Miami Skyline

December 16, 2020 Wednesday

I took a long row this morning with the water as quiet as glass under the condo buildings that line the shore and the skyline of Miami off to the north. The water is clear and you can see lots of abandoned objects on the bottom of the bay like poles and old moorings. A few fishing boats headed out and a sole paddleboarder moved silently off to the west.

At ten we loaded up the dinghy and went into the marina and walked the commercial section of Coconut Grove looking at the shops and bakeries, enjoying a cup of coffee with a croissant and an empanada. Last time we visited the commercial district it was undergoing a lot of major construction which now is mostly done leaving a large shopping district of fancy shops and lots of plazas to dine outdoors.

It was in the low eighties and sunny which quickly warmed us so we escaped the heat by visiting the local library. I wanted to read some magazines and news papers but I was informed there are none available during the pandemic. Beside Sharon and myself in the building there were two librarians and one very bored security officer and for a short while someone was using a computer. We used the library's wi-fi to do some Christmas shopping for our kids.

It took a couple of tries to find a restaurant for lunch and we enjoyed our food sitting outside along the busy streets where we experienced sensory overload after so many quiet days on the boat; trucks making deliveries, cars honking at double parked cars, and construction equipment. Even with the noise it was fun to watch the people out on the street enjoying the warm weather dressed in Miami sophistication with many flamboyant outfits; lots of hats, skimpy shorts, loud gold jewelry and a diverse ethnic parade of people most with no apparent rush to get anywhere but just enjoying the warm weather.

After lunch we stopped at Fresh Market and then the marina for showers and we were soon back on Monarch just as the sun was going down. I grilled a fresh steak for dinner with some backed potatoes and the frozen green beans we had purchased to keep the rest of the groceries cool on the trip back to the boat.