Day 28 - Last of the Miami Vice

And so it came to our final day in Miami, and the last full day of my travels. Our plans were not lofty; in the morning we went out for a walk and a croissant at a local French café (either these are everywhere in downtown or they have some magnetic power over us) and briefly checked out Bay Market, by the harbour that overlooks South Beach. It was perhaps the hottest day we'd experienced so far - the Miami sun was taking no prisoners.

Following a tip off from Justin, my university Classical Chinese lecturer, I had been in touch with language teacher Ms. Hu who was to be stopping over in Miami en route with her husband to a groovy Peruvian holiday. After our morning jaunt, they both came to meet us in the lobby and we went out for lunch.

Bay Market

The American Airlines Arena, home of LeBron James
and the Miami Heat 

The two travellers seemed remarkably spritely for having arrived the previous day, and were in good form - as if I expected anything else from banter bus Hu Bo. We meandered down to the docks once more, and picked one of the several sefood restaurants overlooking the water. After a long debate over drinks with our formidably enthusiastic waitress, we each ordered a flavoured mojito, except for Ms. Hu's husband Sean who had a Pina Colada-Daquiri fusion drink.

Raspberry for Jan

Coconut

Also coconut for Ms. Hu

Frozen fusion for Sean

Ms. Hu was demanding seafood with a fierce countenance that, from experience, I knew better than to cross. As Jan and I had had crab legs a few nights before, we recommended them as a great sharer, and we threw a seafood platter on top of that, after deflecting some of the most vigorous plugging that any of us had seen from our bolshy waitress; no we don't want to order a 5 pound lobster for $200 thanks! Sean, asserting his individuality once more, ordered his own seafood linguine, despite spousal chides from across the table (he had eaten pasta on the plane already).

Jan paps the meal

So do I...

After a lunch of arduous crab-cracking, we went back to the water's edge and took some photos. Sean and Ms. Hu were going to check out South Beach before the end of the day so we showed them to the bus stop and advised their route. As bizarre as it seemed to run into your teacher on holiday, it was a lovely afternoon spent with a Chinese faculty favourite. We wished them safe and enjoyable travels in Peru. No doubt Ms. Hu would have a great time once she got her hands on that tantalizing local specialty - guinea pig head. Errr, yum?

Jan and I headed back to the hotel to get our stuff together, check-in and pack. We just had dinner to go before the end of our last night together in the USA. To make sure the meal lived up to its bittersweet billing, we thought we would splash out on a steak. We were satisfied with our choice: the Edge restaurant located in the Four Seasons Hotel online. It would take a mile walk and we set off at 7 for a reservation half an hour later.

Photo of the harbour as we set off; our hotel
on the left

Dinner was delicious, as we had hoped. It was a fitting last supper: red meat and red wine, highlights of the trip, and discussions of the future. We ordered a la carte, and for about the umpteenth time ordered almost identical meals.

Chicken and truffle croquetas with carrot puree

Steak and Asian veggies

Didn't get a photo of dessert, but these two were the best! After that delicious three-courser, we headed back to the hotel, shattered after some long days and four weeks on the road. It was time to settle down to one last sleep in Miami, city of heat, beach, and party.

Good night Miami!

Days 26 and 27 - Ups and Downs in Palm Tree City

The morning after the game we had a lazy morning in the hotel. Andy had crashed on the floor because of the distance to South Beach, and once we had faffed for a long hour we went out to grab some brunch. I had found a small French café round the corner so we all went and had an omelette.

After eggs and fruit we planned to head back to the hotel and get things ready for a trip to the iconic South Beach. Andy went off for a haircut while Jan and I mooched about in the room. 

Andy returned with his $12 army hair cut and we set off to the beach. It took about 20 minutes by bus; South Beach is located on an island off the coast of Miami and so is connected to the mainland by a few bridges, which are congested perpetually, obviously. We arrived at the idyllic beach after a brief stop off at Andy's hostel; the place wouldn't have looked out of place on a tropical island. The only snag was that grey clouds loomed in the distance and were approaching with the wind.

