Wrapping Up

After a night in Miami we took the train north, stopping overnight in Schenectady as usual at the Stockade Inn and then continuing on to Montreal. We had a little snow in Schenectady but winter really hit when we reached Montreal where it was -16c with winds gusting to 50km/hr.

Miami was our last chance to sit outside for supper. (At Il Gabbiano - expensive but great view)



A nice tile mural on a wall:



Of course, I find my own artwork in the reflections in the water:



There is debate in Charleston over whether the cruise ships are desirable or not. The business people want more customers, but the residents would prefer not to be regularly inundated with tourist hordes. It was a foggy morning and you could barely see the cruise ship at the dock:



We went back to the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston. It's a small aquarium but a nice one. The staff are friendly and they bring out animals for you to see up close and take photographs of. (e.g. the barn owl and the snake below) They also have a sea turtle rescue operation which we toured. Here it's mostly loggerheads with a few greens, the opposite of the Florida Keys.





We also did the Gateway walk through churchyards and cemeteries.





In cold Montreal we took refuge in the Pointe-à-Callière Montréal Museum of Archaeology and History. And now it's time for the two day train ride back to Saskatoon.

See all 8 Miami photos as a slideshow or overview

See all 35 Charleston photos as a slideshow or overview

See also Shelley's blog post Miami to Montreal -- Then Home!

Andros to Miami

This morning we flew from Andros Island to Nassau and then to Miami. One of the longest segments was the hike from the arrival gate to the baggage pickup to the rental car center.

The only minor annoyance was Budget Rent a Car giving us a Ford hybrid instead of the Prius that we booked. Their defense is that the fine print says they can substitute. Seems like misleading advertising when the choice on the web site says "Toyota Prius", shows a picture of a Prius, and the booking confirmation says Prius. I just re-read the booking confirmation and I don't see anything about substituting. It's not a big deal, but these kinds of moves piss me off. If they don't rent specific cars, then they shouldn't pretend they do.

Some from-the-airplane photos taken with the RX100m2. Of course, now that we're leaving the Bahamas the weather is improving!

Miami

downtown Miami, hotel Urbano was at the bottom left near the causeway

a Miami marina

Miami

We spent two nights in Miami, partly to have a cushion in case we missed a train connection. We've never stayed in Miami before so we picked a hotel by location (close to the aquarium), size (small), and character (art theme). When we arrived at Hotel Urbano a painting class had taken over the restaurant. The hotel isn't really near anything, but it's a nice small hotel - we liked it.

We knew in advance that the Miami Seaquarium was more of a "theme park" but we still figured we'd check it out. We had a bit of a struggle figuring out how to catch the bus, but eventually managed it.

Not for the first time, I had fun taking photos of some of the birds and lizards that were unofficial residents. There were herons, ibis, and egrets hanging around scrounging.









See all 15 photos as a slideshow or overview

See also Shelley's blog post