Thanks: 
Likes: 
We left our house around 4am and drove to the airport. I had reserved a spot online ahead of time due to the holiday. Flights were both full, pretty uneventful. American Airlines is strict with their mask policy and we saw the flights attendants remind a few people to pull it up over their nose. They do not allow masks with valves on them and made people change out of those. We were in business/first class and thankfully our flight landed about 15-20 minutes ahead of schedule. When we landed in Miami and gate 10 our next flight was already boarding at gate 50. Jon thought we could walk faster than taking the tram. I think he was wrong but we made it as groups 7 and 8 were lining up. I boarded the plane in a sweaty panic, but was greeted with the smiles of Andrea and Paul and was able to settle in nicely.
I cannot stress this enough, print your paperwork. I had ours in a binder with pockets and it worked well. I think our flight was the only one arriving which made things go pretty quickly. We had time for a stop at duty free and then the bags were out. The only place I felt like people were not respecting social distancing was in the customs line waiting to get outside. We used our bags a physical barrier behind us. We had a great taxi driver and made it to Playa Linda with ease.
I was a little disappointed when we got to our room. There was a musty smell, as though either the balcony door was left open or the room had been closed off for a while. We turned the AC a little lower and it seems to be getting better. The master shower in the Phase 3 building last year was a beautiful walk in. This year we are in Phase 1 and they definitely have not remodeled the showers on this side yet. But the balcony makes it all worth it. I will add some pictures.
Tried to hit our usual first stop at Pelicans Nest Pier bar, but the bar side is only open on weekends right now, disappointing but understandable. We went to the restaurant side and recognized some our favorite waiters so that was nice. We had strawberry daiquiris, ceviche and almond (non)grouper fingers. From there we went to Carlitos to catch some NFL games. My fantasy football QB was on fire! I had Aruba Aribis, Jon had Coronas (no bud lights - tragic for him LOL). When we got there, about 4 tables were in use. When the Cowboys/Washington game came on the place cleared out, we were the only ones there. Not too many people anywhere, the beach, the walking path. You can feel the island is hurting. We were tired and the place was dead so we headed to the PL Beach bar. They have added high top tables to avoid bar seating. No football on there so we came back to the room. We found our game on TV and ordered delivery from Azia. We had Mongolian beef (just okay), an assortment of dumplings, a tuna roll, and the best chicken wings I've had on the island. Our friends from home loved this place and highly recommended it. We loved it. The online ordering and delivery was easy.
We had a nice relaxing evening in our room and the Washington win made us very happy campers.
Today will be a beach day.
Here is my photo link, I will add to it throughout our visit. https://photos.app.goo.gl/gGZcJXnuM3DJkxvy9
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Originally Posted by kemperato
