jubileegirl
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2004
- Messages
- 211
Cast:-
The Mummy, me, Alison
The Daddy, John
The youngest child, Chloe whos 15
Extras (staying at home this time):-
Peter, the eldest child, and Rachel his girlfriend
Amy, the eldest daughter
Freddie, the accident-prone cat
The Holiday Inn South Beach is just past all the action of South Beach. Its situated where South Beach is becoming a bit shabby and there arent many restaurants or shops, but its in easy walking distance of everything and we didnt feel at all unsafe walking around, even in the dark. It was also a very good price for South Beach and the hotel itself was very comfortable. Wed stay there again definitely.
We checked in, were given discount breakfast vouchers and free drinks vouchers (which we forgot about! Im still smarting about that!) and shown our room on the 7th floor with a great view of the ocean. The concierge asked us if we were interested in any sightseeing as he could get us a city/boat tour with a $10 discount each, We said wed let him know as we were too tired to think straight but on reflection we thought that as we were bound to feel jetlagged the next day maybe doing something organised would be a good idea, letting someone else think for us! So John went off to book it.
As everyone who has been to Florida before will know, your body is exhausted (and wed been up since 4 am UK time!) but your mind is buzzing, so we decided to go for a wander and have something to eat at Lincoln Road Mall, which is a trendy pedestrianised road not too far from the hotel. On the map I also noticed that it was near the Holocaust Memorial so we decided to head that way as I wanted to see the Memorial. After aimlessly wandering and nearly getting run over as we coped with the driving on the right we found the Memorial. I dont know how to describe it to do it justice really so Ill just provide a link so you can see for yourself.. http://www.holocaustmmb.org/ Do have a look at the site.
Before we walked around a volunteer came over and told us we could take photos and how to get into the centre of the memorial, as its far more than just a statue. We came out speechless, feeling humbled, ashamed, all kinds of conflicting emotions really.
Before we left we went to find the man wed spoken to, although we didnt know what to say to him as we all felt a bit choked. But he was waiting for us and wanted us to tell him all the latest gossip about Eastenders as he was a big fan of Pats and knew we were a long way ahead in the storylines! He thought those bald-headed brothers ought to come a cropper because of their behaviour so we gladly assured him that both Phil and Grant had had some hard times!! It was bizarre really talking about a UK soap in the shadow of that amazing memorial but I read that most of the volunteers had some link with the Holocaust, some even being survivors of the camps, so I guess it was our mans right to talk about whatever he liked. I would have liked to have asked him about his own experiences but he didnt give me an opening.
Anyway, we then found Lincoln Road Mall and had a great time window shopping very swish! There were loads of restaurants with tables on the sidewalk so we stopped at the Van **** Café, which is mentioned in guide books as one of the original eating places on Miami Beach. Also our son, Peter, who is quite normal in other ways, has an obsession about Dick Van **** (weird or what!) so it seemed a fitting place to eat. We had a good meal there and then went to Giardhellis ice-cream parlour where we all decided to have just a single coneeach. My goodness, what a size! And we said, not for the last time on this trip, we should have shared!
On the way back to the hotel we found a Walgreens Pharmacy, so in we went to get sunscreen and Conair hair straighteners, as recommended on the Dibb - $24 and absolutely perfect!!
By the time we got back to the Holiday Inn we were hanging. So having satisfied myself that there was no doom-laden message from home waiting at reception we went up to our room and crashed.
Tomorrow : the hang onto your hat tour of Miami
The Mummy, me, Alison
The Daddy, John
The youngest child, Chloe whos 15
Extras (staying at home this time):-
Peter, the eldest child, and Rachel his girlfriend
Amy, the eldest daughter
Freddie, the accident-prone cat
The Holiday Inn South Beach is just past all the action of South Beach. Its situated where South Beach is becoming a bit shabby and there arent many restaurants or shops, but its in easy walking distance of everything and we didnt feel at all unsafe walking around, even in the dark. It was also a very good price for South Beach and the hotel itself was very comfortable. Wed stay there again definitely.
We checked in, were given discount breakfast vouchers and free drinks vouchers (which we forgot about! Im still smarting about that!) and shown our room on the 7th floor with a great view of the ocean. The concierge asked us if we were interested in any sightseeing as he could get us a city/boat tour with a $10 discount each, We said wed let him know as we were too tired to think straight but on reflection we thought that as we were bound to feel jetlagged the next day maybe doing something organised would be a good idea, letting someone else think for us! So John went off to book it.
As everyone who has been to Florida before will know, your body is exhausted (and wed been up since 4 am UK time!) but your mind is buzzing, so we decided to go for a wander and have something to eat at Lincoln Road Mall, which is a trendy pedestrianised road not too far from the hotel. On the map I also noticed that it was near the Holocaust Memorial so we decided to head that way as I wanted to see the Memorial. After aimlessly wandering and nearly getting run over as we coped with the driving on the right we found the Memorial. I dont know how to describe it to do it justice really so Ill just provide a link so you can see for yourself.. http://www.holocaustmmb.org/ Do have a look at the site.
Before we walked around a volunteer came over and told us we could take photos and how to get into the centre of the memorial, as its far more than just a statue. We came out speechless, feeling humbled, ashamed, all kinds of conflicting emotions really.
Before we left we went to find the man wed spoken to, although we didnt know what to say to him as we all felt a bit choked. But he was waiting for us and wanted us to tell him all the latest gossip about Eastenders as he was a big fan of Pats and knew we were a long way ahead in the storylines! He thought those bald-headed brothers ought to come a cropper because of their behaviour so we gladly assured him that both Phil and Grant had had some hard times!! It was bizarre really talking about a UK soap in the shadow of that amazing memorial but I read that most of the volunteers had some link with the Holocaust, some even being survivors of the camps, so I guess it was our mans right to talk about whatever he liked. I would have liked to have asked him about his own experiences but he didnt give me an opening.
Anyway, we then found Lincoln Road Mall and had a great time window shopping very swish! There were loads of restaurants with tables on the sidewalk so we stopped at the Van **** Café, which is mentioned in guide books as one of the original eating places on Miami Beach. Also our son, Peter, who is quite normal in other ways, has an obsession about Dick Van **** (weird or what!) so it seemed a fitting place to eat. We had a good meal there and then went to Giardhellis ice-cream parlour where we all decided to have just a single coneeach. My goodness, what a size! And we said, not for the last time on this trip, we should have shared!
On the way back to the hotel we found a Walgreens Pharmacy, so in we went to get sunscreen and Conair hair straighteners, as recommended on the Dibb - $24 and absolutely perfect!!
By the time we got back to the Holiday Inn we were hanging. So having satisfied myself that there was no doom-laden message from home waiting at reception we went up to our room and crashed.
Tomorrow : the hang onto your hat tour of Miami
