MIAMI

Photo 1: homes on the inland waterway.

Photo 2: A 1930s Oldsmobile, just like Grandad Knight had. Classic!

Photo 3: it's a tough life in the Miami Police :-)

Photo 4: not quite like a Sydney surf clubhouse ...

We flew to Miami on Thursday via Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW). Flying American Airlines has been unbelievably frustrating. They cancelled our flight the day before and did not notify us. Sue discovered what had happened when she logged on to print the boarding passes. They had put us on a flight the next day to San Juan via Chicago (!) and Miami instead – with no stopover in Miami! Would have been nice to tell us guys!! So we went out to the airport and Jamie used a contact in the Airline to get us on a late flight to DFW that day so we would not miss out on our Miami experience (and the $400 we paid for the hotel!). So we got in very late and were worn out.

The drama continued at DFW when they changed the gate for the Miami flight, once again without notification, and we got to see far more of the airport than we ever wanted to see. Jumping ahead for the moment, our American Airlines flight to Puerto Rico on Friday night was held up while we at on the tarmac for one and a half hours while they fixed a fuel pump. So we didn’t get to the hotel till after midnight. But the fun didn’t end there. Someone used their room key to enter our room by mistake, so we had to call reception and wait while they delivered new keys to us. So it was after 1am before we got to sleep. Thanks to the airlines these two oldies have had 2 successive nights after midnight……and we were badly in need of beauty sleep!!! It’s gotta get a whole lot better now eh!?

Back to Miami. We liked what we saw. Our hotel was the Marriot at Hollywood Beach and we took a drive from there to famous South Beach. The whole place reminded us of the Gold Coast, what with big homes on the waterways reminiscent of the Gold Coast canals, the high rise apartments and the lovely beaches. The lovely warm weather was a plus too. I’ll swear we must be weather gods as we have enjoyed warm dry conditions all the way so far.

We just have to comment on the way people dress in Miami and here in San Juan. So many, especially women dress in tight fitting clothes, often with G string bottoms, regardless of their shape and weight. What don’t they get?

Despite some bad travel experiences we are looking forward very much to getting on board the ship.