Day 15
There was a knock on the door just before our alarm was due to go off. This always annoys me on the last day whether it is on a cruise or staying at a hotel. I can never understand why they are providing check out times and then knock on your door at the crack of dawn. I called out that we would be gone in 30 minutes and then we got up. We got ready, packed the last odds and ends and did one last check that we had not left anything behind. Then we headed out. We decided to get a light breakfast at Cafe Promenade. We both had coffee. Graham had a white chocolate donut and an apple Danish. I had a chocolate donut. When we finished breakfast, we went to find a screen to check if our tag number had been called yet. Our debarkation time was 9:00 and it was earlier than that, but on our last two cruises we were called early. However, that morning they seemed to be running behind.
We went to sit down on one of the sofas outside the Star Lounge. It was reasonably quiet there, which would make it easier to hear announcements and there was a screen nearby. Somebody from our progressive trivia team came by. Most of them were doing a back-to-back-to-back cruise and they were waiting to get off the ship to clear the formalities. We chatted for a bit and exchanged details for Facebook. Eventually our tag number was called and we headed out. Graham ended up doing his good deed for the day. We had just had our SeaPass cards scanned for the final time, when we noticed that a lady was struggling pushing a wheelchair up the gangway. The gangway at the terminal we were at was pretty steep and you have to go up a little way first. Graham handed me his hand luggage and offered to push the wheelchair. The lady accepted gratefully. We said goodbye in the luggage hall.
Once we were off the ship, everything went very quickly. When we got to the luggage hall, I saw my suitcase coming around on the luggage belt. Graham’s was not far behind. We then had a seemingly endless corridor to navigate, but once we got to customs, they just took our form of us and waved us through. That was a very different experience from the immigration debacle at Boston.
Our luck continued. Pretty much as soon as we found the pick up area for the car rental shuttles, our shuttle pulled up. We had a short wait until the shuttle was full and then had a clear run to the airport. We had booked the car via Alamo and I had gone for Save Time and Skip the Counter. Essentially this is their kind of online check in. When I saw the line at their desks, I was pretty happy about that decision. We had a quick bathroom stop and then we headed down to the garage. This is where it did not quite work as advertised. According to the website, you just head for the area with the type of car you have booked and choose one. This did not work in Miami. As soon as we entered the garage, we were intercepted by a member of staff. She checked our paperwork and then we were directed to another member of staff at the opposite end. We did see the areas that were labeled for the different types of cars, but there appeared to be no cars in them. When we got to the second member of staff, we were asked to join a short line. There were maybe half a dozen people in front of us. They brought out cars one at a time. When it was our turn, we were given a Toyota Corolla, which was a nice upgrade from the economy car we had booked. We got in and had our paperwork checked and scanned one more time and then we were on our way.
This time I had played it safe. I had printed out the directions. Normally I use Google Maps on my iPhone if I have to navigate in unfamiliar surroundings, but I found in 2013 that the mobile phone reception is patchy around Miami and by the time Google Maps had updated, we had missed our turn. Having the printed out directions worked well. Our first destination was Sawgrass Recreational Area. We had stopped there in 2013 on the way down from Orlando to Miami to use the bathroom and at that stage the plan was born to come back at some stage to do one of their air boat rides. As soon as we had decided on this cruise, I knew that we had to put this plan into action.
The drive did not take long. We parked the car and headed to the gift shop to purchase our tickets for the airboat ride. We were told that we had about a 20-minute wait, which was fine by us. We had a little look around and then headed to the boat dock. It was not long until it was our turn to board. As we came down the gangway, we spotted some baby alligators. A photographer took some photos. Then it was time to get on the boat and put the earplugs in. I had never done an airboat ride before, but Graham had. He was a little worried that I would hate it, mainly because I am very sensitive to noise. He did not need to have worried. I absolutely loved it. We were given earplugs, but I actually had lost one of them without noticing and still I was fine. At the time I was still working right by Manchester airport and the noise from the air boat was very much was I was used to from being right by the airport.
I found it truly exhilarating. It did not take long for the local wildlife to show up. Our captain stopped and there was a fairly big alligator right next to the boat. It was so close to me; I could have touched it without even having to reach out. We saw quite a few gators. We also saw loads of grackles. Our captain fed them and we were suddenly surrounded. I was intrigued that they could perch on the reeds. Our captain explained a bit to us about the Everglades, the history and their significance for Florida. The whole trip was very interesting and over far too soon.
