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Published: August 28th 2008
On the descent into Miami, the pilot announced that things could get a little bumpy as there were storms in the area. Within a minute it felt like the plane entered a 3 second asteroid field. It was violent but thankfully brief…sweaty palms again for me, while Sam sat back and enjoyed the ride!
We caught the shuttle bus to our hotel under a deluge of tropical rain. I was busy preparing myself for the conditions by heaving our bags from the storage area in the back of the vehicle over the seats to where we sat. This would prevent a soaking by not needing to go to the back doors. I then put my rain cover on my rucksack, and did the same with my daypack. Finally, I put my waterproof jacket on. I was now ready, and I’d done it all just in time to watch our driver pull up under the bone dry front entrance of our budget hotel. I emerged from the van feeling somewhat over-waterproofed, whilst Sam, who hadn’t prepared at all, jumped out and walked into the hotel………I think she knew!
Miami was the natural stepping stone, as our last stop in the
USA, before moving on to South America. But Florida in August is well into hurricane season (June to November), and although we chased storms through Tornado Alley, that wasn’t the plan in the Sunshine State.
The main reason for being in Miami was for art, but I don’t mean Art Deco. I mean body art!
For those of you that are not familiar with the TV series Miami Ink, it’s a fly-on-the-wall programme about a tattoo studio, its clients, and the stories behind their requested tattoos. I’d decided before we left that this was the place I wanted my first tattoo done. The design would capture our year away and encompass some of the most memorable moments, making it both unique and personal. I’ve been sketching it on and off since we’ve been away, adding to and changing the design as new experiences are incorporated.
However, our whole preconceived idea of a tattoo at Miami Ink started to get a reality check when I was told in an email that Chris Garver (the artist of choice) would not be available. We’d made the phone call and sent an email months before, but this reply came only a week
Miami Ink
The original studio - now just a merchandise shop or so before getting to Miami. So we turned up to see which one of the others would be drawing it. That was when we learned that the original studio is now just a merchandise shop, and when we did enter the new studio (a few doors away), we were bluntly informed that none of the artists in the show now routinely tattoo……which was followed by an awkward silence, and a piece of tumbleweed rolled across the studio floor.
This was a bit of a surprise, to say the least, and I needed time to think about what to do; a stiff drink was required. It’s great that these guys have become successful and wealthy enough to pursue others avenues and be very selective with the tattoos they still do, but this was a big deal. It was as much a part of the trip as the Great Wall of China, bungee jumping, or cage diving. Had they not read the script??! It was a big disappointment to us, to say the least.
I decided on going ahead with the tattoo, but we’d planned a short road trip in Florida and if I had the tattoo done before
Lifeguard's hut
South Beach - Miami it, it would prevent us from doing any swimming or diving, so we left it for our return to South Beach. For the meantime, we walked around Miami Beach, taking in the Art Deco area and checking out several restaurants and cafes. We had sunshine and then thunderstorms most days, and whilst sat in a bar one afternoon we saw the news reporting on a confirmed tornado touchdown only a few miles up the road.
Whilst kickin’ around South Beach we were offered free money. We knew the catch, a time-share talk, supposedly 90 minutes worth. We agreed, and it turned out better than we could’ve hoped. After waiting 50 minutes we were told that a representative wasn’t available to see us, so we got a free ride back to South Beach and $80 for our time, easy money!
We picked up our latest car (another free upgrade) and planned to head down to the Florida Keys. That’s when Fay stepped in. With Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly and Edouard being the first 5 hurricanes of the season, it was now Fay’s turn, and she was headed our way after killing 4 people in the Dominican Republic.
We
stopped in Homestead, on the east edge of Everglades National Park, for the first night to plan our next move, and we kept an eye on developments with regards to Fay. We decided to head down to Key West anyway, and just be a part of whatever excitement and chaos Fay would bring. The authorities however, had other plans, and when they started evacuating the 25,000 tourists and visitors from the Keys, we figured our chances of sneaking in undetected were zero, and our plans had to change. We weren’t too upset as we’d both been to the Keys before, so instead we drove to Everglades City on the southwest coast, where we thought we could stay and watch Fay pass through.
After only one night we were told that we couldn’t stay there any longer as they were expecting an 8ft swell with the coming hurricane. As an area surrounded by water, that would see our hire car submerged, and indeed the only people staying were a few with boats to get around if required in an emergency. We were now hurricane refugees.
Following a tentative enquiry, we were told to head to Naples, about an hour up
Doppler Radar Image
Fay moves in over Naples - Florida the coast, if we wanted to witness the hurricane. So that’s where we went and checked into a motel, keeping a close eye on the weather channel.
