During the winter break, I took another trip to Bayside. This time, I was not wandering around alone, but went with a youth group. After taking pictures by the Christmas tree/Christmas decorations, we took a boat ride tour around downtown Miami, which I’ve never been on before. What made this time special was not only the fact that I got a different view of downtown Miami, but the experience I had with the people there. We walked around, laughed at jokes, and bonded in a way I did not expect. This trip reminded me that no matter what you are doing, it will always be enjoyable if you do it with the right people.
As we neared downtown Miami, I already started to take pictures of the city.
View of Bayside from the stairs.
After purchasing our boat ride tickets, we were given tickets to get a free drink at this restaurant. Unfortunately, we were later informed that the ticket is limited to a soda, water, or beer.
Views from inside the boat
After a while, we went outside so that we can feel the breeze and so our view wasn’t limited to looking through a window.
On Saturday, my parents and I went to Bayside, an outdoor two story marketplace near the Biscayne Bay. My mother told me she has been thinking about going there for a while now, and I don’t remember the last time I visited Bayside, so going here presented the perfect opportunity for a photo essay, walking around, and family bonding.
Throughout our visit to Bayside, we listened to a band play, saw people dancing, visited souvenir shops and the food court. The band consisted of about five people, playing well known songs such as “I like it,” while people bopped their heads, recorded, and danced. Souvenir shops varied from places with key chains, postcards, hats, and T-shirts with “Miami” on them. There were many places to eat both upstairs and downstairs with different kinds of foods: steak, plantain, pastries, fast food and so forth.
As I passed by different stores, I photographed them, trying to soak in everything, admiring the different places there, and capturing moments. I don’t know when my family will make a visit to bayside once more, so I felt that the pictures will later serve as memories that I can reminisce on. Perhaps the next time I have a chance to go Bayside, the hat shop and the podiatric based store across it won’t exist anymore. Or perhaps this is the last time I’ll have the chance to go with my parents, making the memories we made at Bayside the last ones we make there together. Basically, I felt and still feel that taking pictures of the different places here that I can look back on later holds great importance.
Although there was a lot of people there, it wasn’t crowded. There was never a space completely full, so finding a place to buy something without a long line, or simply somewhere to sit was hassle free. This gave everyone, tourists and locals, a chance to shop and enjoy what the place had to offer.
This is Bayside.
After spending over ten minutes trying to find a parking space and walking, my parents and I finally reached the front of the Bayside Marketplace.
The sign above says “the Pier 5 Marketplace,” and it was one of the first things that caught my eye.
As we walked through the Marketplace, signs containing the stores’ names and flags of countries around the world appeared up above.
Some stores and souvenir shops had displays such as this on the wall just outside the shop, promoting their items and showing creativity.
We stopped at a few shops ourselves, one in which my dad tried on a few hats before purchasing the navy blue one seen in the photo above.
We also passed by stores with artwork inside
After my parents and I visited and passed by the souvenir shops, we did the same for different restaurants and the food court.
At this restaurant, Mambo, there was music playing and song singing, giving the people there a source of entertainment.
We then headed to a stand with ice cream. My mom purchased a cookies and cream flavored one and shared some with my dad.
As we started to make our way back to the front, we saw different boats in the bay.
Near the parking lot, the “Bayside” sign was still visible. I took a photo of it to conclude the visit the trip to Bayside I made with my parents.
Inside an Optimist's Mind 