Miami!

As there has been nothing eventful to write about this week (I made a painful attempt to clean my apartment tonight.. and went to Home Depot to get potting soil... Work has been tedious due to harassment training and mundane tasks.), I'm going to divulge into the overdue vacation details.

Wednesday night I slept well and Kate and I got up bright eyed and made it down to Miami by 12:30. We drove around in circles for a bit once at Miami beach searching for parking. As fate would have it we finally managed to put the car in a public garage after a long trek avoiding blue hairs, gawking tourists, shopping ditzes, and the occasional vagrant. We had accomplished this feat, slightly bewildered at this point on our whereabouts, we were eager to become gawking tourists ourselves. We diligently tried to head back to where we believed the hotel was. We ended up heading about 3 blocks south, then walking to Washington St., and then searched for the hotel. Once at the "Greenview Hotel" entrance I looked across the street. With a roll of my eyes I realized that the garage we just walked 3/4 of a mile from was a block away, and the only obstacle separating us was a public parking lot that we could see across.

Anyway, that little fun fiasco behind us, we eagerly put our stuff in our Art Deco style hotel. Rooms were modest, but comfortable and clean. The walls were stucco, save one which had an interesting checkered pattern of slightly varying off white colors with an almost un-noticeable hint of turquoise. A brown, basket style woven mat covers most of the dark hardwood floors in these rooms. The furniture is simplistic, yet modern and stylish. The rooms have a bohemian sort of flare. One description we read upon choosing this hotel was a European style bed & breakfast. The bathroom in the room was small, but adequate with a tub, shower, and a very tiny sink. The rooms although modest in size, had 12 foot ceilings and huge windows which definitely added to the appeal. The room had a queen bed, cable TV and all that jazz.. but enough about that. On to what really matters....

FOOD! Kate and I were famished, not really eating much of anything. I had an oreo cookie for breakfast, and a gatorade along the way. I think Kate ate something before we left but I can't recall what. She's much more in tune to the whole breakfast thing than I am.



This first photo is where we decided to go for our lunch. It was noted in our travel guide to be a point of interest and a Miami beach mainstay. The crowd (well... Clientele, I should say rather) was for the most part locals. The service was the usual diner standard. The sandwiches were marvelous, and the stainless steel relic fit in wonderfully in the artdeco world. Both of these pieces of Americana representing vivid dreams of what the future might be like.

Next Kate and I traveled to Ocean drive... as you can see here by this sign it was 110 degrees out. The Miami natives personally vouch for the accuracy of this sign. The manhole cover scene in this photo, in fact is not any ordinary man hole but a spot where ceremonial sacrifices are offered daily to appease the powerful dark lords of the Miami Beach time and temperature sign. Word has it that goats, small children, and the occasional wombat make up most of the sacrificial offerings.

So at long last here we begin!

Moving right along next we have none other than the main attraction! Miami Beach! We went for an hour swim or so on our first day in SoBe. The water was beautiful and we didn't get eaten by sharks. What more can one ask for? I'm not certain why but the left side of this photo is a bit blurry, perhaps the motion was a bit much for my high quality disposable camera.


Next is a bit of the Artdeco scene on Collins Ave. I'm already longing for it, (sigh). I'm sure G. Gordon Liddy is out there somewhere in a leisure suit. Sure he is...


This next photo, is one of those boring ones. It is the type of thing people show you in a slide show and it means nothing to you because it doesn't seem very impressive. This was described however as a very important landmark. This home, is actually made of coral stone. You can see the coral right in the bricks. Supposedly there used to be a lot more of these, and now there are only two left in South Beach. This one is for sale. I guess they are fairly old, and there is some concern that they could be destroyed and lost for good... Or turned into a starbucks or something.


This last, a picture of Essex House on Washington Ave. is a classic example of the art deco style that permeates this district. Apparently at one point these structures were all simply off-white, and in renovations in the late 70s and early 80s, many structures were painted bright colors adding to the appeal.


The day ended off wonderfully. We walked down Ocean Ave at night taking in Miami Beach's extraordinary night life and neon lights. These art deco structures take an entire new look on once the lights go down. Unfortunately, I was unable to capture this with my camera. We walked down the 17th street mall, an outdoor mall that spans a dozen blocks or so. It was filed with cafe tables, sidewalk performers, and the occasional drag queen. It was something else!

I could really go into a lot more detail on all of this, and I wish I had the time to.

Anyway, I will continue on with the next installment, which will summarize day 2 in Miami, and the return to Orlando.

TGIF!!