Returns

We decided to go back to South Beach to see the Art Deco buildings all lit up at night, and to have a drink and snacks at one of the Ocean Drive sidewalk restaurants. We were hoping to catch sight of some celebrities, or at least some of the weird denizens of this place, but everyone looked just like us... tourists looking for celebrities! No matter, we decided to have a drink. At the first place we stopped into the service was TERRIBLE (actually non-existent), so we moved on to the Carlyle Hotel where we were served by a very professional, attentive waiter named Andrea. He was a young Italian fellow, working in the US for a year now. He has traveled North America widely, and was a very personable fellow. You can see him with Marlene in the pic above.

We decided to take advantage of their happy hour specials: 2 for 1 drinks, so we ordered a couple of Mojito's. Andrea explained that we had to buy the first round, then we get the second round free. Well, the drinks came in small fish bowls, and were very strong. We ordered some calamari to nibble on ($3.99), and worked our way through our first drinks while people watching. Lots of nice, expensive cars cruising by on Ocean, including a new Maserati and several Bentleys. We actually found a rental place there that rents these fine cars!

After finishing our first drinks, we decided to take advantage of the deal, and ordered our second round. With our new fishbowls we also ordered a gourmet 12" pizza topped by fresh made mozzarella cheese, artichoke hearts, spinach, Italian sausage and a fine sauce. The pizza was great, and we gurgled our way through our drinks. When the bill came we noted that the four drinks were $44! At least here we didn't mind as much that they add 18% tip to the bill automatically because Andrea earned it with his friendly service. We wobbled our way back out onto Ocean Drive where we strolled some more before taking the one hour trip back to our place in the everglades.

We were looking forward to going to the Florida Keys for a day, and we drove there early one day, picnic lunch packed away and Ben excited too. Unfortunately, the keys are so overbuilt you can't even get a glimpse of the meeting of the Gulf and the ocean. All the beachfront is private, enclosed by fences and warning signs to stay out unless you are a customer or resident. Just endless miles of tacky tourist stuff. We stifled our disappointment and took the long drive back.

Back at our place, we were getting tired of being woken up at 2 am by guys taking out their airboats onto the glades. Don't know what they do there at night, but they sure make a racket. Also, the drinking water there is kind of green and stinky. They take it from the glades and run it through their own treatment plant, but it still stinks. We have our own inline filter on our water, but it STILL stinks. Our coffee and tea are slimy with it. Only good thing: the water made Marlene's hair really nice!

We were going to go on the airboat ride, but decided to forgo the $50 cost. The alligator compound was disappointing too. The poor gators in there have to be woken up just to perform for the people. Anyway, we decided to return to the Gulf side of Florida for a week of beach relaxing. On the way across alligator alley we spotted pink flamingos and lots of gators in the water. The whole of alligator alley is fenced in with electric fences to keep the gators and other animals from venturing onto the highway. There are endless varieties of birds around, making a very pretty sight.

Back in Bradenton again, we've already been to the beach, taken Ben to the dog beach and gone out for another great supper at Ceviche', courtesy of Miranda and Colin. We also watched the sunset over Lido beach in Sarasota. The crowds are a lot smaller here, the prices a little lower, and the beach is only 15 minutes away instead of an hour. And, no fee for parking at the beach.

We'll leave here on Saturday and start north, with our first stop in Ocala, then on to Mobile, Alabama where we'll check out the Gulf beaches there. We know the weather will be 10 degrees cooler, but since its not their big season it might not be crowded with tourists. Definitely not as expensive to find a place to stay.

Pictures above are of our Mojito's and food on Ocean Drive, a couple of airboats, a tour group of school kids on an everglades field trip taken from our door.