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The Miami Report: Spring Break 2003
What can you really say about Miami? Well, in summation of a great spring break trip, I've devoted a whole article to it. Let me tell you, what a city it is. We as a group had differing opinions about it. Sarah wants to retire there, or even move right now. Kyle said it's nice to visit, but he still likes to come home to Texas. I was overwhelmed. Miami is definitely closer to my ideal city than Fort Worth. So anyway, here we go, The Miami Report: (brought to you in Art Deco colors) from the diary of Ian Voorn, in Miami International Airport Flying
standby is no walk in the park. It's uncertain, there's a lot of
pacing, and there's a chance you'll spend endless hours in airports.
I've flown standby my whole life; I know of no other way to fly so I've
come to accept this. I also know not to complain because I'm flying
free of charge anyway, and that's worth a little uncertainty. Flying
to Miami (hub for all AA flights to the Caribbean) for spring break is
risky. I flew on special "D1" passes, I listed for the
first flight of the day (6am), and I checked in 4 hours in advance (max
time) at 2am. All this put together got me a seat on Flight 349,
getting me to Miami at 9:45am, 5 hours ahead of the road crew. In flight diary observations. The seat next to me is empty. This is odd, especially for flights supposedly overbooked. I ordered a Pepsi, but I should have watched the flight attendant because I swear she poured me a Coke. BIG difference. The man across the aisle is reading Playboy. No wedding ring, but he appears to know the woman seated next to him. Could be a daughter. Also in the seat pocket in front of him is Family Circle magazine, Playboy's usual complement apparently. People watching in Miami Airport. I never realized that Miami is cruise central. Every major cruise line has an office here, plus people have cruise stickers on their shirts. I see a lot of couple groups - several sets of married people, usually in their 50s. I guess this is recreation for Baby Boomers: kids are grown up, let's take a tour with our friends. Hans was right when he called Miami Airport the "Third World." A lot of cultures pass through here. At 2pm, much earlier than anticipated, Heather and Amber pick me up at the airport. I still feel like a tool flying here rather than driving with the rest, but they don't seem to mind. The condo is in Aventura, just north of Miami, on the mainland, but overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway (view from balcony above)..
Hollywood Beach, view to the north
Monday brought tropical rainstorms to Miami. Amber and I weren't phased - we went swimming in the condo pool anyway. David and Kyle arrived later that day from Atlanta, where they had to stop for a Nascar race. That night, all 8 of us piled into the Sequoia to go investigate South Beach. Even for a Monday night, it was crowded. We walked Ocean Drive, admiring the art deco architecture (at least I did). We ate at a hotel/bar called the Clevelander. The bar itself had a 9 foot deep pool within it. Now THAT'S living.
Clevelander bar (left) and an art deco building, with a Ferrari parked in front for good measure.
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THE
VOORN PROJECT |
Sunday
was our first full day in Florida. Sarah's mother keeps a car at
the condo, and it seats 8, very convenient. Sarah enjoyed driving
the land yacht (Toyota Sequoia) to Hollywood Beach. My first observations
were a lot of comparisons to beaches in Southern California. This
beach backed up to a boardwalk, was much shorter, had warmer water, and
coarser sand. A lot more old people and children than South Beach,
which we would visit later in the week. I caught Jonathan doing
sand angels too...
