BAYSIDE

Life was good at Bayside, even though the weather wasn't. When we arrived, Trop Storm Barry was still causing trouble. That didn't stop us. Bayside has an array of open air (but covered with a roof) shopping/dining/entertainment establishments. The rain outside was only noticible when we had to run back to the boat for something. We all agreed on crab legs for dinner - but learned that the only place that served them was Hooters. I stood outside Hooters and peered around - everyone was fully clothed. That was good. Waitresses were wearing tight shirts and small shorts - so what, so was everyone else in Miami. Decision made - the family would be dining at Hooters. When the five orders of crab legs arrived at the table we concentrated on finessing every last bit out of each crab leg - we picked, peeled, snapped and broke the shells and slathered the salty, white meat in generous quantities of drawn butter. Yummm!

Then we spotted him - over by the bar. We had warned Amber and Jace that celeb citings were a regular thing in Miami. After all, this is where we saw P. Diddy (or would that be the artist formerly known as?) right across the street from where we were eating breakfast. "Look" Amber said in a hushed voice, muffled by her cupped hand, "it's uncle Vito." Sure enough it was and Amber jumped up to have a photo with him. That was a nice surprise to kick off our time in Bayside. We ended up staying for three days. The living was good here and life was easy. Even the marina bill was cheap ($75 night - much better than the $125 we paid at Pier 66 in Lauderdale).