On the road to Conche County

So today, we went and hired our car (which I haven't even taken a photo of yet... we named her KW), and headed south along the keys to Key West. Drive took about 3 hours, and it was not only interesting, but refreshing to get away from the glitz and pretentiousness of Miami. To sum up Miami (moreso South Beach where we were), it's like a combination of Kings Cross & Darling Harbour with a hint of Bondi in there. A lot of attitude, and if you don't like people getting up in your face, then probably stay away from here. Don't get me wrong, Miami was definately nice for a holiday (very nice beach) but as far as the culture goes, very much up in your face, and everybody trying to make a name for themselves. A lot of sleazy guys, but also a lot of scantily clad girls. Very hot the whole time (was always at least 33 degrees during the day) so have developed a bit of colour compared to what I would have in Sydney.

Driving down US-1, you got to see a lot of different independent diners and small resorts (they literally littered the highway), and not a neon sign in sight! We stopped at a little diner (the one in the photo) where I got served an Iced Tea (home made of course) in a pitcher jug (MASSIVE). We ordered GATOR BITES (little bits of deep fried alligator tail, seasoned and served with chipotle mayo and a squeeze of lemon) and they were DELICIOUS. I'm tempted to go and find somewhere that serves alligator steaks, because the meat was phenomenal. A little like pork, but a bit gamier.

Also had a slice of the compulsory KEY LIME PIE. Let me put it this way - I couldn't finish a slice it was so sweet. And big. Massive. Nice, but only in small doses. I'm not one for overly sweet things, so it might go down a little differently for others (forgot to take a photo, but I'm sure I'll eat some more somewhere - everywhere sells it).

We drove over the 7-mile bridge on the way down, weaving through the islands, which is, just as it sounds, a bridge that is 7 miles long. Not that you really notice much apart from blue on either side.

Safe in the hotel now, will probably end up going out for dinner, before coming home and planning for tomorrow. It's a little windy down here for now, so not quite beach weather, but still quite warm.

Adios!

PS. The pictures to the other posts will come later tonight when we get back to the hotel.

Sorry, beach has been calling

Yep so a few things to fill you in on. Going to be as brief as possible so using dot points, and going in chronological order:

• Went out on Weds night to LIV and saw Dada Life. Club can best be described as a plush version of the forum, that fills up every wednesday (voted best party in Miami).
• The next morning, I was robbed. Two girls came back to the hotel with us and when they left, my iphone was gone and so was at least $500 out of my wallet (well, all the money from my wallet was gone). No cards, ID or camera/laptop, just those artifacts. Been to the police and filed a report, gotten the hotel security footage, but unfortunately, it doesn't look like they'll be able to ID them. At least I have travel insurance though.
• Beach
• Visited Espinola way, just around the corner from us. It's a nice little courtyard section (well cordoned off road for pedestrians) kind of reminiscent to Chinatown, but filled with Spanish, Mexican & Italian style restaurants and shops.
• Did a big walk around the Art Deco district (which we're staying in) but just walked around to take it all in. It really is the tourist centre of Miami, which we found out when we went out on Saturday night (it's coming, chill). Lots of pastel coloured buildings with fluorescent lights... it really does look like GTA: Vice City. And you do get that vibe about it.
• Beach
• Visited Little Havana. Not so much a tourist attraction as such, but just an area where all the Cubans have settled, and where they have the Domino Park where all the old men play dominos. Cigar factories litter the streets, along with Cuban restaurants and other shops, all with Spanish as the primary language.
• Went to Grand Central on Satruday night, a club which is in the middle of Downtown Miami, but as we discovered, there are only really two streets that operate in Downtown at night time. The rest is a ghost town. Literally. If you've seen Will Smith in I Am Legend, that's what it was like. All the shops are locked up to the teeth with their rollar doors, no people walking around, no sounds... just a few homeless people lying around. We walked all the way there from Little Havana (a solid 90 minute walk in the humidity, so we were dying by the end of it). And the main thing is I survived, even with a camera hanging around my shoulder. I was told I was lucky to not have been mugged for my camera in Little Havana (I did notice a lot of glancing eyes at my camera though).
• Grand Central was a nice big space, formerly an office space, which had been gutted and turned into a massive club (roughly OAF size if you combined both rooms). Theophilus London was doing a set which was pretty awesome.

I'm off to Key West tomorrow and will probably just be at the beach today, along with updating police report and filing for insurance.

Before I forget, big ups to Chris for hooking me up with some people down here who have taken great care of us, and meant that we've met a few more legends too. Cheers bro.

Ciao

*Photos will be in the next post, and added to all the previous posts without photos

Much of the same

Really not much else to report from yesterday or today. Just been at the beach for most of it. Yep. That pretty much sums it up. The water feels about the same temperature as urine, so not too refreshing (it is nice and blue though), and it's about 34 degrees from 10 in the morning til about 6 at night. Forgot my thongs yesterday so burnt the shit out of my feet which now hurt a little bit. A tiny bit sunburnt. But seriously, nothing new.

Still no photos to upload, but I'll try and upload them at least by Key West at the very latest.

Umm... how are you?

Sup Miami

So another short post, purely because the weather outside is INCREDIBLE. Waking up at 7AM and it's already 28 Celcius*, sun is out and it's a beautiful day. The beach is a block away and just begging for me to come to it, so who am I to argue.

We arrived without coincidence yesterday, got to the hotel and walked along South Beach, which is actually pretty beautiful. I know, in Australia, people say we have the nicest beaches and I was told not to expect much more coming to America, but really, it does hold it's own.

