Three weeks of pleasure and fun

As is now traditional (well the last three times) I conclude this year's holiday blog with a brief summary and review.

Highlights

It has been a great holiday and I could list for each day one or two exceptional events which have provided great memories, and on some days many more events. But stopping at the end of the holiday, with most of the clothes washing complete and life about to return to the normal routine I think I should challenge myself to pick one or two of the most special memories.

For me the two special highlights were Marco Island and Key West. Marco Island because it lived up to all that had been promised when Karen Fitzgibbon suggested I should include it in our visit. The air-boat in the Everglades and the real boat in 10,000 islands were occasions I will remember for as long as I have a memory. Key West because it was so distinctive, exceptionally laid back, and so different from anything I have experienced in my many visits to the USA. 

Disney World was wonderful too, but having been here once before as well as to the Paris version, the pleasure was high, but didn't stand out as much as Marco and Key West as new experiences. Though the room and the view of Cinderella's Castle from our Grand Floridian Room was rather special. <<Co-pilot's note: We also got to meet Merida, it turns out she is a lovely lass and not at all scary as she appeared on the parade. She and I were going to have some cake for my birthday, but I had to go and have dinner with Mr B instead!!>>

In truth I wouldn't remove any aspects of the holiday, it has worked really well indeed and provided a good balance of busy times and relaxation.

So what would I have done differently. I think the most obvious would be to have found out more about Miami than I had done in advance. The detailed planning for what we were going to do on each day in Disney, and the plans for Marco Island meant that Key West and Miami came as something of an afterthought, this worked well in Key West where exploration on foot was easy, but less so in Miami, which we could have got more out of with better planning. Still it wasn't a bad experience.

Travel

I often mention mileage in these last post summaries, but this year we only drove 1,158 miles in 28 hours and 36 minutes compared to close to 4,000 miles in recent USA trips and 2,500 last year going to, and around, Scotland. We have also done much more walking than in previous holidays.

Our walking the first week in Disney is reported here with an average of 5.53 miles a day. Our second week was less active in walking terms with an average of 1.83 miles. Then in the last week we did: 

• Sunday in Key West - 5.9 miles
• Monday in Key West - 7.9 miles
• Tuesday between Key West and Miami - 3.8 miles
• Wednesday in Miami - 6.6 miles  
• Thursday in Miami - 6.3 miles 

So while we have eaten a lot we have exercised too, so my belt is still in the same belt notch as it was when we came away.  

Food

Talking of food, my best meal was definitely that for Drew's birthday at the Queen Victoria Room in Disney World, a close second was Truluck's in Miami. We have also been lucky with much more rough and ready places which have still achieved excellent food. The Snook Inn on Marco Island and El Siboney in Key West were not pretentious, but served wonderful food that I really enjoyed. As I write I am remembering many other lovely places, but I'll stop there, as otherwise you might end up with a long list. With only Nacho Mama's in Marco Island disappointing.

Help on the Journey

Friends have been active on the blog, flickr, facebook and twitter in commenting. It always makes the blog more interesting when we get feedback, so thanks to all of you who have taken the time and effort to make a contribution or even a 'like'. It has been a great joy for us on the journey.

Mentioning Flickr reminds me that we have 3,042 photos in this year's holiday album. Compared to 2,290 in Scotland, 3,389 in the USA in 2015 and 2,789 in 2013 though nowhere near the 3,978 we took on our train tour of Southern Europe in 2012.

Looking Forward

So thank you all, this is the end of the blog. Having celebrated Drew's 40th this year, it is my turn for the big birthday next year (i.e. I'm 60). So our next trip will take us from Marblehead in Massachusetts to Seattle in Washington state via the four Canadian Provinces we have not previously visited - Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba along with one we spent a day in during 2015 (Ontario). So why not come and join us next August as we head out on our next adventure.

Travelling Home

On Friday morning I was again up at five, wrote the blog post I posted that morning and planned a relaxed start to the day as we didn't need to check-out until Midday.

Breakfast

We showered (me) and bathed (Drew) and prepared for today's journey. We went down to breakfast a little later than usual at 9.00am. It was much busier at 9 than it has been at 8.30 on the last few days. As it is Friday I have a day of abstinence so it was Cheese Omelette and a selction of cheeses (Provolone, American and Swiss) for me, plus orange juice and coffee. 

