Everything is possible on Monday

When the alarm clock rang this morning, I was the lucky one who had to take the 10 minutes to the public parking lot to put money in the parking meter so we wouldn't get towed.

On the way back, Bob (office manager of the Dolphin Tour) called to say that it can't take place today because there are not enough participants in the afternoon. In the past few days, I had to talk to him several times because we had already moved the tour back and forth so that we wouldn't have to keep the rental car longer than necessary. After a short crisis meeting, we decided to take the bus tour through Miami today, take a new rental car tomorrow, and go to the dolphin tour. This way, we would also have a means of transportation to get to the airport on Wednesday. At first, he couldn't guarantee that the 1 o'clock trip will take place tomorrow. But during the morning, a joyful email came that it will take place and he is looking forward to our participation tomorrow. One less problem.

The bus tour runs a bit south of our apartment through Miami Beach, so we have to move the car and walk a bit to reach the bus. It was unbearably hot today, even though it was only 31 degrees. But it felt much hotter. When getting on and going up, the wind blew my hat away and not into the bus, but directly onto the sidewalk of the bus stop. The bus then continued and I was deeply saddened about my new cap. But since there is a turning point shortly afterwards and the road has to be driven back, an older couple picked up the cap and waited until the bus came back. He then stopped briefly just for me and the companion ran across the 6 lanes to pick it up. My hero and savior. We still sat on the south route towards downtown, but afterwards we were completely wet because we were sweating so much in the sun. After a short refreshment in the shopping paradise, which was built openly. There are only two properly closed shopping centers in Miami. Then we continued on the city route through Miami itself in the lower part of the bus. Stations included a natural history museum with an aquarium, a concert hall, and little things. We particularly liked the artist district 'Winwood', where all houses and walls are painted in colorful - even people pay to be allowed to paint here, as well as the drive through Little Havana - here predominantly live people who have fled from Cuba. More Spanish than English is spoken here. People also assume that you speak Spanish if you move around there.

After the complete route, lunch was on the agenda. On a recommendation and out of personal interest, we went to Hooters. The American concept is quickly explained - attractive, big-breasted, not particularly intelligent waitresses in summery uniforms serving very greasy and rich food. Unfortunately, Vanessa, probably also the result of the past few weeks, had some stomach problems, so the visit with the food was quickly over. In general, the girls there also fail to keep the place properly clean. We were a bit disappointed.

So we went directly back to our car with the south route and then continued home. Fortunately, there was a parking space in front of the house for us. We won't move the car until tomorrow. Now it was time to shower and take a short nap to relax a bit.

In a good mood, we went down the short path to the beach. After a warm bath in the water and lounging on the blanket, we heard the lifeguard say something about a ray. But I wasn't sure if I understood it correctly. Then there was an excited young boy with his father at the water. We could hear a few German words and immediately ran over. And behold - a ray was frolicking in the water where we had just been swimming.

We also started talking to the father. He immediately told us that the sea becomes dangerous at night because the fish wake up and move. He has been living here for 8 years and his son was even born here. The son is growing up with 3 languages. German, English, and Spanish. We bombarded the father with questions. Especially about the current president, insurance in the USA, the homeless, and life in America. He moved to Miami after a few years in London. All very interesting, because you don't usually get so much information at once. But back to the ray - I followed it a bit with the camera and even filmed it well.

We said goodbye and he wished us a nice trip. Actually, we wanted to leave, but a beach wedding was being set up next to us, so we waited for the bride and then left.

We took a walk to the nearby grocery store before and made a stop at a small souvenir shop. In a shopping frenzy, each of us got a T-shirt and a few new flip-flops. At our actual destination, we only got water and a few sweets for the drive tomorrow.

When we got home, we managed to start the oven and cook tortellini with tomato-basil sauce. Delicious and finally something different.

Tomorrow will be another exhausting day, so it's off to bed quickly today. Unfortunately, the Mustang has to leave us at 9:30. Shortly after, we will pick up the new rental car for our tour to Marco Island. Whether everything will work out...