Back from Florida
We got back from our trip to Florida yesterday morning... we had a lovely holiday, despite Adrian being hit by a stomach bug for most of the trip (we skipped quite a few dinners - and most lunches. Sadly though we don't really seem to have lost any weight!)
We did a lot of driving for us: about 1200 miles.
Here's a brief recap of the trip with some concise and perhaps abrupt judgments/overall impressions.
Day 1: BA flight to Orlando (World Traveller Plus seats as we had enough BA miles to treat ourselves; very comfortable seats but indifferent, albeit professional, service) Stayed overnight near Orlando.
Day 2: visit to the gorgeous Bok Tower Sanctuary Gardens, then to Ybor City and stroll around downtown Tampa. 2 nights in Gulfport at the lovely gay Berwin Oak Guesthouse, which I thoroughly recommend (the pictures on their website don't do it justice at all)
Day 3: down to Sarasota to visit the Mary Selby Botanical Gardens. Loved the Sunshine Skywalk bridge on the bay. Then back north to Palm Harbor to see Barbara (a very close friend of Adrian's: they hadn't seen each other for over 10 years) and her American husband Bo. She's lovely but their life in a RV park is just not for me!
Day 4: long drive down to Key Largo through the amazing Everglades National Park. We stopped at a few look-out points/trails in the park and saw plenty of alligators and birds.
Day 5: glass-bottomed boat excursion to see the coral reef at John Pennekamp State Park in Key Largo. It was lovely and also a great way of seeing the mangroves growing along the coast.
Then down to Key West stopping on the way at Key Pigeon (to visit a museum dedicated to the constructions of the railway bridges that connected the Keys to the mainland) and at the Bahia Honda State Park (gorgeous beach).
We both felt that the Keys were the highlight of our trip. And we would love to go again!
Day 6: Day spent in Key West. Walked around and, being a Saturday, went on a gay and lesbian trolley tour of the city. It was great fun thanks to the tour guide, a lovely and rather portly lady.
The very much hyped Key West sunsets lived up (and surpassed) expectations!!
In Key West we stayed at the Equator Resort: very cosy and a nice and friendly crowd, mainly of American bears (we were the only foreigners there!)
Day 7: Up to Fort Lauderdale. We stopped on the way at Coral Gables, in the Miami Area. Visited the Venetian Pool and had a look around the very impressive and luxurious 1920s Biltmore Hotel.
In Ft. Lauderdale we stayed at the Coconut Cove Guesthouse near the beach. After the Equator Resort, it was quite a disappointment: it had no spark.
As for Ft. Lauderdale itself, the beach is great but somehow the city in itself didn't do much for either of us i.e. - as Adrian puts it - we "didn't get it" !
In the evening we went to Steel to see Mike & Harvey a bear couple we had met on the beach in Sitges (and on the net before that)
Day 8: Went down to Miami Beach. Late morning spent on an amphibian Duck Tour (it was fun but the tour guide was irritating - no, I didn't join in with the quacking!!); then we walked around Miami Beach looking at the Art Deco architecture.
Then we went to visit the Holocaust Memorial which we both found very powerful and moving.
In the evening we met Sybil, another friend of Adrian's (his ex-boss' ex-wife's mother!!) for dinner.
Verdict: Miami deserved a visit but I wouldn't hurry back (definitely overhyped)
Day 9: Stayed in Ft. Lauderdale. It was supposed to be a lazy day by the pool but instead we went shopping in the morning. We went to the Sawgrass Mills Mall a looooong way out of Ft. Lauderdale.
When we got there Adrian needed the "restroom" and when he got out, he just looked so unwell. I thought he was about to pass out: he really got me worried.
(On the way we had stopped at a pharmacy to see if we could get something stronger than Imodium; sadly the pharmacist was more interested in finding out what football team Adrian supported - gaydar obviously non-existent! - and whether his accent was from Manchester or Liverpool - no, it's a Leeds accent)
Luckily after a rest and a cup of tea, he felt better and he even enjoyed the shopping (I managed to complete my wedding outfit).
In the afternoon, we went to Mike and Harvey's home in Wilton Manors. Very stylish home! They then took us to Georgie's Alibi where they meet up with neighbours for cocktails every Tuesday evening. (Wilton Manors is a gay neighboorhood and probably, for us, the only reason to ever go back to Ft. Lauderdale).
Day 10: Long drive back to Orlando Airport after stopping at the shops in Wilton Manors.
The flight home was much shorter (different route - almost a straight line across the Atlantic; on the way out, we flew north just south of Greenland and then along the eastern coast of Canada and the US) and the cabin crew SO much nicer (as you would expect from British Airways).
Landed at Gatwick at 7:30 am and we were home by 9 am.
