Trip Report: Miami, FL. Part-2

None of us wanted to get up on day-2. We were dog tired by playing in the beach the previous day. After the initial fight of who gets ready first, everyone was ready for more of Miami. After an English breakfast we decided to drive to Keywest, FL. This place is the southernmost tip of the 48 contiguous states of the US.
A group of 4500 islands together are named 'Florida Keys'. So every place we passed through was called something key. More here
The drive to this place is scenic. Its a 160 mile drive. It reminded me of the East Coast Road (ECR) which runs from Pondicherry to Mahabalipuram to Chennai. Its a two lane highway with a lane in each direction, water body on both sides.

The highlight of this road trip is the '7-mile bridge'

Being the holiday season there was lot of traffic on the way to Key west. We took a lot of brakes and clicked pics whenever we found the traffic moving very slowly.
After reaching Key-west we rented out a house (yes, my first independent house stay in the US) and went off to see the sunsetat Fort Zachary Taylor Beach

After clicking 100's of photographs we were off to 'Mallory Sq' for the sunset celebration.
This is a street which wakes up after sunset. There streets are filled with street side vendors selling everything. I would say on a busy day, the night life of Mallory square beats the one in New York.

Part-3 to come soon.
Sunset is an art-work. Every sunset is different. You watch every sun set as if you have never seen one before. The darma in the sky when the sun sets is mesmerizing. Those colors, those cloud patterns, those reflections are all new, everyday. You get a sense of completeness of the day if you watch one. Here is a couple who are in the process of being mesmerized.

Trip Report: Miami, FL. Part-1

A simple way for a trip report this time. I kept tweeting the entire trip to Miami @richtales. Its easy to recount the trip even after  while.

After the hectic packing on Thursday night, I picked up my stuff and went off to office. Plan was to park at the airport and take the flight to Miami in the evening. I reached Miami  by 9 in the night and went off tot he rental place. This city has a nice rental solution, simplified. A bus comes every 5 minutes to the airport. Just hop on and it drops you to the Rental place. The rental place had around 5 floors and a floor with offices of all the rental companies. After hiring a car we went off to our hotel.

Next day was spent just driving around the city. The whole city has this tourist place feel with palm trees lining the roads We headed to the south beach. As the name suggests, this place is famous for its beaches. The waters are multi colored with white sand on the beach. The sea is not deep upto about half a mile here. The wind is mild presenting very small waves ashore. I was a bit over dressed for the beach. I realized this when I saw bikini clad babes sun bathing. I realized this again when I saw the board that read "Caution: Clothing optional on this beach. Beyond this point you may encounter nude bathers"

After playing in the water for about 3 hours we searched for an Indian restaurant and grabbed some food before heading back to the hotel. BTW sand goes places.

This is the end of part 1. Don't know when would the other parts be coming.
The ocean makes you forget everything. you become a child again. You play as if you were just released out of a prison. Time flies by on the beach. You forget all differences to come back with a relaxed feel. The smell of the sea is refreshing. You are tired yet fresh, hungry for more yet content.

You can shout out what you need. You can stare at the sea for hours together without getting bored. The sea never remembers.  

A drive to remember

As you know I have been driving to and from office everyday. It's a 35 minute drive. After a couple of weeks I got bored and started to do some things to keep me awake. This is one such incident.

I started observing the drivers in whichever vehicle was driving behind me. Once I saw a nice, good looking, young, (other adjectives are toned down here) lady behind me. To show off I started speeding as I was in front of her. Being a good sport, as all girls are, she too chased me. She had a good car, infact a better car. After a couple of signals we were on the express-way and now was my time for real show-off. I sped a good 20 miles over the limit and she was still on my heels. After a while she switched on her police lights indicating me to stop :) Ofcourse she had the complete history of my 15 minute drive with all the speed violations.

Disclaimer: The above story may or may not be true. It might or might not have happened to me. I might or might not have oggled at the lady in the car behind me. All this may or may not be my imagination. All in all you should or should not believe anything written here over a period of time. I may or may not have got a speeding ticket. I may or may not have paid the ticket yet.