After a 20 minute wade, we followed a significant portion of the beach goers off the sand as the rain began to spit. Hardened tourists and Miami locals remained rooted to their deck chairs as they sought to ride out the imminent shower. We weren't that fussed evidently.

We got onto the main parade on South Beach island and walked down the umbrellaed paths lined with restaurants and cafés, eventually stopping at Johnny Rockets for a milkshake and nachos.

Though slightly uneased by the out of place disaster movie-esque clouds on beach paradise, we perked up with good old retro dessert drinks and a sighting of a Bugatti Veyron, the fastest car in the world. Speaking from experience, Miami is not the place to come and play with the land speed record. It did turn some heads though.

Fast forward a few hours and we were out with Andy again, on South Beach - again - getting some dinner in the Spanish/Cuban quarter. We were feeling some Italian, and I was craving pasta in particular, so when we found a place with reasonable mains we sat down. The maitre'd had her routine down to a T, and the boys both went for her chicken recommendation. I opted for my bolognaise and was rewarded sumptuously. Good old comfort food. We were also offered a complimentary limoncello on departure!

Ladz on tour

A toast to our last night with Andy

After dinner we hurried along to a tourism agency to sign up for the night's entertainment; Andy had arranged an open bar and night out at a Miami club for us through a girl he had met on Contiki tour in Germany - boy gets around. We were also apparently going to be transported via stretch hummer(!) to this venue. After paying for wristbands and meeting the ladies who were to be joining us in this dodgy deal, we went next door to begin sipping on the Grey Goose.

The limo showed up at 11 and we got fairly excited.

We got into the club after some pushing and shoving (we also had a huge Spanish man there to bulldoze our way in) and danced the rest of the night away in the humongous Mansion.

Jannick and I grabbed a cab from the club at about 2 after losing Andy some time before; thanks for the goodbye, pal. Going to bed in drunken haziness, we were aware that the sweet relief of sleep would be a fleeting delight; the next morning we had scheduled for an exercise of laddy decadence like no other - breakfast in bed over Liverpool vs. Man United.

Bed hair central

Another omelette

Though the match was lost by a nobler crew, the better team won. I used expensive omelette and hash browns to soak up my tears and hangover, and we essentially didn't move for the entire day. Jan popped out for a Subway at 4, having not felt much hunger for his eggy plate earlier, but for the most part we enjoyed snoozing and enjoying the bodacious view from the balcony.

In the early evening, we felt compelled to refresh the pores, so went down to the pool (on the 16th floor!) and had a dip in the water. It was a soothing hangover cure and a nice way to gear up for dinner, as well as being an enviable perch from which to view the city.

Then we went out for dinner, targeting a bar that Jan had found online that was made up of car number plates. It was affordable, but economic considerations were largely eclipsed by an ulterior motive - capturing the last two state plates for a full 50 tally in the state plate game. Hawaii (fair enough) and wascally Wyoming... It was evening on Labour Day Sunday so it was unfortunately closed, along with much of the Miami Downtown eateries. With this disappointment, we reluctantly dragged ourselves to Subway - for Jannick's second sandwich of the day - to conclude our penultimate night in Miami.

Day 25 - Orange Miami

We left Vero Beach doing our best to shrug off some disconcerting odours and unsavoury towel stains, and got on the road for the final day of driving. Old Molasses had served us mightily well over the last three weeks, taking us nearly two and a half thousand miles over Road Americana. As we neared the Floridian metropolis, the roads expanded to four lane highways that were throbbing with pick ups and super cars. Miami is apparently a notorious place to drive and we would soon discover that this was partly due to a fairly lacklustre public transportation system. We thundered into the city looking for our hotel, a 4 star tower located in the heart of downtown - the Epic. It appeared very quickly and did not disappoint. We pulled up in our sweet ride - swag oozing from the rims of our Kia Forte - and looked not at all out of place amongst the Lambos and Ferraris.

Last drive!

