Miami - Florida
December 2008 and another Christmas approaching, with no family around us we opted to return to Florida for Christmas but this time to Miami. To make the journey part of the holiday we decided to drive there stopping off along the way. We stayed overnight at New Orleans, Louisiana and Mobile, Alabama (which I will upload soon).
We spent a night in a hotel in Jacksonville on the North East coast of Florida and hit the beach soon after breakfast for a quick look around before heading off down route 1a which hugs the Eastern coast all the way down to Miami. Dropping in at a number of beautiful beaches along the way.
We had pre-booked a suite in a lovely hotel on Sunrise Harbour to the South of the city and soon after arrival took a little wander around the place to get our bearings.
It didn't take Sarah long to find a place with shops that were still open!!
Soon after the market we were settled into 'Bubba Gumps' for dinner and a cocktail or two in an over elaborate glass (we liked these so much we bought a couple for Mark and Hayley so they could sip cocktails beside the pool in Houston when they came over to visit) The sign on the table is for the waiter on 'run' the waiter walks past you, if you flip the red one over it says 'Stop Forest Stop' and the waiter will come over :)
We were up and about early the next morning and headed off to North Beach for a look around, we were surprised to find we had the place to ourselves.
We took the opportunity to take a ride to the Everglades whilst we were so far South and saw a couple of shows at local places along the way. At the farthest point South we saw some huge salt-water crocodiles and whilst walking the board walks an incredibly diverse range of bird life.
We didn't hand feed Big Mo down in the harbour, but we can't say we didn't have the opportunity to do so!!
Our next beach for the day was South Beach which maintains the theme with those stunning lifeguard towers, a rare photo of me in the sea in this bunch!!
the Art Deco district of Miami is incredible whether or not you are interested in the period the ornate beauty of these architectural wonders is apparent, there are a number of locals driving cars of the period which adds more to the ambiance. If you go to Miami don't let the Art Deco district slip past you, it is really worth the trip alone.
We spent this whole holiday returning to South Beach and the Art Deco district (between shopping trips for Sarah of course) this was another great escape from Christmas, the only thing reminding us of it at all was the tree in the harbour as we walked along the quayside. Miami is definitely another one of those places we would gladly return to.