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AUGUST 30, 2002

We hopped aboard a flight from Boston in the morning, and arrived fresh and relaxed in Miami by the early afternoon. We enjoyed the easy trip from airport to our hotel, the Winterhaven, despite the fact that no Miami taxis seem to be air-conditioned. It being off-season, we got quite the bargain, at only $86/night! The Winterhaven was cute as a bug...clean and bright, with newly renovated Art Deco interior. Many of the South Beach Art Deco hotels tend toward more subdued colors, but the Winterhaven opted for a more colorful look.

 




I just couldn't get enough of the Art Deco interior: more photos, from the evening...

We quickly unpacked and headed off to Puerto Sagua, a casual neighborhood coffee-shop type of place, where the usual American food is replaced with homey, traditional Cuban fare. Yummy, yum, yum. At this old Miami institution, we gorged on ropa vieja and picadillo and grilled plantains and some Coronas. We were surprised that it wasn't very spicy at all, but we made liberal use of hot sauces on the table...

We walked around in the heat, ducking into various shops along the way. We lingered in Sephora, where I bought a big bottle of Nars Bronzing lotion, which I made liberal use of over the next few days. I didn't want to be so pasty white among all of the bronzed bodies beautiful in Miami!

Then we wandered along the Lincoln Road Mall, a pedestrian mall and shopping district. It was steamy hot, but gorgeous!



Cafes lined the walkway, which has towering date palms swaying along its length, along with 5 linear pools and little grassy areas in the middle. There were shops and galleries and people watching. We stopped for Gelato at the Parmelat Gelateria, which quickly became Bill's favorite stop. For some reason, he was able to hone in on much better flavors than I was!

Evening: off to the Delano! We got all gussied up and walked the 4 blocks through the Art Deco District to the Delano Hotel. We were immediately wow'ed by the 2 story billowing curtains in the front, and the gorgeous Phillipe Stark interior.

We had a cocktail at the Rose Bar, under the Venetian chandeliers, and people-watched. We ate at the Blue Door, and had a chatty but wonderfully friendly waiter. The meal was fantastic! Despite our best intentions to head out for a night out on the town, we toodled off to bed, tuckered.

AUGUST 31, 2002

Enjoyed a delicious continental breakfast at the Winterhaven (included in the room rate!) Croissants and coffee, sipped out on the front porch, looking out across the street to the sand dunes and South Beach. Wonderful piped in jazz was perfect for just lounging and sipping more coffee and reading the morning paper.

We packed up books and snacks and water and headed off to the beach. We were so pleasantly surprised at how pretty it was...very wide and white, with gorgeous turquoise water and moderate waves (high enough to be fun, but not enough to be scary!). We rented beach chairs and a big old umbrella and set ourselves up for the day. We lounged, we watched people, we noshed, we read, we watched the waves, we swam, we lounged some more. This might sound like a snooze fest, but it was soooo relaxing.



We could see all of the lovely little Art Deco Hotels from our spot on the beach...our little Winterhaven is off to the right here...

Here are Bill's feet, snapped as I played in the water just beyond.

Late afternoon, we showered up and got gussied up again. A quick jaunt back to the Delano for another drinkie: can you tell we were getting addicted to this place? No celebs that we could distinguish, but all manner of colorful people were in the lobby, playing chess, playing billiards, laughing at big tables together.

We wandered out to the pool area, where more folks were enjoying cocktails at the pool bar, surrounded by sand. Some kids were swinging in the big old hammock, and a couple was enjoying a drink seated at the table set in the pool.  The poolside cabanas at the Delano were gorgeous at night.

Then we were off to Tantra Restaurant (http://www.tantrarestaurant.com) According to their web site: "Tantra features an exotic Middle Eastern decor, sensual music and the acclaimed aphrodisiac cuisine of executive chef Willis Loughhead." Aphrodisiac cuisine? Huh? Anyway, we had a ball, from the live grass floor (makes you want to take off your shoes) to the entrance waterwall to the Middle-Eastern inspired cuisine...it was all great fun. We splurged on a bottle of Krug and a caviar service to start with. But you know, despite our best intentions to stay until late in the evening, when this place turns into a loungy night club, we were tuckered and we turned in early.

Again, we turned in early. We are such old fogies! But we had a great time.

On to:  More Miami Fun

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