A Double Decker City Tour

Posted on February 2, 2016February 2, 2016 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

After a relaxing and sunny day on Wednesday I was ready for a new adventure. So on Thursday I was headed out for the City Tour on the Double Decker buses. It would take most of the day and include lunch and a boat ride through the islands to look at the million dollar homes of the stars. Miami really loves their movie stars.

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The bus picked up right in front of the resort and I headed to the open top.

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As we wove our way along Ocean Drive and Collins Ave the driver pointed out all the Art deco buildings, a restaurant where Will Smith was spotted having breakfast, (of course he wasn’t there when we drove by) and the famous Versace Mansion where the clothing designed was shot and killed in 1997.

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As we passed one hotel and restaurant after another it seemed they were all owned by famous actors and actresses. Miami Vice was mentioned many times. It seems scenes from the show were shot all up and down Ocean Drive.

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Turns out this was the prequel to the actual tour. We reached the ticket office on Washington Ave and all filed off the bus to trade in our vouchers for the real tickets. Then it was back on the bus for the real tour.

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As our tour began we headed off the Island (Miami Beach is an Island in case you didn’t know) via the MacArthur Causeway. Along the way we learned of the hazards of riding on the top deck of the bus. We did a lot of ducking. We ducked for overhanging palm fronds, electric wires, signal lights and even a bridge. That one was the one that took your breath away!

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Even so this was a super way to get pictures. No window glass and an elevated view!

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As we traveled along the MacArthur Causeway we had the Port of Miami on our left where cruise ships from every line start and end their voyages. There was only one ship in port as we passed by. To our right was the Venetian Causeway.

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The tour guide says this is the bridge from the Fast and Furious movie. I’ve never seen the movie so I’ll just have to take their word for it. But there was the famous Miami Skyline to enjoy from multiple angles.

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A Mix of Sun and Laundry

Posted on January 31, 2016January 31, 2016 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

On the ride back from Holiday Park the sky opened up again. The rain that had been holding off came down in buckets. By the time we pulled up in front of the resort it was raining so hard that I was once again soaked to the skin before I could cross the street. This was starting to get habit forming!

Once again I arrived dripping wet at the Purple Penguin. It was raining so hard that they had closed the patio and meals were being served in the combination lobby restaurant. I didn’t care. The staff was starting to recognize me, at least when I was wet. I’m not sure they would if I was dry and put together.

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My afternoon was quiet just hanging out in my room with a book.

But finally Wednesday dawned sunny and warm! By 9 am it was already in the 80’s.

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This is what I’ve been waiting for. I’m hoping some lazy sun on the beach will toast out my cold.

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One other housekeeping item that I took care of mid day was my laundry. Now you may wonder what was news worthy about doing laundry but I assure you it was the most interesting laundry experience I’ve ever had.

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The public laundromat was several blocks away from the resort so I took a cab over. The facility was the usual except it looked like it had just suffered a roof leak as water stains were evident on the ceilings and walls. As you can imagine it was all local folks and Spanish was the dominant language. I located a machine, tossed in my things and located a chair to wait out the wash cycle.

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As I was sitting there minding my own business a tall, attractive woman came in. She found a machine, added her bundle of clothing but then she started stripping. Off came her shirt, then her pants, she was down to her undies and clearly debating if she could take those off. As she stood there fingering the waistband of her panties one of the attendants came over and sprayed her with Lysol! Instead of being offended, the woman just ignored it. I don’t know what was being said because it was all in Spanish.

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Apparently whatever was said convinced the woman not to strip further and she took a seat a couple of chairs away from me. Soon after another attendant brought over some shorts and a T shirt. Apparently from the lost and found/abandoned clothing bin. She handed them over and the woman put them on.

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If she was embarrassed she didn’t give any sign of it. It was like it was the most natural thing in the world to sit there in her underwear! I suppose it was no worse than a bikini on the beach but I admit, I was surprised.

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I am guessing that she was one of the homeless people that seem to be everywhere. It’s quite the contrast with the high class “beautiful people” parading up and down Ocean Drive and the homeless sitting on benches and napping in the park.

