Musings from Miami

Hello from sunny Florida. It's not that warm by vacation standards, but it's a lot warmer than NY, so we're happy. We need to wear sweatshirts/jackets in the evening, but we're able to keep the top down on the convertible so the vacation is great!

When we left NY, we parked at an off site parking place near JFK. I was quite amused when we pulled up to read the sign that advised us to "precede with caution." Well, now we had a problem, since the sign clearly said "DO NOT BACK UP," and yet, how were we to defer to the cars behind us if we couldn't back up? Being the daring types that we are, we threw caution to the wind, and went ahead anyway. We dodged that bullet, and all went off without a hitch. The flight was great and empty.

When we finished at the car rental counter, we went into the garage to pick up our car. We knew it was a red convertible sports car, and they gave us the berth number. You know how in all the movies the loser guy gets set up with some girl, and comes into the bar and the set up man points to the girl, and the loser guy sees a stunning tall blond, and says "the blond? Wow!' The friend then tells him no, the girl right beyond the blond and she tends to be a mousy glasses wearing brunette in a button up blouse and floral skirt. So it wasn't that bad, but as we approached we saw a gorgeous red sports car convertible, but it was in the wrong slot parked next to an SUV so we couldn't see the slot two over from it where our car was sitting. MBB noted that the car we were drooling over was a Saturn Skye. We walked two cars over to see our Nissan Z, which is very cool and fun to drive.

After a fun time in Dave and Busters we went out to dinner. There we were sitting at the window, having finished our soup ( it was chilly last night, sorry folks, but low 60's is chilly in these climes)and I looked up at the gas station across the street we had noted when we drove in. Between sitting down and eating soup the price had dropped 14 cents!!!! Maybe we should have had dessert!

We got a late a start today and went to get my watch fixed, pick up some breakfast/lunch, and then out to the Everglades for an airboat ride. We've done it before, but we find it both fun and fascinating, and this time we saw a lot more alligators. The drive down was great. We opted for the long route which was straight on route 41. It was actually (top down and all) a great ride, not boring, lots of cool buildings, and ethnic neighborhoods, and once we got closer to our destination the road felt more like US 1 down to the Keys. Everglades on both sides, and a few signs here and there directing drivers to the various airboat tour companies. Interestingly, a few miles in on that part of 41 is a whole development with miamesq apartments and palm trees, it's quite lovely, though somewhat in the middle of nowhere. I think my suburb has become so urban, that a few minute drive to amenities seems like a lifetime.

Our guide was a man who looked about 60 (though he could've been 35), his voice was choked with smoke from the last 40 years, he claimed to have one eye, he wore numerous rings, one was a skull, lots of tattoos, a pony tail, and originally from Kentucky, accent and all. He informed us on the tour that he's been living on water since he was 6 years old, and first flew a plane at age 11, and landed one at 13. I know he's real tough and all, but two years seems like an awfully long time to stay up in the air. The tour was very informative, and it started off with a five minute fast ride through the sawgrass in the everglades. The water is between 4 inches and 15 inches deep, thus necessitating the airboat. When he came to a stop after this first quick ride where the boat slid sideways many times he informed us of two things. Number 1, this is when he told us he had one eye. Hmmm. Number two, this is when he told us his name. He said "My name is Scooter.'

And all I could think was "Of course it is."