Miami

The day started as I had hoped, with sunshine and warm temperatures. I could spend a few more days out of my hiking boots and jacket. Sad to say that the boots do not smell of roses and only a prolonged time of not wearing them will deal with this, the baby powder just isn't doing the job any more. Darren had asked me to pick him up a Miami Dolphins football shirt, so that was my mission for the day. Unfortunately I didn't put the shops complete address into Google Maps and I went to the wrong place. When I finally got back to downtown Miami after a couple of hours I used the computers at the library to see where I had gone wrong. The shop wasn't in Miami at all but in the nearby town of Davie and despite being twenty six miles away I could get there by public transport. It all went to plan, I got to the shop and six hours later I was back in my hostel with the required shirt. I have to say that I am bit miffed by how long it took even when I did have the correct location. This so clearly illustrates why outside of a few metropolitan areas people try to avoid using public transport to get to work on a regular basis and prefer to drive. I felt lucky that I had had nothing else planned to do while I was there otherwise the time it took me would have been a real issue. I had dinner and a quick beer and went to bed, despite having been sat down all day I was tired.
Tuesday was cloudy, but this was a good thing for me as I planned to cycle to Key Biscayne. I got to the cycle rental shop about 8.30am and despite the shops opening house being listed as from 08.00 - 19.00 it wasn't open. I gave the tel. # a call and the message said that they would open at 09.00, so I went for a walk and me being me was back at the shop a little before 09.00. A guy rolled up late and opened up the shop, he didn't acknowledge me in any way despite it being obvious that I was sat outside waiting for the store to open. This put me in a pissy mood. I discussed where I wanted to go with him and he told me that to the far tip of Key Biscayne is about twenty miles. A round trip of forty miles was a bit further than I had wanted to go, but I rented the bike for the whole day anyway. I figured that I could cycle to Key Biscayne and if necessary put the bike on the bus for the return journey if necessary. The guy asked for photo i.d. as security for the bike as I had paid in cash, after making sure that a drivers licence was o.k. I handed over my Japanese drivers licence. It would serve the guy right if I took the bike and left him with my useless licence!
Miami Beach is linked to Miami city by a three causeways and I pleased to see that the one I was cycling on had a cycle lane as no one was obeying the speed limit. An added bonus was that this allowed to stop when I wanted to so I could get a good look at the local real estate. This is mostly waterfront houses with huge boars and wave riders on the water in front. Nice. I was about half way across the causeway when the cycle lane suddenly ended, it was "test my nerves" time. I cycled through downtown and then up to the toll booth for the Key Biscayne causeway, it was empty and a couple of workers there said in that case it was free. I didn't argue and went on my way. Part of the causeway is high enough to allow ships to pass underneath and I was starting the climb up here when I saw a couple of real cyclists starting their trip, they let me pass first. I figured that it wouldn't be too long before they would pass me and leave me in their dust. I was not wrong. The ride was lovely and apart from the couple of high bridges I had to cross, level. I was feeling pretty good when I reached the end of the island and it only took me about ninety minutes. The cycle rental guy had gotten wrong, there was no way I had cycled twenty miles in ninety minutes. It gave me confidence that I could easily cycle back to South Beach.
I went to the top of the lighthouse and sat and chatted with the docent there. Then I just wandered around the end of the island which is a state park, so no houses, shops or anything. Just off shore there is a collection of cabins. These were used during Prohibition as speakeasies and when Prohibition was repealed some people lived in them. This was until the Park Service bought them out and forced even to leave. The cabins have been left as they were but no one goes there now. Pretty cool story. You have to wonder why any government would think that they could ban something that had previously been enjoyed legally by so many people for so long and that the ban would be successful. I am not saying that all drugs should be legalised but maybe governments should consider other avenues rather than just making it illegal. I imagine the taxation potential of Cannabis is huge and if more people are giving up cigarettes it could help replace that revenue stream.
I cycled back to Miami Beach over the Venetian Causeway, taking in some more expensive real estate. Maybe it was the sunshine but everything looked pretty good. I can't imagine that it is difficult to sell a house here. I cycled down to 9th street on Ocean Drive and caught an art exhibition put on by "Redbull", "The Art of Can". As the name suggests all of the exhibits were made from Redbull cans. Very cool and a lot of fun. I also got a free can of Redbull, so what more could I want? Ocean Drive is supposed to be the place to go and be seen as well as to see the best Art Deco buildings in South Beach. I would disagree with this. I think the buildings on Collins Ave. are not only better but are easier to enjoy as all the crowds are on Ocean Drive. I got off the streets and cycled along the boardwalk and then just sat on the beach. After I returned the bike I gave in to the commercial imperative and had a drink at a cafe on Ocean Drive. I spent a couple of hours talking to some girls and they invited me to come up and stay with them in Fort Lauderdale. It was going to happen but it was sweet of them to invite me and I think I would have had a blast if I had been able to go. I like Miami, well Miami Beach anyway.