Drew did have meat, and the meat for today is Maple Sausage, Drew was perplexed by the name <<Co-pilot's note: It was more a sense of bewilderment than perplexity.>> and even more perplexed when he tasted it. He wondered why anyone anyone would put Maple Sauce into Sausage Meat before making a sausage – he will never understand it. <<Co-pilot's note: Along with Cold Brew!!>>

After breakfast we went back upstairs and packed and prepared for the journey. 

It was a lovely sunny day in Miami.

Travelling to the Airport

We went down to check out at 11am and at 11.15 were in the car ready to head to Orlando.

The route was like this:

The drive out of Miami was relatively easy, with only four turns before we reached the I95 and then travelled for 8 miles until we met the FL826 - The Ronald Reagan Turnpike - and travelled for 211 miles.

At 1:40 we arrived at the Fort Drum Service Plaza and stopped for a loo visit and a coffee. We left Fort Drum at 2.20pm and completed the journey to the Hertz Orlando Airport drop-off at 3.31pm. 

Orlando Airport

We got the stuff out of the car and got the lift to the check-in area of the Airport. We checked in at 3.40pm, there was no one in the queue ahead of us for Premium Economy and, like at Gatwick, there was a ‘fast-lane’ for security for Premium Economy customers (called TSA pre-checked). This meant that we didn’t need to take off our shoes or belts or take out PCs etc out of our bags. This made life so, so much easier.

We were quickly through the check, though Drew set the bleeper off again and needed to walk through the more complex imaging system, for them to find nothing. We got the shuttle out from the main airport to the international gates and arrived in the lounge, called The Club at MCO by 4.15pm. 

The club is very well laid out with work, food, relaxing and bar areas. It also has very smart toilets and shower rooms, though we didn’t use the latter. 

As it is Friday I had a salad and some crisps for my snack and some pretzels later. I also had a few diet cokes and coffees while checking emails, Facebook and typing up my notes from today. 

The Flight

Premium Economy and Upper Class are able to board ahead of other passengers, so we were on board at 6.50pm and offered drinks, we both had Orange Juice.

The flight left the gate at 7.50pm (12.50am UK time) and was in the air ten minutes later. The cabin we were in was in the bump at the top of a Boeing 747. This area is right behind the flight deck.

Dinner was served at 2.10am. It now being Saturday I was happy to be eating meat. I opted for the Beef Stew which was a lovely stew with a balsamic and pepper sauce served with baby carrots, green beans and mashed potatoes. Drew opted for a Chicken Curry with ratatouille and mashed potato, the curry was very taste with lovely chunks of chicken, the ratatouille was also chunky with veg. The one surprise was that the current was served with mashed potato not rice - which seemed odd to Drew. We also had a starter of a fresh salad which was crisp and tasty. There was a dessert of Custard Tart with dried raspberries, Drew had my dessert while I had his cheese (American) and saltine crackers.  (NB - There are no photos of the Airline food as the cameras and phones are in our hand-luggage which has been stowed in the wardrobe of the airplane, we could have requested them back, but we were to busy eating!!)

Four hours later and we were being served breakfast. This was a plate of fresh fruit strawberries, melon, water melon and blueberries with a yogurt and granola, with coffee served in a proper mug. 

The plane landed at London Gatwick at 8.50am, a little earlier than the published time, and got to the gate at 9.00am. With the use of the ePassport system, rather than queues to wait for a person, we were through passport checks by 9.10am   We then had to pick up our bags. Again Premium Economy and Upper Class get a designated bag collection point and our bags came out first. We got the bags by 9.20am and got the Shuttle to the South Terminal and to the Train Station by 9.35am. We caught the 10.03am train to Reading and the 12.12 train from Reading to Cardiff Central. 

We arrived at Cardiff Central at 1.45pm. With Drew managing two suitcases we decided to get a Taxi home and arrived here at 2.15pm. Time to plant the case, chat to our neighbour, Pat, and end to Sainsburys to shop.

Almost Farewell

There will be one more blog post to summarise the holiday, but in the meantime many thanks to all those who have been following the blog for the last three weeks.

<<Co-pilot's note: He has also informed me that he will be finishing the Newfoundland holiday blog (from 2011) some time this year. Like you said in 2013.>> 

In response I can say the paperwork for that final post is sitting in the same drawer as the 'Miami and the Keys' book!!!

