Miami - South Beach - Sunday, October 27

Finally a beach day, and a beautiful day it was.  Thanks to the sake, for some reason Jim wasn't in the mood for doing much more than lying on the beach.  The ocean was still pretty rough and I was still a little nervous after my jellyfish stings in Capri, but we did manage to get in and it was beautiful.

Absolutely loved South Beach there was so much going on, lots of people, lots of shops, lots of cafes, restaurants and bars and oh so colourful.  Would definitely recommend South Beach.  Collins Ave, Ocean Boulevard, Lincoln Ave.  You don't need a car, you can walk everywhere and it felt very safe for young and old alike.  

Miami - - South Beach - October 26, 2013

The day started with a beautiful walk along the beach, stopped for brekky on Ocean Blvd, you could get a full breakfast for $5.95.  OJ was $4.  And most people were having a mimosa, daiquiri or beer with their breakfast.  The drinks were cheaper than the OJ.  LOL  Then we headed back along the beach.  Still very windy and lots of big waves, but the crowds were back on the beach.  A number without their tops much to Jim's pleasure.

In the afternoon we met up with Ed and Sharon and headed to Bayside for a boat trip around the Bay.  Bayside is a lovely little market and shopping area surrounding the main marina.

Lots of bars to quench your thirst while you were shopping.

An open air bandstand, luckily our boat came before Jim could get up there dancing. 

Miami is a major port with lots of cruise ships, pleasure craft and containers ships.

I am pretty sure the canon was in front of a house that Shaquille owned.

This is the house of the owner of the pharmaceutical company that marketed Viagara.  His place is worth more than $50M.  He put in 38 egyptian palm trees at a cost of $10K each. 

 The jumping bunny below was given to Elizabeth Taylor by Michael Jackson to commemorate how she hopped around from marriage to marriage.  lol

I am pretty sure this house has the best air conditioning on the island.  The owner doesn't like to be hot so he even air conditioned his backyard.  It is never more than 65 degrees F.  Crazy money, crazy people.








Back to the hotel to get ready for the Planet dinner at the SLS Hotel South Beach.  Julia makes a perfect French Martini, should be a warning not to drink more than 1.  We ate at the Sushi Restaurant Katsuya, not being a big sushi fan I was very impressed.  The raw tuna was great, the calamari almost ended up in my napkin, but I toughed it out and swallowed it.  Very glad I switched to red wine after my one glass of sushi which was amazing.  Great night thanks to Planet for putting it on.

Miami - South Beach - October 24 to October 25, 2013

It is freezing cold and dark as we load up the car to head to Pearson Airport for our flight to Miami Beach.  I have my sandals on with socks.  Can't wait to take them off.  We arrive in Miami around 1 pm and grab a taxi to the hotel, Loews Miami Beach.  We check into the hotel which is absolutely beautiful.  The front lobby staff might be the most helpful and pleasant staff I have ever met.  Unfortunately our room isn't ready so we head down to the pool bar.  It is a little cloudy and spitting rain, but we find an umbrella and share a drink with Nadine and Moe.

After a couple of Sangria's I decide I need to see the water.  The beach is so white and goes on forever and ever.  Water is rough, but there are still people swimming.  Not surprising, the water in Muskoka even at it's hottest wasn't anywhere near the temperature of the Atlantic at Miami.

 I was so impressed with this gigantic sand hill thinking that all of this was here for the kids to play with.  Found out the next day that the big pails are for ice and beer for the sunbathers.  They also deliver lunch to your chair.  Yes I could live here O:)...

The view from our room.  Perfect for our morning coffee and predinner rum and coke.  Met up with Ed, Sharon, Nadine and Moe for dinner, just decided to walk along Ocean Blvd and find a little cafe for dinner.  So many to choose from.  Lots of action.  

Friday, October 26, 2013

We woke up to a very windy Friday, but hot and humid so we headed over to the golf course.  A quick stop at the Dolphin Mall, very disappointing, but did get a pair of golf sandals.  After going in circles for 30 minutes we finally found the Doral Golf and Country Club.  It is owned by Donald Trump and I think has 4 courses on it.  He is redoing the courses and the hotel for a cost of $250M.  It is going to be beautiful when it is all finished.  We played the "Great White", a really nice course with the best golf carts in the world.

There weren't any alligators on the course, but it is on the flight path for Miami International and planes were buzzing overhead constantly.  

Back to the hotel and off to a great little Cuban restaurant (I think called Yucca) on Lincoln Blvd with the Planet Crew.  Dinner was absolutely delish.

Charleston - final day and heading home - March 2013

Flash flood warning, thunderstorms and lightning have started the day here in Charleston. May have to buy some wellie boots.

Headed out at eleven, rain just a drizzle but still really overcast.  Head over to get the ferry to Fort Sumter but the first two have been cancelled because of rough seas he tells us to come back for 2:30. 

Go over to check out the market, some beautiful galleries and crafters along with straw basket weavers.  Pop into a local deli and grab lunch to go, head down to the water to eat.  So many of the walkways are under water but we manage to find a dry swing under a gazebo where we can watch the water.  As we are sitting there we start to notice a dolphin, then another and another.  It was so beautiful a small pod of dolphin were frolicking just 100 yards off the pier.  

Back to the ferry and thankfully the boat is a go.  We wander through the museum reading how the start of the civil war started here at fort Sumter. Aftereading a ton of books about the slave trade I was surprised at how emotional I felt actually reading real life stories about it.  What a terrible Iife it was with brother fighting brother and the slaves being used in the forts to rebuild walls, etc.  

The boat trip was wonderful, blustery but dry with the dolphins following the boat.  Fort Sumter is basically a sandbar in the middle of Charleston harbour where it meets the Atlantic Ocean, in the 1800s the walls were fifty feet high, during the war it was bombarded to rubble.  The walls were rebuilt to about twenty feet.  Very interesting and a definite trip to anyone who comes to Charleston.

After the trip we thought a rum was in order so we stopped at an oyster bar called Pearlz, absolutely hopping, with great entertainment.  

A little time to put up our feet and now we are off to dinner.  

Funniest thing just happened, Jim went out for a smoke on our 2 foot wide balcony and he couldn't get the door opened, I am sitting here watching him.  It's a little scary to watch because the balcony is so narrow so I get up to help, killing myself laughing.  I can't get he door open either, I finally put a foot up on the wall and pull like crazy and thankfully the door opened.  Lol I don't think Jim was impressed with my gales of laughter.