Jeanette and I traveled this year for a week in southern Florida ... and shivered through the first five days. (On our third day, Miami hit an overnight low of 40 degrees, tying a record set in 1930.) We spent the first three nights in Miami Beach and stayed at a disaster of a hotel (unfortunately, prepaid). Jeanette thought she had made a reservation at the Indian Creek Hotel in South Beach and instead we got Indian Creek Suites, a small hotel located behind a pizza parlor in North Beach. It took us almost two hours of driving around and about ten cell-phone calls to find this ho(s)tel after landing in Miami. (Hint: any reservation confirmation that does not contain a phone number should be a red flag.) This "hotel" was clean but had seen better days. After a short spate of hot water that first evening, we had only gelid showers until the morning we left. We however are to get a $100 voucher back from our reserving agent, American Airlines, for our travail.Our first morning we traveled down to South Beach and had delicious coffee and pastries al fresco at the Tastee Bakery on Washington St. (around 15th St.) It was very good and reasonably priced ... and also had Internet access. (The people watching was also worth the price of admission.) Consequently, we went back the next morning too. For the rest of that first morning we walked around South Beach and found it very charming ... albeit with many boarded-up shops. We then ate lunch at the Jerry's Famous Delicatessen nearby (overstuffed pastrami sandwiches, a Cel Ray soda, and an egg cream). Next, we drove down to Key Biscayne and the Bill Baggs State Park. Key Biscayne justified itself as one of President Nixon's favorite vacation destinations (remember Bebe Rebezo?) The state park is maintained in a wild state but still feels tidy. Don't ignore a visit to the light house and the light-house cafe (white sangria). On the way back to Miami Beach we side-tripped to Little Havana and bought some hand-rolled cigars at the El Titan de Bronze plant on S.W. 8th Street ... a very convivial atmosphere. That evening we ate dinner at Fifi's Place on Collins Ave. in North Beach (recommended by our friends, Judy and Dennis). Luckily, we got there early enough to get a table (6:30) but don't risk it sans reservation if you want to duplicate what was a very delicious dining experience (best soft-shell crabs we ever had.)
The next day, after our breakfast at Tastee's, we drove further south to take in the Jewish Museum (and check out the stone crab claw prices at Joe's Stone Crab House -- $45 for five jumbo claws) and then up to Ft. Lauderdale to take a look around. After lunch at the Oasis Cafe on Seabreeze Blvd. in Ft. Lauderdale (OK, but not great), we took the local water taxi through it's full range of stops (also recommended by Judy and Dennis). This water taxi is a great value as they provide a running commentary (punctuated by jokes) of the sights ... mainly the mansions and super yachts of the rich and famous. Then, after returning to South Beach, we had a fabulous meal at the Chalan's restaurant. This is a Peruvian bistro that specializes in the freshest of seafood and a native Peruvian beer (Cusquena, cheap too). It was the best beer I've had in quite some time (the last best being San Miguel beer on tap at the Philippine pavilion of the New York World's Fair), but I wouldn't order it anywhere but a place with high turnover. I had the Aguadito de Mariscos (fish soup) and I can't remember any better. During dessert (a large flan) a little Peruvian girl behind us fell over backwards in her chair. Jeanette helped her up while this embarrassed sylph was being cajoled by her parents for her inattentiveness. Next, out of her pocket came two small hand-painted cards which she gave to each of us. Her parents, in broken English, said that this was her way of saying "thank you" ... all very sweet.
The next morning, after a smidgen of warm-water for our showering, we were off to West Palm Beach (breakfast at IHop ... not bad) and the Hilton Homewood Suites on Metrocentre Blvd. What a difference! For not much more scratch, we had a huge room with a kitchenette and all brand-new accouterments. We stayed there for five nights and enjoyed the room and the included full breakfasts immensely. On the way up, we stopped at a flea market on Route 1 south of West Palm which was full of French Canadians (mostly Quebec license plates). Even many of the vendors there spoke French ... all very strange and out of place. That evening we met our friend Rosemary where she lived, north in Jupiter, FLA. We had cocktails at Guan-a-bana's on Route A1A (lots of tequila and tiki lamps) and then dinner, up the road at Jetty's (good seafood and service). Rosemary's son, Moritz, had been our son's best man so we did lots of catching up on our respective lives.
The following day was devoted to Cape Canaveral. We picked up Rosemary on the way and spent a long drive up there enjoying her stories ... and buying fresh-squeezed Indian River orange juice from a road-side stand. Although the tour of the Kennedy Space Center is expensive ($40 per person) it is well worth it. We first ate a pedestrian lunch at the Orbit Cafe. Then on the tour we were bussed around the space complex with running commentary often by old timers and saw a few short educational movies. We got to see the Space Shuttle launch platform (from afar), the Mercury launch control room, the International Space Station center, a full-size Apollo/Saturn V rocket (up close ... it's huge) and an IMAX 3-D movie on the Apollo program, narrated by Tom Hanks. This last item was the highlight for me for it involves many realistic simulations of what it was like to walk on the moon. Don't miss it. We even saw from our bus a large alligator on the side of the road and many white egrets. I got a distinct feeling of bitterness from our tour guides as they described Obama's recent canceling of NASA's Constellation and Ares rocket program which was to return our astronauts to the moon in 2020 and then on to Mars (a very under-reported story as it will mean maybe 15,000 lost jobs). After a long drive back to West Palm Beach, dropping off Rosemary along the way, we ate a quick snack at Wendy's near our hotel.
The next day we visited another set of friends, Steffie and Andy, on Hutchinson Island, east of Stuart, FLA. Steffie was the former wife of my best friend, Jay, who died too many years ago. It was a day full of great sights, greater food, and even greater remembrances. They have a beautiful condo right on the Indian River. You can walk right out onto the dock. Hutchinson Island is not overbuilt (as was also the case with Key Biscayne and Jupiter) like much of the rest of Florida (with huge ugly high rises) and is well worth a visit. Afterwards, dinner was a shared pint of Cherry Garcia ice cream back in our hotel room.
The next two days we spent the mornings on the sand at Palm Beach (it finally got warmer) and the afternoons touring the area ... including a walk through City Place, a shopping mecca at the heart of West Palm Beach ... and a visit to the Johnson History Museum in the old Palm Beach court house. This museum has knowledgeable and eager docents, lots of fascinating historic exhibits, and, best of all, it is free. The first day we ate lunch at E.R. Bradley's Saloon on Clematis Street (try the Cobb salad) and the second day, Taco Vida, a Mexican restaurant in City Place (everything is fresh, good, and reasonably priced.) Both nights we ate in our room after stocking up with seafood (shrimp and snow crab claws) and salad stuff at a local Publix market ... and some potables at the nearby liquor store.
Our last morning we drove back to Miami International Airport on Route 95 (be careful about the confusing toll road warnings as a careless mistake can cost $100 ... I hope I got it right). When we arrived in Boston we went frugal and took the Silver Line bus ($2@) to South Station and then the commuter line ($6.50@) to Natick. Even after all this fun, it was so great to be home and see our sweet, sweet twin baby granddaughters again.