Paintings on the Wall

Today might be called a mixed day, with three successes but with one less successful adventure (excuse the marketer in me - I mean failure). Still no one was harmed in the making of this blog post! Apart, I think Drew may say, his sanity.

The travel was something like the Map below, I say something like as Google won't let you combine Public Transport journeys, so it is a road map equivalent to the route we took on bus and train:

Breakfast

I got up at 5.00am and did my ablutions before completing the previous day's blog post. Drew awoke at 6.00 and we had coffee and watched US Breakfast News until going down for breakfast at 8.30am.

Today's breakfast delight were scrambled eggs and sausage patties - in previous year's in the US scrambled eggs have been a common breakfast, but this was our first for this holiday.

Drew tried out some odd coloured Fruit Punch, while I had orange juice, it had an odd colour and an odder taste. Drew says it was insipid in flavour. The vibrant colour led him to choose it but the flavour turned out to be an obnoxious, sugary, mush. Though, strangely, he did manage to finish it.

Going to Wynwood

We had decided to visit two places today, based on Drew's recollection of what he read about Miami in the book he had for his birthday last year, entitled Miami and the Keys: A Travel Guide. (NB - The book is sitting in a drawer in Tongwynlais, where Drew put it so he would remember to bring it on holiday with him - say no more). 

Haydn and Brolly
in Wynwood

In watching TV we knew that today was likely to have plenty of rain, as a small squall was running up the coast. When we went down to go out of the hotel, it clearly was raining quite heavily. It was a pleasant surprise to find that the hotel provided an Umbrella Service at their Ground floor Customer Service Area. So I took the opportunity and borrowed one of their umbrellas. 

We left at 9.30 and again walked to the Brickell Metro Station and bought a $5.75 Day Rider Ticket. You may wonder why we took the Metro Rail not the free Metromover which goes from a station 200 yards nearer the hotel. The reason is that we needed to buy a Day Rider ticket each for our later travels and a Metro Rail station is one of the locations to buy a Day Rider Ticket.

Our first journey was the same as yesterday's. From Brickell to Historic Overtown Station. From there we walked a block to the bus stop opposite the one we were at yesterday and caught the No 2 bus from North West (NW) 2nd Avenue at NW 6th Street to NW 2nd Avenue at NW 20th Street.

It was 10am when the bus arrived in Wynwood. Wynwood is a fascinating place. Being the next community North after Overland, which was the Black community in the days of segregation, it saw the arrival of a large Puerto Rican community in the 1950s. So much so that its local nickname was  "El Barrio" or "Little San Juan". After a period of decline Wynwood was renovated by the influx of Art. 

Building on the preexisting graffiti of the area, a developer Tony Goldman brought together 30 artists to develop an open-air Art display called Wynwood Walls. This display had the impact of drawing many other artists into the area and the vast majority of Wynwood's building are now covered with the most beautiful and amazing graffiti art. I've shared two of my favorites in the blog, but there are many, many more on our Flickr site. To help you navigate these pictures those titled Wynwood are on the street, those entitled Wynwood Walls are in the formal display.

We walked up Wynwood from NW 20th Street and got to Wynwood Walls at 10.30, just as the security guard was opening the display for the day. While all the art in Wynwood is spectacular, Wynwood Walls takes it to a new level of post-modernism. It is mind stretching, to the point that it hurts at time, with multiple messages and layers in the art. 

The image of a women laying down which can only be seen from a distance amazed me most, when close you see specific designs in each of the bits of wall, but have to move away to see the whole.



Before breakfast today I read a post on Facebook from a friend who said she was suffering from Spreadsheet blindness having worked so much one one. Well in Wynwood I wanted to go back to the rows and columns of a spreadsheet as they stay organised, whereas all the imagery and multiple layered messages was mashing my mind. 

