Bayside Marketplace Review: Shopping and dining in Miami before a cruise.

When Joe and I plan a cruise out of Miami, we usually try to get into town the day or evening before we sail. Even though we live in Central Florida, a 3.5-4 hour drive, you never know when there will be a huge traffic jam on I-95. Or, if we are traveling on the Brightline train, when someone stupid enough will try to cross the tracks when the train is on its way and get hit by it, thus delaying it. So to be safe, we always arrive early, i.e. "the day before".

On the eve of our last cruise, we took the Brightline train and stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel. Since we didn't have a car, we were looking for a place nearby to have dinner and drinks. One of the hotel staff recommended that we visit the Bayside Marketplace, a two-story shopping center on Biscayne Bay. There are plenty of shopping and dining options there, and it's within walking distance of our hotel. I had heard of Bayside before, thanks to the free shuttle that goes back and forth from the cruise ships - so if you arrive very early before your cruise, you can spend time at Bayside until it's time to board the ship. I hadn't researched the place though, so I wasn't sure what to expect. If you've been to International Drive in Orlando, The Island in Pigeon Forge, Myrtle Beach VA, downtown Nashville, Biloxi, MS, Cocoa Beach, FL, "the strip" in Gatlinberg, Ocean City, MD, Navy Pier in Chicago, or any other beach town in the country, you've pretty much been to a place like Bayside Marketplace. Because yes, Bayside Marketplace is primarily a place for tourists and their sharing with their money as much as possible.

Here you can find almost every major restaurant chain known to humanity. Five Guys. Bubba Gump's. Margaritaville. Hard Rock Cafe. Landshark Bar & Grill. There are all the stores you see in every mall across the country: Claire's, Build A Bear, Express, Guess, Victoria's Secret. And if that's not enough, you can also check out the boutiques selling t-shirts, flip-flops, shells, cigars, and hats for every taste. Plus, there's a huge Ferris wheel here. Because nothing screams "TOURIST TRAP" like a giant Ferris wheel. During the day, Bayside is very crowded. And there are also some dangerous moments at night.

On the evening we went to Bayside, we stopped by Mojito Bar (yes, I know all the glasses say Daiquiri Bar). At that time, there was about half an hour until closing, so there weren't too many people. The mojitos were very good. Really good, in fact. But the background music in Mojito Bar was so loud that we had to shout to hear each other. We left the bar after two rounds. Obviously, Bayside hasn't always been like this. We have a few friends who live about an hour's drive from Miami, and they say that when Bayside opened around 1987, it was quite a nice place. This was during the real estate boom in Miami and when the show "Miami Vice" was airing (in fact, some episodes were filmed right in Bayside). Back then, both tourists and locals would come here. But now it’s just a shell of what it used to be - a place mostly geared towards tourists with standard shopping and dining options. Essentially, if you’re a fan of "U.S. Tourist Centers," you’ll probably enjoy Bayside Marketplace. But if you’re looking for something more elegant, calm, or even safe, you’ll find Bayside Marketplace quite terrible.

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