"Miami" Florida Keys Travelogue by paradisedreamer

It took us 2 hours to get through passport and immigration control which was rather painful especially since I did not inherit the patience gene. It then took us another age to find where the car rental desks are even with directions from various people. There are no signs whatsoever. We spotted an Alamo bus and jumped on. It was so good to feel that hunid floridian air.
We then had to wait in another line to get our rental car ( I guess it is good practise for Disney). Aaargh! I just wanted to get going - oh the joys of getting from A to B! I did get to sit outside gazing at palm trees while Marc got organised a free upgarde. Ok I was in a parking lot but so what!

We made our way to Miami beach very painlessly remembering to keep right! Miami was exactly as I had imagined but bigger with a lot more palm trees. We drove up wasjington Ave in Miami Beach and yes its true there really are gorgeous people on rollerblades (or in-line skates as they say) here. I didn't notice all the silicone but Marc assured me that he had 'noticed'.

We found our hotel - Seville Beach hotel on Collins QAve only to be told upon arrival that it has been closed for over a month! Thanks Expedia! Great now we had gto find somewhere to stay and finding cheap accommodation in South Beach is not exactly easy.

We went to put all out things back in the car. Marc got in a tizzy over the4 central locking and ended up locking the keys in the car - of all the things to do! I ended up in a fit of giggles with Sam joining in. What are the chances that our hotel is closed and that we are stuck outside of our car withg the keys dangling in the ignition. Te only thing we had on us was Marc's wallet and luckily I had gthe ophone number of tghe car rental agency. We called and they said they would send someone - it could be anything up to an hour and a half. So there we were standing guard over the car since we didn't want it stolen with all our traveller's cheques and passports etc!

A storm began brewing and there was lightening as great big raindrops began falling on our heads. The giggles were soon replaced by giving Marc the stare of death.
But boy do you get to see a lot in Miami beach if you just stand around in the rain watching the goings on. A woman asked us if we had seen a man with a computer bag - her car had just been broken into. Next thing there were 5 undercover cops and 2 uniformed police. They disappeared onto the beach. I quickly changed my mind about taking Sam onto the beach to explore a bit and keep her occupied, it had been a really long day already. The plice then returned with 2 guys handcuffed, read their rights and put in the squad car - hehe so Hollywood! I did think to ask if they knew how to break into cars but thought better of since they had smashed her window!

Then another guy oulled up spoke to the police and on his way back to his car he stopped to chat to us. He recounted the story of hoe he picvked up an Eastern European hitchhiker an took him to his father hotel and let him stay for free and the hitch hiker was now expecting him to buy a new digital camera as his had gone missing. Weird people here!

It was soon dark, raining and there was ominous lightening. am and Marc went down to Collins Ave to try and phone to find out where our locksmith was. The guy from the hotel who had let us phone earlier had long since disappeared.
A lovely hispanic shopkeeper let Marc use the ohone and even gave Sam a free pastry out of sympathy - people always surprise you!

Locksmith man eventually arrived and was in the car in 10n seconds flat. I must give it to Sam - she was extremely well behaved considering it was midnight our time and she had sepnt 10 hours confined in an aeroplane. Judging by this disastrous day Sam will only be apleasure to travel with. She really kept our mood up by laughing at the situation.

We found a hotel (Howard Johnson) and had to cough up $100 and $13 valet AND we had room service. Sticking to a budget will have to start tomorrow!