Dates: 9 – 10 November 2015
Modes of Travel: British Airways
Cast of Characters: Dan, Bruce, Hannah & Brett
Hotel: Pullman Miami (originally booked as the Sofitel Miami)

So we arrived in Miami after our cruise on the  Norwegian Escape and picked up our car. We headed tto the hotel to drop our stuff of and get our bearings. We spent a little bit of time at the hotel as Bruce needed to catch up on some work. This allowed me to figure out where the malls were and what our game plan was.

Our main shopping goals were: Old Navy, Target and the Converse Outlet (well at least for me) and any other place we could find.

The first mall we visited was Mall of the Americas, which I thought was the mall Hannah was talking about. This place did have an Old Navy but quite frankly it was a dump.

We needed to eat and decided to give Wendy’s a try as it had been many years since we last had it. Just have to say we could have given it a miss, was not as we remembered it.

We then headed over to the Dolphin Mall which is “the” mall in Miami. It had everything but Target and much much more. We got several pairs of Converse at the outlet for super cheap, clothes rom Nautica as they were having a massive sale and then taking even more off at the register. Once we filled our boot it was time to leave

Whilst we were driving around we saw the target and headed over. It did not disappoint and we came out with everything we were looking for and more.

We headed back to the hotel and packed our bags with our haul and made sure we were within the weight limits.

Now it was dinner time and we wanted real Mexican so we found the best place we could in Miami based on reviews and ease of getting there and in the end I chose a place called Mi Rincosito Mexicano. By far some of the best Mexican food I have ever had and I really can’t wait to go to next time I am in Miami.

It was time to call it a night as it was quite late. The next day we left our bags at the hotel and headed out to pick up Hannah and Brett who had just finished their cruise. We spent the day with them before their flight home (They were on the early and we were on the late)

First stop was IHOP for a real American breakfast complete with Bacon, Sausage, Pancakes, Hash Browns and Chicken Fried Steak! Once we had our fill.

Next stop was a random mall so Brett could pick something up at the Apple store. Whilst we were there I saw our flight was delayed and it meant we would miss our connection to Edinburgh, so I called BA and 10 min later it was all sorted and we were moved to a later with no charge or hassle.

As this was their only day in Miami, we visited Old Navy again and a few other shops and just saw the city whilst we did it. As we were out and about I felt like a slurpee so dragged us to a 7-11 which Hannah and Brett had never been to and we stocked up on our 7-11 goodies like Slurpee’s, big gulps, crisps and hostess products. Sadly they had not corn dogs but I really wasn’t hungry so that was ok.

Next stop was the Publix to get some food items we had not found like Velveta. Supermarkets are so different in the US and we were spoiled for choice on everything.

It was almost time for Hannah and Brett to head back to the airport so before we dropped them off we introduced them to Panda Express. It was good, but sadly not as good as I remembered…… Have I really been gone that long?

So we dropped Hannah and Brett off and had a few hours to kill so we headed to South Beach and it was by far our favorite area in Miami.

Sadly our time to Miami came to an end and we headed to the airport. We were delayed after dropping the car as there was some type of security incident which closed down the car rental centre and the D/E terminals. It wasn’t a long delay but annoying.

After that we got checked in and were headed home. The flights were uneventful and we made it home (albeit without one of our bags, don’t worry it showed up the next day and was only dirty clothes anyways) a few hours later than planned due to the delay, but overall it was a good trip!