Third in Series: Travel Nightmare
Several months back, it became apparent that Barry would not be able to do our long awaited Panama Canal cruise. Quite the longshot, I asked Roxanne… miraculously, she was able to get the time away from her family and work duties! The next challenge was getting a passport for Roxanne. Using an expedited service, it was ordered and scheduled to arrive on October 19. Well… that didn’t happen. It still seemed like there was enough time. There was NOT enough time… hence a photo of the Miami passport office. Let’s start from the beginning-ish.
Our “precruise” destination is a place called Avalon in South Beach, Florida. A busy street lined with bars and restaurants, it seemed the perfect place to settle for a couple of days. Areas with foot traffic are my favorite.
Built in 1941, The Avalon Miami Beach is located in the Art Deco Modern District. Sitting out front, is a bright yellow 1955 Oldsmobile Super 88. This car has been featured in Scarface, Miami Vice and Bad Boys 3. Out front is a “A Fish Called Avalon”, a charming restaurant.
Inside the lobby area, is a fun bar named after the car… “Super 88”. The prices are reasobable during happy hour. That seems to be the key to this area, jumping from Happy Hour to Happy Hour… times vary from 8am to 1am depending on the venue.
So now, a little about the passport situation… the plan was to have the passport delivered to Incline Village. For those not familiar, a common thing to happen is having mail and packages returned because they are addressed to a physical address and we receive our mail in Post Office boxes. So… that happened. The passport was undeliverable. Instead of returning it to the closest agency, it went back to Washington D.C. That was the beginning of the chaos.
Across the street from The Avalon is South Beach, Miami. Our rooms came with two beach chairs and two towels. Unfortunately, Roxanne never got to SEE the beach because she was busy trying to track down her passport.
Let’s back up a little bit… while in port at Catalina Island, we stayed aboard so Rox could figure out when her passport would be delivered. Her daughter was able to talk to an agent in Washington DC but it had to be the applicant that confirmed all of the information. So, phase two of the chaos began with a phone call to DC. The agent was a little short tempered. There were two things that he seemed to struggle with… he could not grasp the concept that Roxanne was on a cruise at that moment, would be home for about 36 hours and then head out to Miami. So, basically, the passport had to be delivered by Saturday the 4th of November. He also wanted to know the date and which country was your first international travel. He could not grasp that there would be NO international travel at all, if she didn’t get on the ship on the 7th… first stop is Cozumel on the 9th… but if they think it’s a deadline of the 9th, they are forgetting that the passport is necessary to board the ship AND we traveled to Miami on the 5th. We suggested sending the passport to the hotel because that would give it the most time to arrive… the man strongly opposed to that and suggested it go to a Reno address. The criss-crossed wires were beginning to fray…
Wandering down Ocean Drive… shocked by the $26 drink prices, we ventured into the Underground Bar and Restaurant. People singing Karaoke and more reasonble drinks, it was a cool little dive bar. Nice place for a nightcap.
No news on the passport because we, foolishly, still thought the passport would be delivered to the hotel. Mail was not delivered on Sunday so we really didn’t have to think about it… although, we never stopped thinking about it.
Our morning began with coffee and a continental breakfast. Mostly I had bacon and sausage… and a hard boiled egg, plus fresh squeezed orange juice. Perfect start to the day. It’s football Sunday!
Looking for a decent place to watch the game, we noticed this large screen tv. Again, the drinks were $26 each so it would not be a place to hang out all day. In the dark area on the right side of the stage, was a DJ. He played music during the game instead of hearing the play by play. Miami was in Germany so the game was on early. Now we had time to walk around and find a better bar. It was time to visit my “happy hour” list!
Walking from one side of the island to the other, we came upon an area I had read about. “Espanola Way” is a closed street lined with outdoor cafes. Charming cobbled streets, greenery in and around each of the restaurants, this are really intrigued me! It felt like wandering the streets of a foreign country.
Leaving the tree-lined area, we headed straight for the “dive bar” I read about. An already established bar, it was purchased in 1964 by Mac Klein. Born in 1914 Mac worked in his office every day. He even planned his own 101st birthday party in the building. He passed six months after his birthday.
Dark but welcoming, the drink prices were awesome. It was happy hour so our first round was $22 total and we got chips to signify a second drink. Great spot to watch games. This place actually held the Miami Vice cast party, Playboy named it as one of the best bars in America and bigger than that, Anthony Bourdain said it was one of his favorite spots in the world! Quite a statement.
Delicious dinner at a spot called Drunken Dragon. We grilled our own pork belly, shrimp and veggies! With a nice bottle of sake, it was a filling a delicious meal! Sauces were awesome, pork belly was tender and all of the side dishes delicious!
Walking back to the hotel, we saw a street with every tree covered in lights. It was so festive! Had to stop and snap a photo…
Our front desk employee explained that the mail would not be delivered until 5pm. This gave us the day to complete the shopping (and then some) that busy Roxanne had not been able to at home. Street after street and not a single appropriate store. One blingy store we visited had dresses in the $1500 range… umm… no. On one of the back streets, we saw a shop that had, what Roxanne described as a hooker store. We almost walked past but decided to peek inside. Seeing a sign that said, “$5 each” on racks of clothing, we knew we found our spot. I believe Roxanne bought at least nine dresses, two purses, four pairs of shoes, sunglasses and jewery for anywhere from $3-$7.99… What a bargain. The only downfall, no dressing room but luckily, EVERYTHING fit! Now back to the room to wait for the passport.
First I’ll tell you about dinner. This car was parked out front. We needed our flapper dresses for this shot! Great dinner at News Cafe.
Now the passport… after shopping, Roxanne left the room to make a couple of phone calls looking for the location of her document. After a couple of hours, I sent her a txt to ask if she was lost. My phone rang immediately, “I’m drowning my sorrows". Uh oh. So every number she tried to call was not a valid phone number. I told her to come back to the room. By this time it was 4:30. Using Google to search out the DC State Department, I found a different number but the office closed at 3. Just to see if it was a valid number, I had Roxanne call. Shockingly, it connected. She started to tell her story of the traveling passport! After being tracked, we were told that the document is in Mercury, Nevada… a secure area where nuclear bombs are tested. WHAT?!?!? Again she explained the situation that she is in Miami, scheduled to leave in about 17 or so hours. The lady on the phone was able to arrange an 8am appointment at the Passport Agency in Miami. We packed our things and had an extremely restless night sleep…….
Up at sunrise, waiting for our Uber… determined to arrive early. We headed off to Biscane Blvd!
Arriving VERY early, the agent allowed Roxanne to enter the building with the 7am people. So, I am sitting outside on a smelly street… people walking by staring. Only one man actually stopped to ask if I was ok. Roxanne is inside, I know you can’t use your phone… so we shall see. It’s a very close timeline. Passports applications are being processed in the morning, handed out after lunch. Boarding closes at 3pm. So we are cautiously optimistic… ? I think.
On a side note, I’ll add photos tomorrow, we had to get the application reprinted, confirmed travel plans and a new passport photo at 6:45pm. Tracked down a Walgreens… it has been a crazy 24 hours! Stay tuned to see if Roxanne and Lisa are together on the cruise… or parting ways in Miami. Please, please, please!!!