After the Wynwood Walls we needed a coffee and at 11.30pm came to the Box Coffee stall in Wynwood, as well as having its own art Box Coffee was surprising as only servicing Iced Coffee nothing hot. As I'd already sat down and made myself comfortable I had my first ever Ice Coffee. Though friends, and work colleague, will now I often let my coffee and tea go cold before I remember to drink it, that is different from Coffee brewed through a cool-brew method. I had an Americano and Drew had a Latte. My coffee was lovely and refreshing, Drew was less convinced. <<Co-Pilot's Note: What’s wrong with normal (read HOT!) coffee! Bloody hippies! - they should be heading down south to Key West in my opinion!! And I can tell the people who came in after us were thinking the exact the same! Where is the logic in only selling ICE COLD coffee!!!! I, dear readers, have no objection to a) the selling of or b) the purchasing and consuming of cold brew or any other type of coffee that has ice in it. I merely suggest that only serving cold coffee is bizarre and a clear and present example of inherent insanity!. Just get a little boiler folks.>>

Little Havana

The main area of Wynwood runs from NW 20th Street to NW 28th Street, so on completion we went to the NW 2nd Avenue at NW 29th Street bus stop and headed back on the No 2 to the place we got on, a walk around the block and we caught the No 7 at NW 2nd Avenue and NW 7th Street at 12.00 we arrived in Little Havana (NW 7th Street and NW 25th Avenue) at 12.30pm. Here we were puzzled, Drew had read about Little Havana in his guide book (previously mentioned) before coming here, I hadn’t, but what we saw, though very Hispanic, was not what Drew expected. 

Depending on your perspective the problem is either Google’s or mine (I think you can imagine which one of us takes which of these perspectives!!). I had, as I did yesterday, for South Beach, added Little Havana into Google Maps before leaving the hotel (where we have wifi) it provided the bus route. However, Google’s view of where Little Havana is, is the central point of the geographic area called Little Havana, whereas we were looking for the Main Street of Little Havana as described in the tourist books. The location of both is 2 miles apart, and without wifi I had no way of finding that out. 

Having walked around confused at being in the middle of a residential area, all be it a nice residential area with mock-adobe houses, we popped into a cafe for lunch and a toilet stop. I had an Empanada Gallega con Chorizo and Drew an Empanada Gallega con Pollo and, due to the sugar in Cuban Coffee, which I had forgotten about, Drew managed both.

<<Co-pilot's note: I, dear readers, blame myself. I always believe him when he says he knows where he is going and time and time again I get caught out. Notable examples include walking around the dark back streets of San Francisco with people putting bodies in the boot of a car. And include walking half way from Dubrovnik to Cavtat, because someone knows where the bus stop is - NOT. 

I should have double checked myself.>>


The Toilet was an interesting experience here. It was located through the kitchen, past the bread ovens, past the office, past the storeroom and near the back door – no wonder there are no signs for them and customers have to be walked through to them!

Williams-Sonoma

We decided to give up on Little Havana and head for our next destination, Williams-Sonoma in Coral Gables. 

We are big fans of this store. Our first visit being to one in New York just before Christmas 2004. On that occasion we spent the best part of a day in one. At that time we were having our kitchen extended and refurnished we bought quite a few items, but only small items that could fit into the luggage. Our salt and pepper sellers, vinegar bottle, cooking implements and sugar pourer are all working well having come from there. When we were in San Francisco in 2009 we visited the store on Union Square and bought t-towels. We also visited the new store on Columbus Circle in New York when we were last there in 2015, but just to window-shop. So we had thought of going and I found this one on the map yesterday.

We travelled on the 27 bus from NW 27th Avenue at NW 7th Street to Coconut Grove (SouthWest (SW) 27th Avenue at SW 28th Lane) and on the Metro Rail one stop to Douglas Road, from there it is a few minutes’ walk to the Shops at Merrick Park which include Williams-Sonoma. We had a nice look around and were again amazed by the range of things we didn’t know you needed in a kitchen that American can provide. Our main object was to buy four t-towels, like the ones we bought in the San Francisco branch of Williams-Sonoma in 2009 (one of our existing ones is getting a little worn – we should adopt better rotation of the t-towels, because the others still look new).

We walked back to Douglas Road and caught the train to Downtown, the Government Centre, having bought so many clothes at JC Penny’s in Naples last week we will need an extra case on our way home (plus Drew’s case is very threadbare, and the wheels get stuck, so he has been looking for a replacement for a while). We walked a block or two and found a shop called Joelos’ Dollar Store, Drew looked at what they had to offer and bought one for $17.50 which is less than the £15 he paid for his current case at BHS (remember them!) <<Co-pilot's note: I was much happier paying $17.50 than I would have been buying one during our visit to Nordstorm earlier. Where the price was $625 for the same size case!!>>


We got on the MetroMover at NW1st Street and travelled the four stops to Brickell and across the road to our hotel arriving here at 5.30pm. The umbrella made it through the day safely and was duly returned. 

