I arrived in Miami and had arranged to meet older DD at Miami Airport, this again didn't go to plan, but most of that was because DD didn't listen to or follow the plan. After trying to find her in the airport, I went to the prearranged meet at Alamo car hire and found a fairly tearful DD who'd been there for about 3 hours. Considering that she'd arrived an hour ahead of schedule, I'd told her I was getting in an hour after her flight and I'd spent an hour looking for her at the airport ( again not helped by no one wanting to give me any useful information on the "help" line) that wasn't that suprising. We then drove down to Key West and arrived about midnight. We stayed at the Sheraton Suites, a good hotel. Food, facilities and room all great and just across the road to the beach. They also ran a shuttle into town each hour, this is very handy as parking in Key West is difficult. DD and I lazed about the pool and beach and we also took a catermaran out to the coral reef and snorkled, even in December the water was pretty warm. We saw loads of fish ( someone saw a reef shark 
) even though it was a little choppy and visibility was a little limited. We were only in Key West for 3 nights, it would have been nice to have stayed longer, but I'll be back.....
Next day we drove up to Miami and checked into the Riande Continetal hotel. We had a couple of days exploring and wandering round then DISASTER STRIKES. I'd hurt my back a couple of days earlier, but it seemed to have gone away. Getting up from lunch I found I couldn't straighten up nor could I move my legs without a searing pain. I struggled back to the room and lay down to see if the pain went away, sadly not so I set about seeing a doctor. My insurance company couldn't get anyone to come see me and suggested I went to the local ER department. After an EON I got to see a doctor who had me x-rayed, gave me some valium and sent me home. This did nothing for the back pain so I called the insurance company the following day and they got a GP round to see me who got me booked for an MRI scan the next day. After the scan had showed that I had a "herniated disc" I was booked to see a specialist, but I got called back for another scan because there was a shadow on the film and they wanted to decide if it was a tumour or a cyst. In between all this DD1 had to fly back to England ( as she was due to), DD2 was meant to come over but I had to cancel as I was stuck in bed unable to drive, walk or stand so I couldn't even collect her from the airport. Jana came down from Pittsburgh to look after me. Jana ended up getting the sack for taking time off to look after me, which was a definate bummer. Anyway the good news was the scan came back a a cyst not a tumour ( VERY NERVOUS couple of days there) . I went to see the specialist who gave me a cortisone epidural injection that patched me up enough to get home to England. I now have to see a specialist here to see what needs to be done to my back. That's booked for tomorrow. Jana I did have to change room in the middle of this as well, because I'd booked hotels in Tampa and Orlando, on hotwire I picked up the Richmond Hotel on South Beach ( http://richmondhotel.com ) This was a wonderful hotel and the staff were incredably helpful and efficient. I left the Riande under a bit of a cloud with their staff as I had a row with a particularly stroppy receptionist who told me that I hadn't had a conversation with someone in the hotel when I knew that I had ( it REALLY bugs me when someone tells you that they know better than you, when they weren't even there !!!) . It eventually was worked out that the person I spoke to worked for a company that organised tours from within the hotel. The fact it was marked "guest services" on the phone and the fact I told the receptionist I talked to guest services on extention 1447 could not sway here from " we don't have guest services". When she eventually realised that they did have an area answering to that name, did I get an appology? Did I heck, she said " well they are nothing to do with us....." Considering I was in a wheelchair at this point and obviously in a lot of pain I thought it was shocking customer relations. All that was needed was " I'm very sorry that you've obviously been given incorrect information from someone that doesn't actually work for the hotel, this is the correct information I'll help you as best I can".
It was nice to spend more time with Jana, although we weren't happy she lost her job over it. But it was sad that DD2 had to get postponed untillater in the year, I had booked swimming with manatees for her at Crystal River and I had Discovery Cove booked for Xmas day as a suprise Xmas and Birthday present for her. She has always wanted to swim with dolphins , but she's nervous in deep water even though she swims well. This was the first time I felt confident that she'd not "bottle out"
All in all it was a wonderful holiday, the rugby was fantastic, I bought a painting that I never thought I'd be able to afford./justify, Jana and I got engaged ( plans to follow in a few months) and I saw a load of fantastic places and sights. The back injury was a downer at the end, but didn't take the gloss over a wonderful trip.
) even though it was a little choppy and visibility was a little limited. We were only in Key West for 3 nights, it would have been nice to have stayed longer, but I'll be back..... Next day we drove up to Miami and checked into the Riande Continetal hotel. We had a couple of days exploring and wandering round then DISASTER STRIKES. I'd hurt my back a couple of days earlier, but it seemed to have gone away. Getting up from lunch I found I couldn't straighten up nor could I move my legs without a searing pain. I struggled back to the room and lay down to see if the pain went away, sadly not so I set about seeing a doctor. My insurance company couldn't get anyone to come see me and suggested I went to the local ER department. After an EON I got to see a doctor who had me x-rayed, gave me some valium and sent me home. This did nothing for the back pain so I called the insurance company the following day and they got a GP round to see me who got me booked for an MRI scan the next day. After the scan had showed that I had a "herniated disc" I was booked to see a specialist, but I got called back for another scan because there was a shadow on the film and they wanted to decide if it was a tumour or a cyst. In between all this DD1 had to fly back to England ( as she was due to), DD2 was meant to come over but I had to cancel as I was stuck in bed unable to drive, walk or stand so I couldn't even collect her from the airport. Jana came down from Pittsburgh to look after me. Jana ended up getting the sack for taking time off to look after me, which was a definate bummer. Anyway the good news was the scan came back a a cyst not a tumour ( VERY NERVOUS couple of days there) . I went to see the specialist who gave me a cortisone epidural injection that patched me up enough to get home to England. I now have to see a specialist here to see what needs to be done to my back. That's booked for tomorrow. Jana I did have to change room in the middle of this as well, because I'd booked hotels in Tampa and Orlando, on hotwire I picked up the Richmond Hotel on South Beach ( http://richmondhotel.com ) This was a wonderful hotel and the staff were incredably helpful and efficient. I left the Riande under a bit of a cloud with their staff as I had a row with a particularly stroppy receptionist who told me that I hadn't had a conversation with someone in the hotel when I knew that I had ( it REALLY bugs me when someone tells you that they know better than you, when they weren't even there !!!) . It eventually was worked out that the person I spoke to worked for a company that organised tours from within the hotel. The fact it was marked "guest services" on the phone and the fact I told the receptionist I talked to guest services on extention 1447 could not sway here from " we don't have guest services". When she eventually realised that they did have an area answering to that name, did I get an appology? Did I heck, she said " well they are nothing to do with us....." Considering I was in a wheelchair at this point and obviously in a lot of pain I thought it was shocking customer relations. All that was needed was " I'm very sorry that you've obviously been given incorrect information from someone that doesn't actually work for the hotel, this is the correct information I'll help you as best I can".
It was nice to spend more time with Jana, although we weren't happy she lost her job over it. But it was sad that DD2 had to get postponed untillater in the year, I had booked swimming with manatees for her at Crystal River and I had Discovery Cove booked for Xmas day as a suprise Xmas and Birthday present for her. She has always wanted to swim with dolphins , but she's nervous in deep water even though she swims well. This was the first time I felt confident that she'd not "bottle out"
All in all it was a wonderful holiday, the rugby was fantastic, I bought a painting that I never thought I'd be able to afford./justify, Jana and I got engaged ( plans to follow in a few months) and I saw a load of fantastic places and sights. The back injury was a downer at the end, but didn't take the gloss over a wonderful trip.
