Day One

Arrived in London on Friday evening in readiness for Saturday's flight.  Some sort of event happening which meant that there was a bit of traffic. Got to Alice and George's flat just in time to eat dinner and then sit back and watch the aforementioned event. Not criticising Danny Boyle but I could have sorted out the ceremony for a lot less cash. All it needed was Fatima Whitbread to throw a javelin that is on fire the length of the stadium into the cauldron which would be in the shape of a old fashioned pint jug, thus lighting the flame. Sorted. Anyway went to bed fairly late, 1.30am to be precise. Alarm set for 6.15am. Going to be a short night.

Woke up, got ready, said goodbye to Alice (No sign of George) and got a cab to Heathrow. Passed a lot of people called Steward on the way who were about to shut the road for some cyclists. Unlike last time we managed to check in our baggage immediately which meant we could go airside straight away. No issues going through security, although an eleven year old boy was trying sneak through. Sat down for a very long time. Got very good at Stick Tennis on the iphone whilst waiting.

Eventually boarding started and we made our way towards the plane. Just as we were about to board a stern looking lady decided that Ann looked like she was hiding something, so pulled her aside for another security check. I stood with baited breath wondering whether the woman would find the stash of yoghurt Ann had bought whilst we waited. As it turned out the woman had to be told by Ann which parts of the bag she should be searching. Ex customs officers - they never switch off.

Got on plane. Took off about thirty minutes late. Got a good view of the two Severn crossings as we headed out over South Wales. Then tuned into the in flight entertainment. Watched three films: 21 Jump Street, Man on a Ledge and This Means War; an episode of 2012 and an episode of Family Guy. Seemed to help pass the eight and a half hours. Also played more tennis. Thumped Anna Kournikova.

Soon we flew in over Miami Beach and landed in Miami (Miami Vice, couldn't think of any other films that were set here). Got off plane, saw a woman fall down an escalator and made our way to passport control. Stood for what seemed like longer than the entire flight waiting to be admitted to the USA. Actually was just a paltry hour and fifteen minutes queuing. Imagined our bags were just circling around the conveyor belt like lost children looking for a parent. Whilst waiting, thought about the saying 'Guns don't kill people, people kill people'. Made me think of Goldie Lookin' Chain's song - Guns Don't kill People, Wappers do - What happened to them? Did people just eventually work out they were crap?

Man at the desk asked us some questions. He said 'How much money do you have?' Ann got slightly confused and started telling him how much we earnt. Finally she realised he meant how much money did we have on us. I stared at her slightly bemused.


Anyway, eventually got past the man who said we could stay and found our bags. Then got through customs and made our way across the airport to get to the hire car place. Everything was fine and we went down to pick up the car. When we got down there it was apparent the type of car we had booked, Standard SUV, was in short supply as we were told to wait, presumably for some to be returned by people finishing their holiday. After about ten minutes of waiting, the guy came back to us and just pointed at a car and said take that one instead, same price. He scrawled over our paperwork to show that we were ok to take it, so off we went. So we now have a car which is as big as our house. The suitcases in the boot are in a different time zone to us.

Drove North on I-95 for an hour and a half and finally reached our destination for our first night. And here it is.

http://www.jupiterwaterfrontinn.com/

Think the boot of the car is still in Miami.

We checked in. Dennis on the front desk was very helpful and off we trotted to our room. Now for the entire time we have been planning the trip Ann has told me how on the first night was going to be great because we had our own private jacuzzi in the room, the perfect way to relax after a long flight. We get to our room, no jacuzzi. Go back and say to Dennis we paid for a jacuzzi, where is it. He looks up our booking. We had booked a room with a jacuzzi. Unfortunately they don't have any left. Oh dear. Dennis is very apologetic and says they will refund the extra money paid. We say OK, don't worry, to be honest we don't really feel like a jacuzzi we just want to go to sleep. Then he says I will let you stay tomorrow night for free, which would be great except we are moving further North and have already prepaid for that accomodation.

Went out into Jupiter for dinner. It wasn't great. Had a sprite which tasted of nothing. Ann had a caesar salad which apparently is just lettuce with something drizzled on it. Should be called Caesar Lettuce instead.

Back in the room now. As normal Ann has managed to find the film Independence Day on TV, which she seems to do with remarkable regularity.

Also, as was the norm with the previous trip's blog, she has fallen asleep whilst I am typing away.

It is now 10.45pm here, which is 3.45am back home, meaning in two and a half hours time I will have been awake for twenty four hours. Better go to bed. Picture of monster car in tomorrow's blog.

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