Drew went for another run in the Fitness Centre and I started to edit the photos before going out for dinner at 7pm

Dinner

Tonight's meal was in a small restaurant just two blocks from the hotel. The restaurant is called La Mexicana Cantina and Grill and is a recent addition to the Miami eating scene, which has got good feedback since it opened. 

The food is traditional Mexican. It began with a free plate of chips and salsa. The salsa was lovely and spicy, with a chili richness that characteristics Mexican food for me the chips are a deep fried tortilla broken into pieces. 









Moving on to our appetisers, I began with one of the most Mexican of street-foods; Tostades. Tostades is two crispy corn tortillas topped with black beans, lettuce, sour
cream, cotija cheese and chicken, it was delicious.

Drew chose to have Queso Fundido, which was a Monterry Jack Cheese warmed with three tortillas to scoop it up. Unlike the same dish which Drew had in Disney World this did not have any chillies but was a nice cheese with pleasant flavours.  








For mains I had Torta Choriqueso, a loaf of telera bread split in half and filled with choriqueso, lettuce, refried beans, guacamole, pickled jalapeños and red onions. Choriqueso is an old favourtie of mine, and this was a fine example. The picked jalapeños gave a lovely bite to the flavour fo the whole dish. 

Drew had a Hamburger and Fries, the burger had with tomato, lettuce and avocado on it. <<Co-pilot's note: Avocado has, in my opinion, no place in a burger!!!. Mustard and ketchup yes! Avocado no! The interloping piece of fruit was in this case quickly extracted (a task which proved simple as it was one single lump of 1/3 of an avocado) and deposited on the side of the plate!>>

After Dinner we had a gentle walk back to the Hotel taking in the bright lights on all the tall buildings around us and were in bed before 10pm.

A day at the Beach - but this is different - this is Miami Beach

The journalist Susan Orlean says of South Beach, Miami Beach: "It seems that half the point of being in Miami Beach - particularly the northern end of South Beach - is to be observed by people-watchers like me, and the display along Ocean Drive during my visit was, as always, sublime." I wouldn't disagree with her, but it is not just the people, but the buildings that set off this amazing place.

Our route was something like this:

Breakfast

I woke at 5.30 and showered, shaved etc, then Drew went for his Bath and we watched some local TV to check on the weather for the day before heading down to breakfast at 8.30am. 

The breakfast here at the Hampton Inn and Suite is just amazing, the widest selection I have ever seen at a hotel: the regular bacon and omelette, bagels, danish and muffins; plus fresh fruit, boiled eggs, ham, turkey, salami, cheese (five different types) bread rolls and tomatoes. We went for a generous portion and Drew finished off with two of the Danish pastries.

Public Transport

We left the hotel at 9.30am and walked to the end of the road where the Brickell Station Metro (train, not to be confused with the free MetroMover I mentioned yesterday) to buy our Metro Rider Day Rider Ticket from Miami-Dade Transportation which allows for travel on all modes of transport in Miami-Dade. The rider tickets were $5.75 each.

We went two stops up to Historic Overtown (which was the African-American community of Miami in the days of segregation marked by the 'Jim Crow' laws). From there we caught a number 2 bus to Government Centre and then a S bus to South Beach. 

The Bus took a lovely drive over the MacArthur Causeway, with amazing views. But we were not able to take any photos given the heavily tinted windows of the bus. The views from the Causeway are exactly like the image of the high-rise hotels/apartments in the CSI Miami title sequence I used yesterday with the huge sweeping bay between Miami and Miami Beach being very clear. It is worth noting, as I didn't know until we came here, that Miami Beach is a separate City from Miami, i.e. not like Cardiff Bay's relationship to Cardiff. And it is the Beach not the City that most people come to Miami to see. 

South Beach

Having arrived at South Beach we first walked along 15th Street where a lot of the residential areas are in the Art Deco style. We kept thinking that Poirot would be comfortable here and wondered why Agatha Christie never located him here. <<Co-pilot's note: Never located him here?! Are you Mad?! Him in his patent leather shoes?!>> Though the Art Deco elements are probably more a legacy of the TV series than the books themselves.

We came to Collins Avenue and walked up and down taking pictures with all its amazing buildings, then went one block closer to the sea and onto Ocean Drive, which is the iconic part of South Beach. We walked from one end to the other. 

