Miami Adventures

If it was possible to steal houses, I would settle here at Miami Beach and one by one remove all those on the Art Deco strip.(We've only really seen the Miami Beach area, so the rest of the place could be an utter dump.) Margs' affection for the architecture in New Orleans is rivaled by mine for these beautiful buildings. I've got many, many photos on facebook so I won't go on for paragraphs describing them. I'm also mad on the out-of-my-price-range jewellery and am coveting some 1950s sunglasses that, no matter how many times I do the sums, won't fit in my budget.

Up until now we've been moving in fast forward, eager to fit as much as we can in our 16-hour days. Here the warmer weather (comparatively warmer if not true warmth) has reflected our daily activities. Mostly we stroll along the beachfront and eat. We even ventured out on to the sand to read in the sun.

Our first day we treated ourselves to lunch at a delicious cafe where they serve cocktails in bucket-sized glasses. I had the yummiest pesto pasta that doubled as lunch today too. It was washing day so we had to hike to the nearest coin laundry, a new experience for us, where we sat for two hours before trekking back to the hostel, happy that we would be waking up to a clean outfit the following day.

Definitely made the right decision on changing hostels: free pancake breakfast each morning, clean rooms and nice people.

Day two was tour day. I was slight disappointed by Key West. The four-hour bus drive down was gorgeous: on one side the Atlantic Ocean, on the other side was the Gulf of Mexico. Imagine driving on water, every so often tripping over an island or 44, and that's what it felt like. We were let off in the historic part of town where the word 'historic' was synonymous with 'dilapidated'. At one time the population of Key West boasted the wealthiest people in America, though by the time Hemingway made it his home the average wage was $7. Now the place is set up for tourists, and Margs tells me cruise ships dock daily. While she headed up to the Hemingway museum (his former home) I opted for a more comprehensive experience and visited the Historical and Art Museum at Custom House for half the price. I got caught up on local history, which is very interesting but unless I receive specific quests I won't bore those who couldn't care less! Margs and I met up and took a stroll to the bookshop we'd spied on the way. No special finds, but still marvel at the hardcovers. We eventually found our way back to the meeting place (we had four hours of exploratory time) where we found, to our small-minded amusement, our bus driver stuck in a tight situation, which was getting tighter with every turn of the wheel. After much tooting, some reckless reversing and, I'm quite sure, a whole lot of luck, she got us out and on our way.

Last day in Miami today. We journeyed to the only bookshop in Miami Beach and I picked up another book, Julie Hearn's YA Ivy, as I finished Nancy Werlin's Impossible (which I wouldn't recommend, despite the terrific reviews it's received) on the bus trip the day before. Dad, still searching for American Journey but no luck yet. I also finished The Diary of a Provincial Lady, which I would recommend if anyone is searching for some reading material.

Shuttle bus to Orlando was an hour and a half late so both have decided that we aren't tipping. Cannot wait to visit Disney World.

Haven't been at my best the last few days, courtesy of a small carton of orange juice drunk on the way home from coin laundry (last time I ever buy something for entertaining packaging) so haven't experienced the Miami nightlife like Margs has (even though my bedtime averages midnight) who didn't get in till 6am this morning so prepare to be entertained by her accounts.

Hope everyone is enjoying the heat - we didn't get that promised twenty degrees but my not-so-trusty weather site declares it will be 21 in Orlando tomorrow. We'll see.

xoxo