“Unhappily” Settled in Miami!

It’s 10:00p and I am dead tired. But even if I turned in now, there is no way I would get any sleep.

You see, the noise filtering up from the restaurant/bar on the 25th floor is making an unholy din … even with the balcony door closed, the shade pulled down, and the drapes drawn. The problem is that the residence — fancy word for an apartment — overlooks the atrium, which acts like an echo chamber. Sure, there is a nice view across the atrium to the Port of Miami, but the echo-factor takes away any pleasure we might otherwise have from such a view. What makes our situation especially bad is that it’s not just the living area that overlooks the atrium, but the bedroom does as well.

The property we rented through AirBNB sits atop the Hotel AKA Brickell … in what’s called the Brickel Arch. We have all the amenities we could ask for … a bedroom separate from the living/dining area, which pleases Mui who is usually early-to-bed; a good sized kitchen where we can self-cater some of our meals; a washer and dryer so that we can board Insignia with a suitcase full of clean clothes after three days of exploration in and around Miami; parking space … which is a boon in downtown Miami, where parking is at a premium. Even with a few “cleaning issues” we noticed, this place would have worked out nicely. IF NOT FOR THE NOISE!

It’s a shame really, as we were hoping that we’d found a place that we could use for a longer stay when we return to Miami in December for another cruise. For that trip, I will have to go back to the drawing board … sigh!

Sorry … I’m so frustrated that I skipped right over getting us from MIA to the Brickel Arch. So, back to earlier this evening … the walk from baggage claim to the MIA Mover was longer than I remember. But we made it without huffing and puffing too much. A short ride … and we were at the Rental Car Center.

When we arrived at Thrifty, a sign directed us to Dollar Rental. Funny, because we had the option of booking a mid-size car from Dollar for the same price, but had opted for Thrifty! No matter, it was just across the hall and a few minutes later, we were heading down to the car park. Surprise! No mid-size cars were available. How about a free upgrade to a full-size car? Sure.

Traffic into Miami was heavy, but we managed to find the Brickel Arch easily enough. Got our stuff up to the residence, and went right back out to the nearby Publix to shop for groceries. By the time we returned to our place, it was already 8:00p, so in lieu of the pasta bolognese Mui had planned, grilled cheese sandwiches made it onto our plates for dinner.

And that’s a wrap!

Now to go find my earplugs!Read more