View from 2227

We dropped our stuff off in our room on the 22nd floor, oh so casually, and popped back down to head out to the southwest of town. In preparation for the night's main event, the season opener of the college football season at the University of Miami, we were going to the university itself to pick up a T-shirt for the game. Gotta look the part.

The gorgeous campus was lined with palm trees at the entrance, which didn't stop there, and once we were inside and parked the university shop and food court gave way to a small lake and fountain. Inside the store there were Miami U clothes, books, and souvenirs of every kind - a collection we had come to expect based on our experience with the marketing powerhouse that is the University of Mississippi. We each got a shirt and a burger from the food court next door before jumping back into the car and rolling out. It was time to give back our beloved steed.

So long, Old Molasses

The car return was quick and painless, though it would be odd not having wheels anymore. We high-tailed it out of the airport via cab and quickly ran into more daytime Miami traffic. We were meeting Andy Brandt, wallaby wanderer and beer smasher extraordinairre, for the final chapter of our three part saga, the Laboured Liver Chronicles. He came to our hotel and we all got ready for the afternoon and evening ahead. Jannick's friend Margie had kindly offered to take us to the game in her car as the stadium is unhelpfully located a good 15 miles out of downtown. In the window before we had time to grab some beer and have a natter in the lobby. 

Strewth!

Margie and friend Mike rocked up soon after in a Toyota Corolla, yet another fine specimen to add to the dazzling collection on display at Epic valet, and we bundled in and got on the way. We were heading north to the Sun Life Stadium, home to a few Miami sports teams including the University of Miami Hurricanes and the NFL's Miami Dolphins. It was five o'clock and we had three hours until kick off. This large chunk of time would be spent very appropriately at the piss up before the game itself - the tailgate.

The guy at this tent threw beer with fearsome accuracy
from his perch at anyone who raised their hand #fratbro

The tailgate was a party like none other that we three had been to before. Somewhere between a festival and a large-scale block party, the beer-fuelled fiesta was a sprawling network of parked cars and beer kegs, DJ decks and barbecues. We wandered over to the opposite side of the stadium to which we'd parked and found some acquaintances of our guides. The lanes were buzzing with students excited for the first game of the year. Games of beer pong and bean-bag toss were going on and we even witnessed a scuffle break out between some frat guys arguing about something or other. Probably just another heated discussion about metaphysical solipsism that had got a little out of hand. The police were there soon after to sort the riff raff out.

Jan and Margie

Mike and Margie feat. some lovebirds

After finishing our beer and scavenging some cold burgers, we marched toward the stadium at about quarter to eight. I don't think any of us had been so drunk before a sporting fixture, but it certainly made the trip on the escalator more exciting.

Walking into the Sun Life Stadium

The impressive stadium was electric on game night. We got up to our seats and were buzzing for the players to come out. We had found fairly decent seats for our price point, getting a side on view of the pitch despite being some distance away. After the bandstand celebrations and cheers from the crowd, play got under way. We noticed that many seats were unfilled, so after 5 minutes of game time, or about 20 minutes after kick off, we thought we'd try our luck rejoining Mike and Margie in the student section for better views and better atmosphere.

The players emerge!

The gamble paid ruthless dividends. Having left upper section 414, we were now in the heart of the Hurricanes faithful in section 151, very close to the touchline. Everywhere we looked around was a see of orange, the Miami Hurricanes primary strip, and the audience were all students. We got some great photos from this new location.

The boys rock the Miami "U"!

Miami were dominant for the entire match, eventually winning 34-6. Their opposition, the Florida Atlantic Owls, were out-cheered in the stands and out-gunned on the pitch. Like our experience with baseball, we definitely needed to adjust to the rhythm of a game that takes about three times as long as its game clock asserts. As a result, we left after the third quarter, our second worthwhile gamble of the night as the score remained unchanged for the rest of the game. It was a thoroughly enjoyable night; the Miami fans created a fantastic atmosphere that drove their team to the first victory of the season. Even though it was the opener, others told us this atmosphere was incomparable to other fixtures on the schedule, such as homecoming. Blimey!