By the time Fay touched ground on Florida’s west coast she’d been downgraded to a tropical storm, much to everyone’s relief, except ours. We set the alarm clock for 5am which was perfect timing, and when Fay passed over, heading northeast with gusts of wind at 65mph and torrential rain (three and a half inches), it left 50,000 homes and businesses without power, us included.
We hung around Naples for 3 days, not really being able to do much else with the storm in one direction and flooding in the other. And then it was time to take the car back to Miami.
Once back in Miami, we caught the bus down to South Beach and returned to Miami Ink (or Love/Hate as it’s also now known). This time on entering the studio, we saw a different guy at the counter, but they all seem to have the same basic manner of belittling you and your choice of design if it hasn’t been picked from their portfolios. When I put my
drawing on the counter he studied it for all of two seconds before uttering this confidence building phrase;
“Well, basically you’re trying to fit 10lbs of shit in a 5lb bag!’
- translated from tattooed arsehole to English, this meant; your design is too small to fit in all this stuff that I don’t even want to understand (i.e. it’s non-traditional).
He then laid down a few hard truths, including the price, and then went to run the design past the actual artists who were sat in the back out of sight. One of the tattooists said they could work with the drawing, furthermore, to almost the exact dimensions - cue smug look no. 1.
We then took a seat on what should be named ’the nervous couch’ where people await the artist’s call.
My palms were producing more fluid than I could drink. For those of you that don’t know, this would be my first tattoo, and it was described as both ‘elaborate‘ and ‘a large piece’. Further to this, there was another niggling thought which was the main reason for my apprehension. Although I put needles in other people most days of my working life,
and had a bunch of vaccines before coming away, just over two years ago I failed to finish a 20 minute session of acupuncture because I felt I was going to pass out. It didn’t hurt at all, but I couldn’t prevent or control that ’closing in’ feeling and the session had to end. My fear was that it could happen again in this testosterone filled tattoo studio, and I knew if it started there was nothing I could do about it. The tattoo that I would be getting also meant that I had to sit; laying down would not be an option. I’m not afraid to admit it……I was nervous!
My tattooist, Morgwn, was completely different from the other guy, and I felt as comfortable as I could be as the ‘drawing’ was about to begin…………
So what does that tattoo gun feel like? It’s the million dollar question that everyone who has thought about having a tattoo, but has never had one, wants to know. For me, it felt like a hot Stanley blade scratching across my skin, but at the same time it didn’t hurt as much as that might sound. There, clear as mud! The
The work continues
Ami James, Chris Nunez and Yoji Harada (from the tv show 'Miami Ink') in the background first 30 seconds are the most uncomfortable, but after that you get used to it somewhat. Sam sat patiently, watching and taking the pictures, and was always there with some reassurance and water when I needed it.
Whilst I was being tattooed most of the usual suspects came in, including Ami James, Chris Nunez, Darren Brass and Yoji Harada. When Nunez came over and made a very positive comment on my tattoo, we looked to see if the wannabee at the counter was listening - cue smug look no.2.
With a short pause to stretch our legs, and a quick lunch break for him, the whole thing took approximately 3 hours, during which that horrible feeling never materialized once. I’m now convinced it was more to do with the needle placements on the energy and pressure points during that acupuncture session.
I have to say I’m chuffed to bits with how it’s turned out. It’s not traditional, but with all due respect, a koi carp or Japanese war mask was never going to capture what we’ve done and seen these last eleven months. The pictures are here for you to make up your own minds along with
The outline
Being tattooed at Love/Hate, also known as Miami Ink an explanation:
The tattoo Made up mainly of a navigational compass with planet earth in the centre, this obviously represents our travels around the world in all directions. Within the compass are castle-like ramparts, a reminder of the Great Wall of China. There is a traditional navigational ’N’ for North, and below it is a Great White shark’s tooth from our cage diving in South Africa.
Working clockwise is a scuba mask, representing the amazing dives we did in Oz. Then comes the traditional Chinese symbol for East. Next is a bungee jumper that symbolises all the adrenaline activities we did in NZ, as well as a huge personal achievement for me, you'll notice the bungee comes through a cloud which represents the one I fell through when skydiving.
The ‘S’ for South doubles as a ‘5’. and the letters ‘B’ and ‘G’ are dissected by the compass point which makes ‘BIG 5‘, for the truly amazing safaris we did in Tanzania. The Ngorongoro Crater still remains our most memorable and outstanding highlight of the trip.
Then comes the storm clouds, lightning, and a tornado which is not only for our storm chasing week in Tornado Alley, but our
The finished piece
See description.... brush with Hurricane Fay down on the southwest coast of Florida.