We then ended up at a bar on Ocean Drive, Mango's (http://www.mangostropicalcafe.com/) (yes I got my tourist on, but everyone is allowed to once right?) A few overpriced cocktails (mojitos were pretty farrrrrkin good!) & a couple of beers later and we were in a good mood. Then the waitresses changed shifts. Ok, so I thought this girl had a skimpy outfit on. Then when the new waitresses came in. I've seen girls at a strip club wear more than this. She was wearing nothing but skimpy, sexy lingerie** as her work uniform, and this is a restaurant/bar, not even a strip club!!!! Pleasant views aside, we stayed there for a while before retreating back to the hotel to grab some sleep (and put a dent in the duty free bottle of Gin I bought).

Today = BEACH

Probably not much else to say apart from BEACH.

Oh. And WAY too many Ed Hardy shirts. I think the guy lives here.


*Let's get one thing straight. Fahrenheit is dumb. So I won't ever use it. Simple. Also, humidity is about 80-85% so yeah, nice and hot. How's Sydney again? #suckedinwinter

** Sorry fellas, no photos here. Didn't want to seem like a creep.

PS. I tried to do this with some pictures, but having some troubles with the uploading (apparently, uploading photos means using an unauthorised URL), so photos are coming.

What's up with chicken sandwiches?

Some more of that wholesome American food. I thought this was a myth until I saw the ad in a window of a KFC. Anyway, enjoy!

Hey Connecticut, Can I buy you a soda?

So it's official. I have a new crush. Her name is Connecticut. She's a lovely wholesome girl, very friendly. Kind of low-key and appreciative of the simple things, but she's just a wholesome American girl.

Yep, it's true. I'm currently staying up in Norwalk, Connecticut (about an hour drive from NYC) and it's beautiful. So much greenery everywhere you look, all the typical American houses (big ones at that too), squirrels to the left, chipmunks to the right... It's so idealic and as corny as this sounds, this is the 'real america' that I was wanting to visit.

Yesterday, just bought the essential things (i.e. a phone - if you want the number, send me a message via facebook) and then went around to Lukas' cousins house, about ten minutes away. This house was MASSIVE. Approximately an acre property, it was just about the most impressive american house I've ever seen. (I can't remember what the actual style is called, but I have a few pictures I snapped on my iphone while I was there).

We went to Lukas' cousins house to watch the soccer (USA vs. England), on a nice big rear projection screen television. They whipped up something quickly to eat with what was left lying around, which reslted in hot dogs, iced tea, mac n cheese, corn on the cob and some crab. Ahhh, can you please pass the cliche sauce with that?

BUT IT WAS DELICIOUS. I didn't think they would actually bust all that stuff out, but it seems that it's just typical to have things like that lying around the house. Amazing.

Everyone I seem to meet is incredibly friendly and warm too. I've met the neighbours (strong NY accents - couldn't wipe the smile off my face), and it is that very close-knit community type feel where all the neighbours know each other (oh that's the Robertsons - they just live across from the Archsons).

Didn't end up going out last night and fell asleep at 7:30. The bad side of this was that I woke up at 3:30 this morning, but at least I'm getting better.

LOVING IT

Three cities in twenty five hours

So I've finally arrived. I'm up in Norwalk, Connecticut at the moment, chilling at my friend Lukas' house, who picked me up from the airport last night. It's about an hour drive from NYC itself, in one of those areas that is just... well it's green. Lots of trees and nature and you're typical american houses. I'll post some photos tomorrow. Quick recap of the trip over and the things I've learnt:

• LAX is one giant clusterf**k. Plane was late getting in so I missed my connecting flight(along with about 40 other people). Took about 45 minutes to clear customs and once I did that, the bags weren't even on the carousel. Once I had collected my bags and then gone and gotten put on a new plane, had to line up for security to get through to the gate, which was about another hour... In short, after arriving at 7am, I didn't get to sit down again until after 9:30.


• Met some total legends on the flight over and whilst waiting in LAX. For once, got sat next to somebody I could hold a conversation with, turned out to be a total legend. Other people whilst waiting in LAX too were good value too, sharing numerous breakfast margaritas with me (which were MASSIVE, and according to channel 4 news, the best in LA)


• Delta is not too bad when it comes to an airline. Sweet choice of films on the flight (I watched fantastic mr fox twice). Seats are ok, but not comfy enough to sleep on.

Today, gonna go grab a sim card so I can have a mobile (aka cell phone) over here. If anyone wants the number, just let me know via facebook or twitter. Gonna go and meet up with Mans tonight in NYC too I think and probably go out with him for a little bit.

In summation

• I arrived
• I'm safe and well
• I got massive margaritas in LAX
• Met some legends on the way

PEACE

Sixteen Days

Basically, I figured that the easiest way to stay in contact with everyone and provide a window into my trip was to do a blog. This way I can post photos and everyone can browse in their own time. Can also just post up interesting shit along the way also.

So it is sixteen days til I depart these shores and head over to the vast wide land that is America. Still waiting for people's tips to arrive, so figured this would be a good way to get them all out.

Place I need tips for are New York and San Francisco. I need tips on things such as music stores, opshops, sneaker stores, clubs/bars etc.

When I'm staying in New York, I'm going to be living in an apartment in Williamsburg, so anything in W'burg too would be greatly appreciated.

So if you would all be legends by writing in the comments below tips for these two cities, I will buy a post card for you*, forgot to send it and then just give it to you when I get back.

*maybe, but probably not