As a non-architect I would call all of these amazing building Art Deco but as we walked we discovered there are many other types of building

The Miami Design Preservation League has this to say:

Art Deco, and the preservation of those buildings featuring its popular motifs has been a mission of the Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL), a non-profit group launched by Barbara Capitman and like-minded individuals. 

The MDPL has worked tirelessly since 1976 to save the integrity of what is now classified as the ten Miami Beach Architectural Historic Districts – and eleven designated buildings -- which together comprise the National Register Art Deco District. 

Many of the buildings, especially along the beachfront, are indeed prime instances of what enthusiasts now call Tropical Deco, which reflects the regional influences (the sea, palm trees, cruise ships). Tropical Deco, with architect Henry Hohauser, for one, leading the charge, is roughly divided into the utilitarian Stripped Classic or Depression Modern (the renovated U.S. Post Office in the Design District, for instance) and Streamline Modern. 

Art Deco isn’t all that South Beach has to offer. In between the Streamline constructions, you’ll find two additional styles: Mediterranean Revival and Miami Modern (MiMo). See more at: http://www.miamiandbeaches.com/featured-articles/miamis-architectural-guide 

We were so mesmerised by the sites that we arrived at South Beach at 11am and didn't leave until 2.30pm There are far to many photos to share, the selection start here on Flickr.

We walked back to Washington Avenue and caught C Bus back to the Omni Bus Station where we changed for the MetroMover. As predicted a Thunderstorm began at 2.40 so we decided to make our way back to the hotel, rather than visiting any other sites. We caught the Omni line from the Bus Station to College North and then changed onto the Brickell line to the end of the street where the hotel is based. We were back in the hotel by 3.30pm

Drew then went for a run in the fitness centre while I loaded up today’s photos.

Dinner

So tonight we have the last big meal of the holiday. We had been looking to have one final blow out while in Miami and one of the places that looked really good was Truluck's. We decided while we were in Marco Island that we would book it for tonight as it looked as if it might be popular, and indeed it was. 

We were shown to our seats when we arrived and we were in a delightful booth in the dining room. Things went well from there. The meal began with us being introduced to the Stone Crab legs (three sizes) and a Pacific Dungeness Crab. We then ordered sparkling water, this was a Norwegian water, that oddly we have had in Spain in the past, it clearly gets around. We were amazed to be offered a 'fruit' selection for our water with slices of orange, lemon, lime or cucumber to choose. We went with it straight up! 

The waitress, Chrissy, then brought the breads there was raisin and walnut bread, sourdough white and an unleavened crispbread like Matzo. 

We decided to have appetizers and then two courses (plus dessert for Drew) to mark this last ‘posh’ meal of the holiday.

Back when we were in the Everglades, Captain Allen told us about Stone-crabbing, the crabs are caught, their right claw removed and the crab thrown back in, within a year they grow a new claw and the process continues, so it is very sustainable as a means of gathering food.

I opted for a large (they came in medium, large and jumbo) Stonecrab claw for my appetiser, this was served on ice with lemon and an amazingly spicy sauce. It was wonderful, I used my bread to mop up all my sauce even after I had completed the crab.

Drew also had crab, but in his case it was a Jumbo Lump Crab Cake with a dilled tartare sauce. He says it was a delight from start to finish, this being the best crab cake he had ever tasted. He felt obliged to allow me a taste, but resented the fact that he was deprived of some of the wonderful pleasure. <<Co-pilot's note: The sneaky little fella, dear readers, when offered a taste of the dill sauce, managed to take a huge chunk of the Crab Cake too!!!>>

For our next course I had chosen Lobster Bisque, and wow what a good choice it was. The bisque was a rich, velvety soup which had pieces of lobster on the plate and a zingy horseradish goat cheese mixed in. The lobster and cheese were served in the soup bowl and the server than poured the creamy bisque into the bowl. The flavour was lobster rich and delightful. 

Drew went for a Caesar Salad for this course. He likes Caesar and has had it a number of times this holiday. This Caesar, as well as the usual ingredients also had white anchovies, shaved pecorino. It was a crunchy salad with two lovely anchovies adding a saltiness. The pecorino was a nutty alternative to the Parmesan more commonly used in this dish.

Having done the seafood for our first course, it seemed right in this steak and seafood restaurant to go for the alternative. So I selected the 16 oz ribeye steak topped with melted gorgonzola cheese and selected the Parmesan mash to have with this. 

