Christmas in Miami

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We arrive at the Cadet hotel in Miami it is just around the corner from Ocean Drive which unfortunately puts that dreadfully bland song by the Light House Family into my head every time I see a sign. The Hotel is a modern boutique style, clean lines, Egyptian cotton bedding, white walled, fresh and stylish. The staff cannot do enough to help us during our stay from sorting out my wireless connection to unblocking the toilet, a job no one should have to do on Christmas day.

One block up and two blocks across from our hotel was Lincoln Road a pedestrianised street full of fashionable clothing stores, art galleries, book shops, restaurants and bars. Our favourite haunt along here was Divine, a red lounge bar serving cocktails, hookah pipes and Lebanese style cuisine. We felt totally relaxed here the attentive, friendly staff keeping us well contented. Just across the road from the end on Lincoln Road we found Presto Pizza where we had the best Veggie burger and fries that I have ever tasted. The perfect comfort food whilst nursing a hangover. The burger kept me full nearly all day. There was never a dull moment at Presto Pizza, we visited three times during our four day stay in Miami. The serving staff were real characters, more abrupt than I am used to but friendly and very funny coping admirably with the many variant of drunken, confused and reality challenged individuals who wondered in off the street. The interesting individuals would rant, try and steal the tips bucket and ask for slices of pizza from the customers by grunting and pointing with one hand whilst waiving a half empty, or half full depending on your out look, bottle of Vodka in the other.

It was a few doors down where I purchased a mini laptop from some grumbling, grouchy Israeli guy who sat in a beaten up leather chair complaining how tired he was during my initial inquires. He leaped into action when he realised that a sale was a possibility and we haggled over price whilst he, smiling now, still complained about how tired he was. Any way we settled at $100 dollars less than the original asking price. I have since downloaded AbiWord a free piece of word processing software with spell checker so hopefully from here on in my awful spelling on this blog should improve. I also got a version of Gimp for Windows which is a free Photoshop style piece of software hence the influx in photos posted on Flickr

On Christmas day we got up around four and drank some white wine spritzers before wandering down to Ocean Drive to find a restaurant for Xmas dinner. Everything was pretty much open as usual including grocery, cloths and electrical shops. I guess Christmas isn't quite the same family holiday here as it is in the UK.

I ate tuna and mash for Christmas dinner accompanied by a bottle of wine, beer, some chocolate based cocktail and the largest Long Island Ice tea I have ever seen. The main course came before we had finished our starters and had to be sent back and the restaurant only had one bathroom which there was a constant queue for apart from that everything was fine. The Long Island Ice Tea hit me pretty hard and the rest of the evening had that dream like quality you get when reaching just the right level of alcohol to make everything sparkle. We had another awful cocktail in some tacky bar before going to the beach. It was a beautiful night the stars and street lights shinning. We paddled at the waters edge before I stripped to my under ware and went for a swim in the calm, warm sea. It felt great. We walked back to the hotel along the beach and I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow waking next morning with a dreadful boxing day hang over and sand in between the white, Egyptian cotton sheets.

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Comments

[Ian Kenworthy]

“Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.” Kafka
Happy new year! I loved the photos. Still not enough of the two of you, I can't help feeling your selection is over edited, not a grimace or a half closed eyes shot amongst them. Perhaps I'm judging you by my own poor grotesque Channel 5 freak show standards. You both look really well, Lou looks as unruffled and photogenic as ever and you seemed to have run the whole gammet of emotions from deeply concerned to wide-eyed enthusiam. My favourites are Lou looking slightly sneery at the summit of sugar loaf mountain and you looking like a low rent traffic cop from Deliverance at Igassu falls. It's probably not a very sympathetic point of view, but your tangles with the administration of B.A. have definitely added a whole new dimension to your blog. I know it must be deeply frustrating for the pair of you, but for some reason I find it easier to picture you drunkenly ranting about 'striving for excellence' and compensation than quietly sipping a beer and admiring the view. It's heartening to see that your surroundings and other experiences seem to be far outweighing these logistical 'opportunities'. Christmas sounded fantastic and I trust New Year was good. I'm guessing you've already left New Orleans so any suggestions such as have a go on one of those boats that look like a tea tray with a big fan on the back and take a drive over to where the plantations are/were are pretty much redundant. City are out of the bottom three and we seem to be attempting to kick start the world economy single-handed by offering the GDP of a small European country for any big-name player. It's all speculation and rumour, but it's given me something to do at work. Vernon got to ride in the front seat of a car (no back seats) for the first time today. I didn't get to see it myself, but Karen's description makes me wish I was three again, although the incontinence and disapproving looks whilst drinking and smoking would probably get me down after a while. The book you recommended last time doesn't seem to exist anywhere on the internet, could you try again and this time conform to those pedants and nitpickers who insist on spelling names and titles the way the authors do, rather than how you think they would be spelled if you were in charge. Hope you are both still wallowing in your own good fortune. K xxx