20060702 Miami

Hi Y’all

We are back from our trip to the US and hit the ground running, having to go straight back to the office. Jet lag has just been shaken but after 5 days of work we need another holiday.

Our first impression of the US is that everything is huge, huge cars, huge food, huge space, and huge houses. We landed on the Friday and we were whisked from Miami airport down to the Pelican Beach hotel in Fort Lauderdale. Elza, Lol’s aunt, was waiting eagerly for our arrival. The hotel was stunning, set on an expanse of perfect white beach and beautifully furnished. We checked into a suite on the top floor, I might add, and before we new it we in the lobby meeting all the family and other wedding guests. Rob, Elene’s husband (now), entertained us all with a bit of fancy piano playing (scoring huge points with all the ladies!). We all then hopped into a car and drove 200 meters up the road to ‘Charlie’s Crab’ (hope I got the name right) for a rehearsal dinner and got to meet all Robs Family, we both enjoyed an out of this world fillet steak! The Americans commented on how we went straight for red meat. The next day started with a BIG American breakfast followed by a morning on the beach (spot the pale tourists), just what we needed. That evening Elene and Rob got married on the penthouse balcony of the hotel, under a white gazebo, with the perfect blue ocean as the backdrop! It was a small intimate wedding which allowed for a lot of emotion, making it all that more meaningful. Congratulations, you make a wonderful couple. But the one who stole the show for me was the little flower girl, Hallie, with her beautiful smile full of teeth (more like a grimace). Please take a peek at our photos to see the highlights of the wedding.

The day after the wedding, we made our way to Elza’s condo in Boca Raton. It is a very comfortable condo with 2 big bedrooms, both with ensuite bathrooms, kitchen, lounge, dining room and air con. Elza warned us how hot it is in summer, but us tough Africans thought ‘not a problem bru…we are africans’…

We spent the first 2 days just relaxing on the beach over the road from the condo. Elza had to work most of the week, but managed to take off early in the afternoons to take us around, she was really great to us. One the Tuesday, we took a taxi to Fort Lauderdale to take a boat ride through the harbour. We saw some disgustingly huge houses, mostly self made millionaires, which was inspiring to say the least. The sad thing is that these are holiday houses, only used during the winter for a couple of weeks…obscenely rich people, but if you have $8 million just lying around gathering dust, then why not? After the boat ride, we took a long walk down Fort Lauderdale beach. After about 10 minutes, we decided to find the nearest shopping centre. Not because we needed anything, we just had to find some aircon!

Did we learn our lesson? oh no! Because the next day, we decided to walk from Elza’s condo to the next beach, not far by car! 2 hours later, we were completely drenched, and we had not even swum yet. When we finally got the beach, we went straight to the airconditioned restaurant for a large coke (bottomless everywhere). This explains why a lot of our pictures are taken in restaurants.

Elza was able to take Thursday and Friday off, so we packed our bags and took off for Naples, which is a city on the west coast of Florida. A lot of Elza’s friends live there, and offered us overnight accommodation. On the way, we stopped at a ‘vibey’ place called Everglade City. We booked an airboat ride, and went to grab some lunch because we had time to spare. The city has 2 restaurants, one for breakfast and one for lunch. This was a scene straight out of the movies. You know, people who like their cousins a bit too much, drinks in huge plastic glasses where the special of the day is ‘gator nuggets, frogs legs and conch fritters. I loved it, we were all killing ourselves laughing. Nice to see how the other side of the tracks, or in this case swamp, live. The airboat ride was fantastic though, definitely one of the highlights.

Naples was the exact opposite to the everglade city, very posh and clean! We stayed in a condo block overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, and what was amazing was the amount of hurricane damage that was sustained last year. They are still repairing a lot of buildings, and the new season is already starting ...the big downside of Florida.

Our trip to the states would never be complete without a trip to Miami. Elza took us through on the Saturday, and we had a look at Lincoln drive, deco drive and Miami beach. It is amazing how ‘spanish’ Miami is when compared to Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton. Good news is that Dan Villians exist wherever you go, and the movies were not lying.

Then, before we knew it, we were on our way back to London. A week was definitely not long enough for a thorough visit, but it did wet our appetites for the next trip to the States. The country is so big though, we will have to plan the next trip carefully to see as much as possible. We are so glad that we went though, especially seeing as though we got to know Elza, Elene, Rob and the rest of the family a bit better. Thanks to all of them for their hospitality and friendliness, we had a great time.

Back in the land of the pale people, all is back to normal with work etc. Exciting thing is that we have both taken a day off work on Tuesday and are going to watch Wimbledon. We are determined to get Centre Court tickets, so we are leaving home at the crack of dawn…check to see if you can see us on TV and hold thumbs for clear skies!!

Chat to you all soon…Love

L&G