The Dawn of 2009

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Happy New Year!
Here's to 2009. Have you been keeping your resolutions? No, thought not.
Anyway we just wanted to wish you good luck for 2009 and make the most of the free internet before we leave Miami tomorrow.
NYE was pretty cool here. We headed out for a late meal and tried to figure out which club to go to (most starting at $200 a head). In the end we decided to make the most of being in a warmer climate and so we decided to hit the beach. We went down towards Ocean Drive and it was packed with revellers. It is a bit strange in the US as there is no countdown to the New Year, so you had different groups cheering at different times, which was odd. Anyway we sang Auld Lang Syne ourselves and avoided the odd curious stare. They had fireworks on the beach at midnight and we were in prime position to see them. We then got out our (cheap) champagne and went to one of the abandoned lifeguard towers on the beach to toast '09. Quite a lot of others did the same and it seemed that many were spending the whole night there. I thought it would be a cool idea to stay up all night and see the first dawn of the new year, but Fiona thought I wouldn't be able to do it. I couldn't turn down that challenge, so whilst Miss Hazelton got some beauty sleep I used various methods (some included alcohol I confess) to keep myself awake. Well I did it and woke Fi up at 6am to drag her to the beach. Unfortunately it was cloudy so no chance to see the sunrise, but it was pretty awesome to see the various morning colours. New Year's Day was a bit of a washout, literally. After getting a few hours kip we headed to the restaurants for brunch, an idea that everyone seemed to have. There were queues everywhere, except for one place, and we soon realised why. For the next two hours, what ensued was one of the worst, though funniest, dining experiences of my life. I'm not sure if the staff were hungover or what but they got every tables' order wrong, and I mean everyones. Not only that they sometimes got it wrong more than once. One table didn't even get served and they left with a huff. As for us, Fiona got the wrong omlette, though still ate it, whilst I got an omlette instead of a sandwich. I had to wait about half an hour for them to sort it out. We warned other people not to come as they were standing around, but you can't warn some people and low and behold their order was wrong. The fire alarm went off and to top it all they got our bill wrong as well. You just had to laugh at how bad it was, and still the waiter seemed surprised when we didn't leave a tip. On another light note, there was a young couple who had obviously only met that night, still partying and stumbling all over the place. Later that evening it rained, so it was a pretty poor start to 2009 for us!
The next day we needed a break, so we headed north on the freezing air-con bus to a place called Bal Harbour. The beach was beautiful there, almost deserted, with great views (it should be said that the beaches here are some of the best we have been to, much better than the Med). Bal Harbour is also a famous nuddist destination. I know what you're thinking, did we or didn't we? Well you know us - 'When in Rome'. So yes we did, totally nuddy, walking along the beach in full view so everyone could gawp at our milky white bodies. At least our tan has improved. It was actually quite a liberating experience, people just acted normally. One couple even asked me to take pictures of them for their holiday snaps. One down note for me was that most of the people there were gay men, so whilst Fi got to size me up I had to suffice with the more mature voluptuous ladies. It certainly is odd that these places tend to be used by older people with, how can I put this delicately, less desirable figures. It was quite fun and felt weird to put our clothes back on. And yes there was a volleyball court, but it was too busy for us to join. There was even people doing yoga, bending over to reveal all, and to think I thought there was some places that the sun couldn't shine, but like many things it is a myth! (It is odd that there are signs warning people that nudists are about, yet most problems always seem to come from those with clothes on)
Well, we needed something 'tasteful' after that so we headed to the Wolfsonian Museum for a free tour (we are supposed to be travelling on a budget). It was pretty cool and had a timely exhibition on the Great Depression of 1929 and the New Deal. We followed this by eating 3 foot-long hotdogs wrapped in bacon (it was cheap but was pretty rank) on my insistance, so Fi had a bit of the hump with me. Though by saving money we could go to a supposed rock club which was playing The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and hip hop music...
Miami has some cool nightlife and we've avoided the big, showy clubs (not least because of the huge queues and huge $$$ to get in!). It is not a place that either of us would probably come back too as literally there is nothing to do but go on the beach, which is where we're headed now. Going to soak up some rays before heading to the Everglades tomorrow and canoeing with the gators.
We have seen some sights in Miami. One of the oddest was a man in a wheelchair rolling around with portable dvd players strapped to each wheel, blaring out loud music and all lit up. Only in Miami.
Bye for now xxx

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Photos

NYE
Eating ice cream, yum, yum. Hope it wasn't too cold back home.

NYE on the beach
Toast to 2009

Holocaust memorial
Pretty haunting. Something meaningful amongst the sun and beach.

Comments

[Nicola]

ha ha
Happy New Year to you both! ha ha what a funny blogg you guys!! keep em coming and be careful in the everglades!

[Steve and Sophe]

Are you OK?
Hi both. We're beginning to wonder what's happened to you both?! Three weeks and no news. Hopefully the gators haven't got you. Looking forward to some news soon and where you've been. US must have been Obama mad recently. Went to go and see some dance on Saturday. Some of it was fanastic, even some of the hiphop stuff. There was some acrobatics that had to be seen to be believed. Met up with Nan a couple of weeks ago which was good as hadn't seen her for ages. Little Alex is growing up quickly. Hope you're not going to put any naked pictures of yourself onto the blog - the sight of Michael with his shirt off was enough to turn my stomach. Whatever will Mum say. But suppose it's better to do that sort of thing over there that on a freezing day in the north east. Hope all is well.

[shan feifei]

Minami beach,beatifui.
Thankyou for introducing the beatiful place to me,it took me breath!