Vegetarians please look away now 

I asked for the steak to be cooked Bleu, as we say in the UK, the server said she would check with the Chef what I meant, and having had some European training he did indeed know. So he cooked it to my perfection, crusted on the outside and rich and bloody inside, you can see how good it was here, but not if you don't like seeing nearly raw meat. The flavour was delicious.

Drew had a 7 oz. Filet Steak also served with Parmesan mashed potatoes. Drew opted for Medium and this was also cooked just as he liked, wonderfully juicy.

We were then presented with the dessert selection. This was brought on a tray and we were introduced to each of the dishes, there were eight choice. There was one in particular that was a seven inch tower of chocolate with walnut and cream inside - a heart attack on a plate. Drew decided to be more abstemious and only go for the taster plate, a Trio of Desserts, which was made up of small pieces of three of the desserts: a carrot cake, a malt chocolate cake and a creme brulee. Even this was a huge portion, each being very sweet, Drew suffered from a sugar rich. Each of the desserts were lovely in their own right (the malt chocolate cake was rich, malty and velvety; the carrot cake, soft and luxurious; and the creme brulee full of vanilla flavour) but one rather than all three would have been enough. 

We finished the meal with espressos each and then walked through Brickell City Centre and got back to the hotel at 10pm. We were both very content.

The good life - it feel like Miami

Apologies for the grammar of the title, but today is the day that we head to Miami and I think Kayne West's words help set the scene for the town, though I suspect that it is the CSI Miami title sequence that most evokes Miami to me. For Drew the relevant title sequence is that of Miami Vice.

This was today's route:

The first 3/4s of the route being very similar to the route we took to get to Key West, including a return visit to the Cracker Barrel in Florida City. 

Mass

I slept really well last night and didn't wake up until 5am, which is my 'normal' US waking time it seems.

I uploaded last night photos, showered, shaved and began the latest blog report.

I left the room at at 7.15 for the short walk to Mass. Again accompanied by a chicken or two along Amelia Street. 

Today was St. Dominic's day and the theme of today's Mass was listening to God's word in all aspects of our life, just as Dominic proclaimed God's word through his ministry.

On the way back I noticed it was bin day, and that the storms the day before had knocked branches off trees, which were now in the bins.

Breakfast

On returning to the hotel we had breakfast. Today the eggs, which have changed every day, were a ham omelette.

Drew decided he needed to fill up for the travelling ahead. This is his breakfast plate of bacon and omelette, prior to his nut muffins.

After breakfast we went back to the room and I completed and posted the blog post and we finalised our packing.

At 10.10 we took the luggage to the car and checked-out of the hotel departing at 10.15am

Back up the Keys

I fell like Bilbo Baggins:
"The road goes ever on and on"

Drew was driving the largest bit of the route today, up US1, the Overseas Highway, before I took over for the City driving into Miami Downtown. The route was the same, in reverse, as that we followed on Saturday, but the traffic was much more free flowing than then. The sites were still amazing and Seven Mile Bridge (note spelt correctly this time, not like the Severn at home, thanks Lloyd for pointing out my earlier mistake) still took my breath away, but not perhaps with as much impact as when we had seen it first.

It was interesting to note that in the first 2 1/2 hours of the drive we travelled 105 miles compared to the 44 miles we were able to do in the same time period on Saturday. 

Lunch

We agreed before the journey began that it would be easiest to swop drivers somewhere we knew. So we again stopped at the Florida City Cracker Barrel, arriving at 1.15pm. This, of course, also gave us the opportunity to have some lunch. 

I had been discussing with two friends (Den and Kath) on Facebook earlier today the nature of the Southern USA delicacy called Country Gravy, this prompted me to go all Country in my lunch selection and I choose: the Homemade Chicken n' Dumplins (note the n' and dumplins are the correct spellings in these parts) this was served with three 'Country sides', I chose with Fresh Steamed Broccoli, Whole Kernel Corn and Brussels Sprouts n' Kale Salad it also came with two Corn Muffins. Even though Chicken n' Dumplins looks pale and white it packs a lot of flavour. As under the sauce it is almost impossible to distinguish the Chicken from the Dumplin it is always exciting once you bite into it to find if it is suet or meat you are eating. The fresh vegetables were also lovely.