Gator Wrestling Anyone?

Posted on January 29, 2016January 29, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Once we returned from air boat ride we followed the signs to the gator wrestling pit. This was in a different place from the old pit where I saw J Mark do his performance.

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The new pit had a cover so if the rain started only the wrestler would get wet. The audience would stay nice and dry. There were tip boxes placed along the fence.

We had a lady wrestler that I’d never seen before. I don’t think she was ever on the Gator Boys show but I could be wrong. I may have missed an episode or two.

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She did the usual tricks, nothing new. After the show you could have your picture taken with a baby alligator.

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I have to admit to feeling a bit let down. My last visit has so much emotion attached to it because J Mark passed away after I’d seen his show. As a result this visit left me feeling kind of flat. I would have liked to see one of the show’s principal’s make an appearance. But that was not to be on this day.

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The air boat ride was good, especially with the iguana at the end but I’ve been spoiled by going out on the smaller 6 person air boats. Now the big Holiday Park boats don’t have the same thrill as before.

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All I can say is they do good work, rescuing alligators and deserve support. I’m sure I’ll continue to keep them on my South Florida activity list.

Return to Everglades Holiday Park

Posted on January 27, 2016January 27, 2016 by Dusty Roads | 4 Comments

The rain finally let up on Tuesday….sort of. It was still gray and overcast but I was scheduled for the Everglades tour. A big double Decker bus worked it’s way down Ocean Drive and stopped right in front of the Crescent Resort. My ride had arrived.

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I climbed to the open air top deck but the ride was only to the ticket office. When it was my turn I was directed to a smaller van operated by “Luis”. When we finally headed out he had a full load. It was a good thing we were in the van too . The skies opened up and it began to pour!

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Just before we reached Everglades Holiday Park the rain stopped. It was still very overcast but at least it wasn’t raining. Even if it started to rain again, the airboats at Holiday Park as covered.

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Our pictures were taken as we stood inline and then it was time to board.

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I passed the time waiting getting a kick out of the local grackle. They were into everything!

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After a brief safely talk we were on our way.

The first thing I spotted was an Anhinga, the “snake bird” of the Everglades. They call it that because of its long neck.

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Next up were the cormorants perched on the warning sign.

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With no sun, alligators were in short supply. We only saw one.

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But we had fun with a family of Purple Gallinule.

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These funny birds walk on top of the vegetation.

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We had a whole family join us including a pretty young chick.

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On the way back to the dock we spotted a huge iguana perched in the trees.

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He was a beautiful specimen on the one hand, but kind of depressing on the other as this is an invasive species. Along with pythons they are wreaking havoc on the native animals of the Everglades.

Art deco

Posted on January 25, 2016January 25, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Diamond Resorts Crescent Resort on South Beach is located in the heart of the Art Deco district from 6^th Street to 23^rd Street. This is where one of the largest collections of Art Deco architecture in the world can be found, making for one of the most unique city skylines in the country.

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Ocean Drive is lined with Art Deco boutique hotels overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Lummus Park. Originally constructed in the 1930s after the stock market collapse, you’ll notice that these hotels take up relatively small plots of land—they’re not the sweeping resorts that Carl Fisher previously erected overlooking Biscayne Bay or that Morris Lapidus would go on to design further up the beach—and many are only three to four stories tall. This was done intentionally because if the buildings had any more floors, they’d require elevators and be much more expensive to construct.

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The Crescent has an elevator. Its tiny! When I first arrived I watched another couple struggle to get their luggage and themselves into the tiny space. It didn’t work they had to split up . The husband went up with the luggage and the wife followed when the elevator came back down with the remaining small bags.

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I explored the elevator near the end of my stay. It takes you all the way to the rooftop on the 4th floor. That could have been a nice space if there had been chairs set out but the roof was just an empty, unused area. you could look to the roofs on either side and see tables, chairs umbrellas and guests lounging but not on our roof. At least not yet. Maybe in the future.

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