it when we headed to Mangos on Ocean Drive.

Not your typical family restaurant, but for Dusty’s family…it was just right! We didn’t go to a single discotec in South America but we hit up a club in Miami Beach…with the fam. :) It ended a great vacation before our return home. Next stop Cincinnati!

Details

DecoBike
Pick up and drop off rental bikes all over Miami Beach and South Beach
Machine operated
Credit Card payment
Wendy’s Review: great system, just remember to push the bike in to release it….not yank on it.
Dusty’s Review: I love being able to rent a bike that easily, but pay attention to the plans

11th Street Diner
1065 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL
Watch the Diner’s, Drive Ins and Dives Video
Wendy’s Review: not bad turkey wrap, awesome shake!
Dusty’s Review: delicious and joyful

Mangos Tropical Cafe
900 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach FL
Wendy’s Review: Good food, ok booty dancers, great Michael Jackson dancing guys
Dusty’s Review: Lots of women wearing next to nothing