Miami, Florida

Were going to Miami.....according to Will Smith. Luckily Colin had the song on his ipod which was in the boot and we decided to only play the song when Sabine was with us. We headed as far south as we could go and drove straight to the airport to collect Sabine. We were a bit late but luckily so was her flight so it worked out perfectly. It was fairly overcast as Hurricane Ike had detoured and missed us going straight across Cuba to Texas but we were getting a bit of bad weather. We headed down to South Beach and found the hotel. Lovely hotel situated only 1 block back from the beach. We went for a walk and the water felt beautiful, I couldn't wait to get in. We went to Big Pink's for dinner and it was great. A typical American diner and the choice was beyond belief. So much food and the servings were immense. And turned out it was a local hangout for the Miami Beach Police department with many officers (plain clothed) coming in to eat. Then a relaxing evening.





The next day we were off to Kennedy Space Centre. There was supposed to be a launch but due to the hurricanes it had been cancelled. Oh well we still wanted to look around. We missed the last tour at 2pm by 10mins but were able to go around the main complex. We went on a simulated shuttle launch and went inside a real life shuttle. Looks to look at and we saw a 3D Imax movie narrated by Tom Hanks about the moon. Then it was time to drive the 3hrs back to Miami. A swim and brief rest and we had dinner at local place Sabine & I found called Fresh on 5th. It was great for freshly made to order salads & sandwiches. Then it was a bit of pub crawl along the main drag. It was lovely to sit outside and watch all different types of people walk past. Lots of fun.





Next day we headed off to the Alligator Safari park in the Everglades. It was awesome! We had a 40min airboat ride and our driver gave us a bit of history when we were out amongst it all. Apparently they are in drought so most wild alligators were in a different part as there was more to eat there. But it was beautiful and the boat was so much fun, I kept thinking about Horatio on CSI Miami!!! We did end up seeing 2 wild alligators. We got back to the park and then they had an alligator talk and we got to see 4 of the biggest alligators ever! Then I got to hold Snappy. He felt like sausages before you put them on the barbie. You almost wanted to hug him until you saw the razor sharp teeth. We then wandered around the park viewing all the gators. What a fantastic experience.



Back to South Beach for more swimming before we headed out for the night. We walked around checking out all the clubs before we finally decided on an Irish Pub!!! We met a couple of girls and chatted to them for a bit, then we headed off to the night club Mila recommended....Mango's!! Oh My Goodness!! It was so much fun, the girls were dressed in spandex bra's & knickers and doing the mambo/tango/rumba whatever it was on the bar. The blokes were half dressed doing the same moves. It was totally crazy and hilarious. We had an amazing time and at about 3am decided to head home. Steve was still enjoying himself so we left him there.





Next morning I was up early and out down the beach after breakfast. This was going to be my last chance before we flew out that evening. The weather was perfect and the water was divine. There was a strong rip so decided to head in. Wish I could have stayed, I love the beach. It was back to the hotel to shower and check out. Sabine & I were downstairs waiting for the boys and they came down a bit late. Steve had super red eyes and Colin was feeling pretty sick! he he he The afternoon was spent lying on a couch out the front reading my book and snoozing. About 4pm it was time to go and I was really sad to leave as it was perfect.





We got to the airport and said goodbye to Sabine as she was getting a different flight back. Finally our flight was announced and sadly we had to go. Luckily this must have been a newer plane as the seats were bigger and we had on demand videos. Up we went and when they were serving dinner we went through some extremely scary turbulence. It was so bad the flight stewardess had to sit down too. People were spewing everywhere, it was really scary. I had to watch Sex & the City to try to take my mind off it. Luckily if finally stopped (an hour or so later) and it was smooth sailing from there. Made it home in time for my bus back to Portsmouth and finally walked in the door at 1pm.



What a trip.