Is it Christmas?

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First and foremost hello and a belated Merry Christmas to y'all!
Well here we are in Miami and the weather is hot hot hot baby! It took a fair while to drive here from Savannah, not least because we wanted to take scenic routes down the coast but ended up getting nowhere fast and to boot it was hot and sticky in the car so in the end we opted for the fastest way south down the interstate. We've left the peaceful existence that was Koinonia (Fi has forgotten to mention that we had a lovely Xmas meal there on our last day where I delivered a poem I had written to the assembled masses. They really liked it and asked me to send them copies - M) and entered the mad, crazy, noisy and sublime world that is Miami South Beach, and after getting used to people and city life again we are thoroughly enjoying it, as you might expect! Although I'm sure we've spent more time in the library than on the beach, it's nice and cool in here that's for sure! But Christmas it ain't, at least not as far as we can tell! Yeah there's a few santa hats here and there but on Chrimbo Day everyone was on the beach, shops (inc clothes, McDonalds, pharmacies - you name it) were open and it was just another day in paradise...
En route to Miami we kinda went out our way to visit Savannah, one of Georgia's most beautiful and regal-like coastal towns, and it was definitely worth the detour. We only had one day there but made the most of it as we explored the beautiful tree-lined squares and historic houses and churches. And it was so warm, a taste of things to come. In the afternoon we headed to nearby Tybee Island and the beach which was lovely and unspolit with sand dunes and a lighthouse to boot. And we saw dolphins a few feet away in the water! It was fantastic, we weren't expecting that but certainly saves a few quid going on the so-called dolphin cruises. And I saw loads of birds too - brown pelicans, ring-billed and laughing gulls, bufflehead ducks, black headed skimmers and Forster's terns - this won't mean much to anyone but I just wanted to excite the RSPB guys a little! And we saw a most glorious sunset there too - how many superlatives can I use?! In the evening we headed to the Savannah riverfront to eat; we saw this one bar which had jambalaya on the menu and M was excited about this as he'd eaten it in Tesco and it was nice so up the stairs we went. There were a couple of locals drinking outside and a young punky waitress in skimpy dress chatting with them and smoking (!) In his best English accent M bursts out with 'table for two' please and I could quite clearly see this wasn't no fancy table-seating place - you pulled up a stool wherever there was space and hollered out load if you wanted to order summit! Needless to say she looked at him and smirked along with the other two guys, I was so embarrssed and laughed too. However, we stuck it out and sat outside anyway with a nice view of the river. She was so amazed with our accents she pulled up a chair and sat with us, chatting away, swearing, smoking - this was certainly a place with 'character'. However, the food was good - I tried breaded cat fish (tasted like fish fingers to me) and M enjoyed his dish although reckoned Tesco's version was nicer...Savannah by night is very different from the quaint daytime, with general rowdiness and street drinking, an interesting contrast for sure. Pretty cool place though, very arty (again) and my new favourite city I think, for now anyways.
And so we hit Miami on Monday morning and dropped off our rental car, which we hired from DC, and back to sweating and lugging our worldly possesions across the bumpy streets again. As we arrived early we couldn't check into our hotel-cum-apartment yet so left our stuff at check-in and with four hours to kill where did we head first? The library of course! This free internet is a boon though. We then went to the beach to eat our jam bagels (part of the morning's continental breakfast buffet at overnight hotel enroute) but headed for the nearest palm tree for shade - it takes a while to aclimatise! Walking along the streets we stopped off at a tour operator and sure enough the guy was trying to sell us day trips to see the city and Disneyworld etc. He enquired where we were staying and how much, to which I replied about $100 a night (and then some) and he said why don't you see Belinda next door, she rents out apartments for only $60 a night. So we did, and she had a room we could stay in, right on the street, with double bed, private bathroom, huge closet, costing only $300 a week!!! This is the sale of the century folks - we were paying $300 for one night alone (NY Eve) at the other place! Okay, the room is a bit shabby and very noisy, the water was a but rusty when it first came out of the taps, the towels aren't the cleanest and I've seen a couple of cockroach-type creatures lurking about (ssshhhh - I haven't told M!), but hey, this is so good for Miami I said to M it was crazy not to take it, and we could splash out a bit more for Chrimbo and NY Eve. Plus it's in a residental apartment block full of cuban people, so we're living more like locals and less like tourists, although M was worried about security of course! Anyway, we cancelled the other, more swish place (although had to forfeit one night's stay but still worth it) and moved straight in. Touch wood, it's been okay so far! Although the first night we hardly got any sleep due to traffic noise, and to top it off there was a car crash right outside about 1.30am, and it was scary cos I think the occupants of the crashed car were being chased by another car trying to run them over!! Then the police and fire rescue came with flashing lights etc - this didn't instill much confidence re our location I can tell ya! However, we've gotten used to the hustle and bustle, I've invested in a good set of earplugs and we're trying not to go to bed too early (this is party central after all).
On Christmas day it was sunny but windy (in fact, when we first arrived here it was pretty overcast and windy most days with rain on Chrimbo Eve!). After opening our pressies to each other wrapped in carrier bags, we treated ourselves to cooked breakfasts and pancakes at the local diner (it was packed) before hitting the beach and walking for what seemed like miles to find a beach bar. We sunbathed, I swam in the choppy sea (and got whistled at by the lifeguard as there were dangerous undercurrants and marine life!) and it was generally fantastic. We then hit the beach bar for cocktails before strolling back to shower. I discovered I got burnt (Will she never learn? - M) and we headed to another diner for a good ol' turkey dinner (Miami style) - we had to do something traditional after all! After strolling around the packed streets we spontaneously decided to go into a middle Eastern bar and smoked a sheisha pipe (or Hookah as they're known here). I was quite surprised that M was up for it as he was tired and it was smoking for Gawd's sake but hey, why not end Chrimbo day as we started - very unorthodox! We had coconut flavour and it's very mild, without tobacco, but pretty cool and relaxing with a couple beers to boot. What a great end to a pretty great xmas day in Miami - perhaps not something you'd wanna do every year but a nice change from Eastenders and cold turkey sarnies!
Anyway, I've written loads and I'm sick of this library - someone get me outta here! It's sunny outside and I need to get burnt some more!! Take care folks and another exciting installment soon.
Check out our two videos that we've posted too for a change!
Laters xxx

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Photos

Celebration
Loads of these signs were dotted enroute to Savannah in Georgia

Tree-lined square, Savannah
I want to live here too!

Jewish church
M looks pretty cute in a Jewish cap and keeps getting approached, I think he should convert!

Dolphin
Yes it is a dolphin we promise, that speck in the ocean!

Birdies!
Skimmers on beach

Another great sunset
Nuff said!

Sunshine state
At last!

First taste of Miami beach
Sitting in the shade of course!

Drama
Car crashes and wannabe hit and runs outside our room on first night!

Smokin' Christmas night
Contrary to how it looks, M wasn't stoned, just very chilled out!