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.
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| Bay Market |
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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.
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| Raspberry for Jan |
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| Coconut |
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| Also coconut for Ms. Hu |
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| 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).
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| Jan paps the meal |
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| 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.
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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.
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| Chicken and truffle croquetas with carrot puree |
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| 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.
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| Good night Miami! |
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