Finally a nice cup of tea!!! (You cannot get a decent cup of tea in restaurants; they don't brew and the water is simply not hot enough)
Day 10: Back at work! Arghhhhhhh!
We did a lot of driving for us: about 1200 miles.
Here's a brief recap of the trip with some concise and perhaps abrupt judgments/overall impressions.
Day 1: BA flight to Orlando (World Traveller Plus seats as we had enough BA miles to treat ourselves; very comfortable seats but indifferent, albeit professional, service) Stayed overnight near Orlando.
Day 2: visit to the gorgeous Bok Tower Sanctuary Gardens, then to Ybor City and stroll around downtown Tampa. 2 nights in Gulfport at the lovely gay Berwin Oak Guesthouse, which I thoroughly recommend (the pictures on their website don't do it justice at all)
Day 3: down to Sarasota to visit the Mary Selby Botanical Gardens. Loved the Sunshine Skywalk bridge on the bay. Then back north to Palm Harbor to see Barbara (a very close friend of Adrian's: they hadn't seen each other for over 10 years) and her American husband Bo. She's lovely but their life in a RV park is just not for me!
Day 4: long drive down to Key Largo through the amazing Everglades National Park. We stopped at a few look-out points/trails in the park and saw plenty of alligators and birds.
Day 5: glass-bottomed boat excursion to see the coral reef at John Pennekamp State Park in Key Largo. It was lovely and also a great way of seeing the mangroves growing along the coast.
Then down to Key West stopping on the way at Key Pigeon (to visit a museum dedicated to the constructions of the railway bridges that connected the Keys to the mainland) and at the Bahia Honda State Park (gorgeous beach).
We both felt that the Keys were the highlight of our trip. And we would love to go again!
Day 6: Day spent in Key West. Walked around and, being a Saturday, went on a gay and lesbian trolley tour of the city. It was great fun thanks to the tour guide, a lovely and rather portly lady.
The very much hyped Key West sunsets lived up (and surpassed) expectations!!
In Key West we stayed at the Equator Resort: very cosy and a nice and friendly crowd, mainly of American bears (we were the only foreigners there!)
Day 7: Up to Fort Lauderdale. We stopped on the way at Coral Gables, in the Miami Area. Visited the Venetian Pool and had a look around the very impressive and luxurious 1920s Biltmore Hotel.
In Ft. Lauderdale we stayed at the Coconut Cove Guesthouse near the beach. After the Equator Resort, it was quite a disappointment: it had no spark.
As for Ft. Lauderdale itself, the beach is great but somehow the city in itself didn't do much for either of us i.e. - as Adrian puts it - we "didn't get it" !
In the evening we went to Steel to see Mike & Harvey a bear couple we had met on the beach in Sitges (and on the net before that)
Day 8: Went down to Miami Beach. Late morning spent on an amphibian Duck Tour (it was fun but the tour guide was irritating - no, I didn't join in with the quacking!!); then we walked around Miami Beach looking at the Art Deco architecture.
Then we went to visit the Holocaust Memorial which we both found very powerful and moving.
In the evening we met Sybil, another friend of Adrian's (his ex-boss' ex-wife's mother!!) for dinner.
Verdict: Miami deserved a visit but I wouldn't hurry back (definitely overhyped)
Day 9: Stayed in Ft. Lauderdale. It was supposed to be a lazy day by the pool but instead we went shopping in the morning. We went to the Sawgrass Mills Mall a looooong way out of Ft. Lauderdale.
When we got there Adrian needed the "restroom" and when he got out, he just looked so unwell. I thought he was about to pass out: he really got me worried.
(On the way we had stopped at a pharmacy to see if we could get something stronger than Imodium; sadly the pharmacist was more interested in finding out what football team Adrian supported - gaydar obviously non-existent! - and whether his accent was from Manchester or Liverpool - no, it's a Leeds accent)
Luckily after a rest and a cup of tea, he felt better and he even enjoyed the shopping (I managed to complete my wedding outfit).
In the afternoon, we went to Mike and Harvey's home in Wilton Manors. Very stylish home! They then took us to Georgie's Alibi where they meet up with neighbours for cocktails every Tuesday evening. (Wilton Manors is a gay neighboorhood and probably, for us, the only reason to ever go back to Ft. Lauderdale).
Day 10: Long drive back to Orlando Airport after stopping at the shops in Wilton Manors.
The flight home was much shorter (different route - almost a straight line across the Atlantic; on the way out, we flew north just south of Greenland and then along the eastern coast of Canada and the US) and the cabin crew SO much nicer (as you would expect from British Airways).
Landed at Gatwick at 7:30 am and we were home by 9 am.
Finally a nice cup of tea!!! (You cannot get a decent cup of tea in restaurants; they don't brew and the water is simply not hot enough)
Day 10: Back at work! Arghhhhhhh!