After a cold shower and applying the lotion, I was back down by the pool. Helen showed up after a grueling day in dire need of relaxation. We all decided to order food and drinks. Nothing says vacation weekend than some over-priced burgers and frilly drinks enjoyed poolside. The burgers by the way were fantastic.
Saturday Night in South Beach
What do you get when you mix me, sunburn and 90% humidity? A very wet and uncomfortable evening. This is why think I can’t live in Florida. Although I am still willing to give it a shot. Anyway, Helen and I headed out to one of the other hot strips in South Beach; Lincoln Road. Instead of loud nightclubs, this area is one big, modern outdoor mall complete with plethora of overpriced boutiques and chain stores.
We stopped for a drink and some appetizers at Van Dyke Café while waiting for Angela and Melissa to meet us. Van Dyke’s has a huge ivy-covered, rustic exterior and a warm, dark interior. It was a very welcoming place and primarily a large jazz bar with live music upstairs. Helen and I stayed downstairs where we could still hear the music while enjoying a couple of beers and some yummy fried calamari.
At the table to my right were a couple of transvestites. This being South Beach you may not think that was unusual. And sure enough no one really seemed to notice. What struck me as odd was that these were not drag queens. They were not pretty in any way. They simply looked like two truck drivers wearing dresses. Their outfits were kinda well put together. That is if their intention was to look like a couple of bearded Dolly Partons.
Soon we were back out among the throngs of slack-jawed tourists who’d say things like, “Oh my god! They have a (insert chain store name here) just like we do in (insert city name here).” It never ceases to amaze me how easily amused people are. The death of culture in this country can be directly connected to this fact. Honestly, is it really that amazing that there is a store here that can be found anywhere else?
We met up with Angela and Melissa and our next stop was to get some dinner. After peaking in to some places, we settled on Soprano Café. Its large outdoor area was deceptively breezy. You see, it’s so hot here that there are fans set up outside. The food was pretty good here. I got the lobster ravioli. The table got a free bottle of wine. We had planned to go out after dinner, but to be honest we were wiped from our day. And my being riddled with sunburn didn’t help matters.
We opted instead for another slumber party with the addition of some rum. The combination of fatigue and an early flight back to NYC in the morning lead me to have a couple of drinks before hitting the hay. Actually I think Helen was the first to pass out. Angela and Melissa took their party out to the pool. I slept as soundly as a chronic insomniac could. The girls made fun of the noises I made as I slept. I told them they were inspiring my chorus of moans and groans. In fact it was thanks to years of asthma, sinus problems and smoking.
The Trip Home
The morning started with the wake-up call mishap I described earlier. Despite that I was able to get myself up on time and out the door. For the trip back to the airport, I took a cab. Though the shuttles are cheaper, they don’t run as often and my memory of my trip in was still fresh. For the extra money, the cab got me to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Well, actually more time than I counted on since my flight to Atlanta was forty minutes late.
Once on board I was left with no TV on my side of the plane. At least they had decent snacks to choose from; Sun Chips, peanuts, granola bars, peanut butter crackers and cookies. I chose the chips and set about on some writing. It was at this point that I met Fernanda. She’s a sweet, lovely girl from Ecuador who was on her way to visit friends in Philadelphia. She speaks several languages and we talked about work, travel and life.
There was a chance that she’d be coming to NYC on this trip. However, once we got to Atlanta, we both had to bolt to our next flights. Hers was departing from a different part of the airport than mine. As we parted ways I was hoping she’d call but as time would eventually tell, that was not to happen. Still it was a nice way to spend time on that short flight to say the least.
