This morning, Diane and I took a quick walk around Bayfront Park in Miami and the nearby Bayside shopping center.

Then we checked out of the JW Marriott Marquis Miami, caught a Lyft to Port Everglades, and embarked on the Celebrity Xcel for a short Caribbean sailing with about a dozen old friends. There are also more than 2500 passengers we haven’t met yet, as well as more than a thousand crew members, most of whom we’ll never see – but we’ve already enjoyed meeting a few, such as Sebastian, the Bar Steward in the Retreat Lounge.

It’s a brand new ship (I think this is its third official sailing); they’ve made changes from the earlier ships in the Edge class, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they’ve done.

It’s our first full day of this trip. We had to drag ourselves out of bed far too early so we could meet our guide, Walker, at 8:30am Eastern (5:30am Pacific Body Time) for a Miami Small Group Premium Tour With Everglades Airboat Ride – and it was worth it. We had a fabulous day exploring Miami, Miami Beach, and the Everglades with Walker. He was a great guide and clearly loves his home; he was eager to share his knowledge of the area with us and willing to go the extra mile (literally) to show us sites we were interested in.

We began with a walk through Wynwood to see the art walls; Walker told us about the history of the area – it was extremely troubled in the 1970s and 1980s, with lots of drug traffic and many buildings being abandoned. The city pretty much abandoned the area, and graffiti artists (among others) took advantage; today, many of the buildings are still vacant but covered with art, while others are being developed for housing and commerce. We were there early, so there weren’t many other people on the streets, but Walker assured us that it would be crowded by noon.

Then it was off to Everglades Safari Park for an airboat ride where we saw alligators, anhingas, great blue herons, and more, followed by a nature show and an unhurried walk on the nature trail.

Next, Walker took us to one of his neighborhood restaurants in Miami Beach (À la Folie Café) and gave us a walking tour of the Española Way area.

Our final stop was Little Havana; Walker told us the story of the area, introduced us to Big Papa at D’Asis Guayaberas (I almost bought a shirt there!), and showed us Domino Park and the Ball and Chain (which was run by Jewish gangsters in the 1950s!). One final stop at Azucar for ice cream and then it was back to our hotel for a quiet evening.