G’day all. Well, today I am writing about the first place I’ve been in the USA for nearly 25 years. 2004 was the last time I ventured over to the States, and well, hasn’t the world (and America) changed somewhat since then!

My plans for my big ‘round-the-world’ adventure last year changed time and time again. There was a time when I had a long portion of the trip planned for the US, then later I was not going to go at all. When I was working flights out though, trying to get from Central America to Jamaica, it seemed clear that the only way without paying exorbitant prices for flights, was through Miami. As Disneyworld was on my bucket list, I decided I might as well may passing through the US a short stop, and so I went with five days, two in Miami, one between Miami and Orlando/Disney, and two at Disney.

How did I find Miami then? Well, I stayed at Miami Beach, a long slither of land, technically an island, across a bridge from Miami City proper. An expensive and pulsing place, with a history of Art Deco architecture, surprisingly I liked it quite a bit.

I stayed in the Collins Hotel, on Collins Ave in the north half of the island. The southern part is the place where most things are happening, although there is a beach pretty much all the way along. The Collins Hotel has a big car park and feels rather dated, if in a cool way. It feels like there’s a fair bit of history attached to the hotel, although the interweb gives little information. It feels part motel, but considering the prices of hotels on Miami Beach, I paid just over $100USD per night and was happy with that. Big room with a view of Collins Ave and the ocean/beach too so not much to complain about.

I explored the city for a day, which was captured in my vlog of the place. I started off outside the New World Center at the Soundscape Park. The park isn’t that big but they pump music into it through strange pipes which is rather cool. The New World Center is a concert venue for the New World Symphony. You can apparently get a little tour through the place, but naturally there were conferences going on at the time and sadly it was not open to the public. Across the intersection is an impressive synagogue.

This is just up a block from Lincoln Rd. This is a shopping district, with a street mall and some of Miami Beach’s best shopping. There are even a few hints at the art deco which is part of the history of Miami Beach.

Here I walked down Lincoln Road and on to South Beach, which I gathered was the main beach on Miami Beach, if that makes any sense. This beach is sensational really. Wrong side of the country but you get Venice Beach vibes (well from watching 90210 back in the day) here. Well, maybe, maybe not but there’s loads of sand, it’s soft underfoot and then you look back to the buildings (some art deco!) and that’s a great shot too. Jetskis, umbrellas, life guard stations painted in bright colours, I walked along for a bit and then cut back to Ocean Drive into the Art Deco District.

Here I admired the buildings – hotels, cafes and restaurants mainly, they make for great photos and there is even the Art Deco Museum in the park across the road which I checked out – a bit disappointing all said, not that big but gave an insight into Miami Beach.

I kept walking south, that was the theme of the day and got down to South Point past tall apartment buildings into South Pointe Park and South Pointe itself. I could see across to the port and back at some of the tall buildings of Miami. There’s a pier there too which is nicely done and gives you a superb view of South Pointe Beach, which was busy.

After taking more photos and footage I headed back to find a bus that would take me north and then another to get all the way back to the Collins Hotel. You’ve got Metrobus which have a few routes and then there is the free Miami Beach trolly bus/tram type thing, often crowded, but as I said, FREE! How can you go wrong? Actually, spent quite a bit of time waiting on transport during my day and a half in Miami Beach.

But honestly, I really did like the place! It’s very pleasant. $4USD for a bottle of water was a bit much and I was on the full budget approach here, actually I don’t think I had to pay for anything, except for the Art Deco Museum, which was around $10USD from memory.

Thanks for joining me again. Next time around I’ll tell you all about my train journey from Miami to Orlando. YES – TRAIN IN AMERICA! Oh but first I’ll be writing about the best flight I took last year. And WORST. Take care wherever you are in the world, and May the Journey Never End!