Drew opted for a Open-Faced Roast Beef Sandwich which, as you can see, is two big slabs of beef served on sourdough toast with a rich beef gravy, mashed potatoes and slaw. He loved the whole thing, saying that the gravy was very rich and the beef, well-done but juicy.

The Hampton Inn and Suites, Brickell, Miami

We left Cracker Barrel at 2.15pm and I drove up the Ronald Reagan highway onto the Florida (FL)  874, then the FL826 and FL836, which at one point became an eight lane carriageway onto the I95 and onto street level on Southwest 1st Avenue and into Southwest 12th Street and up to the front of our hotel.

Though the eight lanes were a bit intimidating and the last few turns were challenging, we managed to arrive with no problem at 3.06pm. The man outside the Hamton Inn and Suites pointed us to the Car Park (beside the hotel) and told us to drive up to the 3rd of 5th floors park and then get a lift to reception which is on the 6th floor. We did this and parked easily and were checked in by 3.20pm. 


When we are on holiday we normally stop at travel hotels - Best Western, Comfort Inn, Quality Inn or the equivalent. But staying in Downtown Miami there were no such options. So we are staying in the Hampton Inn and Suites, a Hilton company, a noticeable upgrade in style from our usual accommodation. The hotel has five floors of carpark, then a sixth floor with Reception, Fitness Centre, Breakfast Room and Bar then ten floors of rooms. We are on floor 11. In Room 1002. We settled into the room and took the required room photos. Unpacked our cases and settled in.

Brickell City Centre

Downtown Miami, the oldest part of the City (which was established in 1896, the year of the American-Spanish War), is to the North of the Miami river. To the south of the River is a new City Centre development (2010s) in an area that was called Brickell. Just to confuse people this is now referred to as Brickell City Centre, though it is the City Centre of Miami. Around our hotel are more than 100 restaurants and a whole selection of shops and office. 

We went out at 5.30 to explore. Our walk went like this:

Out of the hotel to the corner of North Miami, up North Miami past the amazing buildings, some of these designed in a bendy style to look almost impossible to stand up. Passed restaurants and shops and other colourful building. Up onto the Drawbridge over the River Miami and in to downtown proper. 

Unlike the bustle of Brickell Downtown with its restaurants and nightlife, north of the river is much quieter, with most of the shops shut for the day as they target the office based workers in this part of the City. We walked up to the oldest Church in Miami, the Gesu Church, but it was shut so we only have external pictures.

Miami-Dade County has a free light rail system for commuters and others called MetroMover, this provides a large range of free travel around the wider downtown area. We got on at Miami Avenue station, changed trains onto the Brickell loop at the Government Centre and were dropped back at fifth avenue, from where we walked along the riverside path and then went to a Colombian restaurant for dinner.

La Moon

Having tried Cuban and Mexican food, and some creole, it seemed time to try another Latin American style. So we went to La Moon Restaurant on Fifth Street in Miami Bricknell Downtown. This was a great choice as the food was delicious.

I opted for Morcilla con Arepa, I have had Morcilla (blood sausage not dissimilar to black pudding) many times in Spain and the Colombian version is similar, though a bit spicier. This is served with Arepa, a dish I had not had before, Arepa is a key element in Colombian cuisine, made of maize but unlike the softness of Mexican corn tortillas it is fried thick and tasty. It was a nice accompaniment to the Morcilla.

Drew decided to go for an Empanada de queso. On Saturday in Key West he had opted for two empanadas which was a bit to much, here of course, the empanadas were smaller, so poor Drew had a tiny cheese pastry.

For mains I went with the house-speciality Bandeja Paisa, this mixed meat dish included Frijoles rojos, arroz, chicharrón,  carne de res, salchicha, huevo frito, plátano, aguacate y arepa (red beans, rice, steak, sausage, pork belly, fried egg, plantain, avocado and arepa). Every element of it was delicious. The cruncy pork was like crackling, the suasage was of chorizo texture, but a lighter taste. It was just all Wow.

Drew, keeping to his beef theme from earlier in the day, opted for Sancocho de res, a lovely beef stew, this was served with rice, salad and the ubiquitous arapa. This was a lot of food, but the beef was so soft it was easy to eat and the broth, with potato and carrots, was rich and comforting. Drew enjoyed every bit of it.

We walked back to the hotel and after uploading our photos we were in bed for 10pm.