Once we got back to the dock, we saw some more baby gators. We had a look at the photo and decided to buy it. It came on a cute alligator USB stick with a bunch of stick photos. Once this had been taken care of, we headed for their wildlife area. They had all kinds of reptiles plus some mammals and birds that are native to Florida. They also have two alligators in captivity and they do regular educational presentations. One started just as we were about to leave and we decided to stay for this. It was very interesting.
After the presentation, we headed back to the car and headed to our next destination. In a straight line, the Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall is a hop, skip and jump from where we were, but we had to backtrack quite a bit to get there. It still did not take long. Finding somewhere to park was a bit of a challenge, but we succeeded eventually. There were a few reasons why I wanted to go there. We have been to one of the sister properties in California a few times and I have always wanted to check Sawgrass Mills out. I had also heard that the New Balance outlet there had some of the older Run Disney shoes not so long before we left. The fact that there is a Cheesecake Factory there was an added temptation. We had a look around when we got there and then headed for lunch. We were seated very quickly. Graham had some ice tea and the Americana cheese burger with fries. I had a Coke and the Famous Factory meatloaf, corn succotash and mashed potato. We both enjoyed our food.
After lunch, we headed out again. The New Balance outlet was just a couple of doors down. I was out of luck as the Run Disney shoes had sold out a few days earlier. Graham did however find some trainers that he liked. Graham decided to make use of one of the massage chairs that were dotted around everywhere while I checked out a few shops. I did not get anything apart from a few hand sanitizers for a colleague at Bath and Body Works. On the way out, we stopped at the Disney outlet. I was hoping that they may have some interesting Dooney and Bourke bags, but the only one they had was a small letter carrier in the Avengers print and not only did that not really appeal, but it was also expensive. So I passed.
We headed back to the car. We somehow got turned around and ended up doing a little detour. Eventually we found the Florida Turnpike, which has not improved since the last time we used it. We ended up in a couple of traffic jams that extended the time we had to be on this road. At some point during the afternoon, the link for the cruise survey arrived. So we did this while we were stuck in traffic. This was the first time ever I left constructive feedback about a crewmember. I did however add glowing reports for quite a few.
At some stage, I developed a sore throat. I was not sure if this was down to mild dehydration or if I was going down with a cold. There was nothing I could do about this at that moment in either case. Finally we reached the point where we were leaving the Florida Turnpike. By then it was pitch black. I would have preferred to hit those country roads with at least a little daylight left, but we got to our destination without too much trouble. When we arrived at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort, we were directed to the area in front of reception so that we could check in. There was on family in front of us. I made use of the short wait to send a text. There was a good reason why I was nowhere near as upset as I normally am when I got off the ship was that I had plenty to look forward to including meeting up with Magdalene and Michael. We had cruised together on our second Panama Canal cruise in 2014. When I was in the planning stages for this trip, it turned out that we would be at Vero Beach for exactly the same dates. So I sent Magdalene a text letting her know that we had arrived.
We got checked in and were given directions on how to get to the underground parking. We parked the car and then headed up to the room. We were on the top floor of the inn and right next to the lifts and laundry. I was a little concerned about potential noise, but that was no issue at all and I loved the convenience of being so close to the laundry. I took some photos of the room and then Graham settled down for a nap. I went to get something to drink. I headed to the shop and got a bottle of water for Graham and a resort mug for me. I was delighted when I found out that I could use this at Saratoga Springs, too. The drink station is out by the pool. I had a quick wander around the pool area and checked out the access to the beach before filling my mug with Coke and heading back to the room. I then settled down with my book. I had received a text back from Magdalene that they were going out to find something to eat. I responded that we had probably turned in for the night.
Graham woke up not long after and we decided that we would go and check out if there was somewhere in the resort to get a bite to eat. We did not want a full meal and were delighted when we found out that they are offering a small plates menu at the Green Cabin Room. This is the main bar for the resort. We headed up there and settled down. The small plates were the biggest small plates I have ever seen. I had some water and Parmesan meatballs with crostini. I really liked this, but the portion was so big that I could not finish it. Graham also had some water and a wedge salad and some pork sliders. He also did not finish his food. We asked for the rest to go and once we were done, I took our leftovers up to the room.
While we were still eating, Magdalene, Michael and Michael’s brother arrived. They came over to say “hi” and we agreed that we would join them at the bar once we had finished our dinner. That we did. Graham had a Cigar City Jai Alai IPA from Tampa and I had a Mojito. More importantly, we had some great company. Over the course of the evening, we discussed everything and nothing. I really enjoyed that evening. Eventually we were all ready for bed. We said goodbye. It did not take long after we got back to our room that we were asleep.
