In Miami for Our First Family Holiday Cruise

Wednesday - Getting to Miami for our Virgin cruise We left Toronto at 830am in a Uber n boarded a flight to Miami without incident. It was good that we have accumulated all the Aero points as the flight tickets were not cheap this time of the year. Being close to Christmas, the plane tickets were up drastically, almost $1600.00 for two of us, excluding taxes, of which we had to pay. But using the points to purchase the tickets, we saved a lot.

The plane arrived around 3pm. We took another Uber to the hotel by the water which E. booked n paid for us for 2 nites. How nice was that! We got to the hotel a little after 5 pm. The weather was cool, very windy. It got dark fast after 530pm. We went across the hotel to a Latino cafe and convenient store. They served decent sandwiches and we got a cuban sandwich n some enpanna for dinner. Up most of the previous night packing for the trip, I was very tired and went straight to sleep. 20122023 Thursday - Staying by the Beach, Miami We slept well in our king size bed in this spacious bedroom with the 60's decor. There was a balcony overlooking the beach and the ocean, and I was going to sip my coffee enjoying the view of the ocean and watch the joggers and the beachcombers. When all of a sudden, E. appeared at the door, what a nice surprise! We hugged each other tightly. He went straight to sleep.

Knowing that he flew on a red eye flight, we left our hotel room giving him some quiet time to sleep and to do his work. We went on our own to explore the beach area. The hotel, located on 41st and Collins street, is fronting the ocean. We discovered that the area close by is a Jewish neighborhood. We found a Latino Cafe and had some authentic Cuban soups and beverages. The place was busy with local people such as ambulance and city workers mostly speaking Spanish. We knew then that we were at the right local restaurant eating real food!

We planned to do some exercises and walked to the Linclon district but a trolly came around offering free ride service. We took advantage of it and hopped on for a ride. It was a nice chance to enjoy the local city scenery. We hopped off around 21st Street and walked our way back to the otel. Passing by many stores located on both sides of the street, we went into Ross and did some shopping there. Ross used to be my favourite store to shop whenever we visited the U.S. I bought a pair of running shoes, and a couple of small items. I was happy being able to do some shopping. However, I kicked myself not buying some nice white cotton shirt and pants for E. for Christmas presents.

Walking back, we did the beach route enjoying the feeling of rubbing the bottom of my feet on smooth white sand.It felt fantastic! We should really do this more often! The beach was not busy at all. we saw only a handful of people on the beach with a couple of them flying their kites, a far cry from the bustling scene in the summer. As there were a lot to see while walking, it didn't feel like a long walk at all. E. was up when we got back. He wasn't at his best as he just had his vaccine the day before he flew from NY. We were able to have dinner with him that evening. He picked a fancy place to eat as it had been recommended by his friend in Miami.

It was called Watr located right in the South Beach area in the NO. 1 Hotel, a fancy, beautiful hotel serving an upscale clientel. Watr, a beautiful restaurant decorated with modern furniture with a warm, welcoming and comfortable ambience serving a fusion of Japanese and Italian food. The food was pricy but service was excellent and the food was delicious! We ate at many over priced restaurnants and there were not too many to which we would return. But this one, though pricy and the serving size was small, was worth it. The meal came to around US250.00 with a 21% tips included. But then the server mentioned twice to us that we could tip an additional fee. Wow! how straight forward were these American workers asking for additional service tips boldly and openly! However, We were grateful that we could share a good experience with E. on this trip. This was a great beginning, thanks to God who listens to our prayers! We went back to the hotel. I needed to complete my online application form for the Cambodia mission trip but was having a lot of problems with the form sent by C. from ACEM. By the time I was done, it was almost 230am. Too tired to do any more work. Went to sleep! 21122023

Friday Checked out day from the beachside hotel and ready for boarding the cruise ship! We were ready to get everything packed and E. was even able to squeeze in a run on the beach for 30 minutes before checking out! I like his new routing of getting some exercises whenever it was possible for him. We enjoyed a simple lunch at the hotel's restaurant. Some sandwiches that came to US$ 100.00. It never ceased amazed me how much it cost to live in the States. I thought of how much we could do with the $US we spent on meals in Africa.

We arrived at the cruise terminal at around 430pm. The check in process was efficient. There was a porter meeting us at the terminal and we sent our luggage away with him. We had our picture taken and were given a bracelet each as ID and as our credit card for the rest of the cruise.

E. was impressed by the nice waiting lounge and he was snapping pictures of the things he saw. He was obviously excited as this was his first cruise. We joked that this was his virign Virgin cruise! As soon as we got to our room, we needed to prepare for the safety talk. E. went to his solo events and we didn't see each other until around 9pm. We stayed on deck and watched the ship leaving Miami and enjoyed the sunset view! God, almighty, thank you for this great opportunity for a family cruise vacation together. We pray that 1.E. and we will have to a great time on this family cruise 2. We can spend more time on meaingful conversations and get to know each other better 3. E. can at least make one friend on this cruise. God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we know you are the God of almighty. Your timimg is perfect and we trust you for your provision to our grown children for the best. In Christ name, Amen RT,Miami 22122023