The ’W’ for West is done in this particular font because of our fantastic road trip through the wild west of the USA.
Next are the orca - a calf and an adult - for our killer whale encounters in Johnstone Strait, British Columbia.
Lastly there are 3 stars above the orca. These represent the ‘Orion’s Belt’ constellation, that has seemed to watch over our trip throughout the southern hemisphere, and also the amount of star gazing we‘ve done along the way, both in observatories and just out in the open, under the night sky.
And that just about wraps it up. To be honest it could have taken up my whole back, there have been so many memorable things, but there’s no point in trying to fit 80lbs of shit in a 40lb bag, now is there?
With only two days left in the USA, there was one last thing to round off our time here, and that was to go to an NFL game. The season hadn’t yet started, but the Miami Dolphins were playing a pre-season match against the Kansas City Chiefs. We went
to the reception desk at our hotel to ask for the bus numbers that would take us to the Dolphin Stadium, but we got a whole lot more. The hotel owner, Rocky, who happened to be around when we were asking (and was a Dolphins fan), not only offered us a lift to the game but also gave us two of his season tickets - talk about the right place at the right time.
The kick off was at 19:30, but when we arrived at 18:30 the car parks were nearly full with supporters who had been there for several hours already. We were educated to the fact that these matches are a day out, where fans turn up about four hours prior to the start and set up BBQs, crack open some drink and play games. There’re footballs flying around all over the place, as competitive dads wipe out their kids on the tarmac, and the smell of cooking meat is everywhere.
Not only have these Yanks pinched the name ’football’ from our beautiful game, they’ve changed the shape of the ball, and rarely use their ‘foots’ at all. Furthermore, they have fun outside the ground before
Palms
South Beach the game, instead of the traditional tear-up. It’s all very strange!
Once in the stadium, it’s hard to remember there’s a sporting occasion about to begin, as loud tannoy announcements, massive HD screen advertisements, and cheerleaders all demand your attention. When the game did finally start it took us back to when each of us with our Dads (and my brother), used to watch American Football on Channel 4 on a Sunday evening - back when the famous Dan Marino graced this stadium.
The Dolphins ran out easy winners with a 24-0 victory. Rocky was again on hand to deliver us safely back to our (his) hotel.
The next day we would be leaving not only Miami and Florida, but The United States of America as well.
Although we’d spent 3 weeks in Canada in between, our time spent in the US (whether that was chasing storms, visiting National Parks, or sightseeing in the big cities), had taken us to 16 different States, not including the 3 we’d entered via connecting flights or passed through on a train. Both of us have been to America before, but it’s only when you move away from the tourist areas that
Grid Iron
Dolphins vs Chiefs you really get a feel for how beautiful and diverse this massive country is, both geographically and culturally; the spectrum is unbelievable.
New York and Miami are like cultural experiments, that should be experienced, before returning back to normal life - it’s hard to believe that people actually live in these places. Furthermore, those same people would tell you that they couldn’t think of living anywhere else - sporting legends living the American dream, while others rummage around in trash cans for their dinner.
It’s a country that’s made up of places of incredible natural beauty and sometimes spoilt by completely false sincerity as its tipping ’culture’ spirals out of control.
Whilst McCain and Obama run for the White House, a fellow American lives in a Mormon community involved in polygamous marriages, which includes his 12 year-old daughter.
That said, it’s the diversity that makes it fascinating, and we still have 34 States left to explore!
Being back in western civilization has given us our freedom back, and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. We’ve preferred the small towns, like Sedona, to the big cities, choosing scenery over skyscrapers.
We now head for South America, somewhere neither of us
have been. Apart from a brief stop in Madrid, it’s the last leg of our journey. We’re hoping this 3 week glimpse of South America proves easier than Asia, as once again we enter a world of foreign languages, unreliable transport systems and pets for dinner. We’re gonna have to deal with altitude, and probably attitude, as we make our way to what might be considered the Holy Grail of the continent……Machu Picchu.
The question is, will this Wonder of the World be able to beat the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania as the cherry on top of an already fantastic cake…………?
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Tony
non-member comment
Hurricanes
I was born and raised in South Florida, and let me say first if you didnt go to the beach a couple hours before the storm passed im sorry because is a fun thing to see, My family goes every hurricane, as well if the eye of the storm passes over your house you have to go outside and check it its the weirdest 5 minutes of your life the bigger the hurricane the better. Theres no need to be afraid of the hurricanes because houses are built much better these days ;). By the way nice car :) I thought i would pass this site along to you its called www.baraaza.com its a cool travel site to share experiences and such. I think you should check it out! Tony