Every now and then, I let my imagination wander and begin fantasizing about living in a big city like New York or Seattle. I’d own a luxury condo furnished in a modern, minimalist style with huge, glass windows overlooking whichever sprawling metropolis and its appropriate natural background.
The part of my brain responsible for reason knows I’ll never pull this off without buckets of cash at my disposal and way more patience than I currently possess; especially when it comes to my little road rage issue.
Thanks to my husband’s hard work and determination along with the generosity of Southeast Toyota and their annual banquet honoring their top sales people, once a year, he and I get to live the high life for a few days.
The latest trip was to Miami’s South Beach where we spent 3 days and 2 nights in a hotel room complete with a view of the beautiful Atlantic shoreline. We would never spend our own money on something so lavish. In fact, any time we get a big chunk of cash, it gets funneled away towards paying bills.
On the long trip South, I was happy as a clam to drive until the stop-and-go traffic of the major roadways conspired to push me over the edge, but the fact that aggressive Miami drivers cut in front of me without bothering to signal with their blinkers really fired up my anger center.
I think car companies should be applauded for placing the blinker switch so ergonomically that you don’t even have to take your hands off the steering wheel to engage the device. Rethink the blinker: it is safe, convenient, and may stop crazed motorists from following you home.
Another thing I don’t think I could overcome with Miami is my sense of sticker shock. A daiquiri sounded like a good idea until I discovered the price of said drink was 15 dollars! It didn’t even come in a carved coconut or fancy glass either; just a 12 ounce plastic cup of overpriced frozen beverage.
Hitting the beach on our second day, I was under the impression that the hotel provided those comfortable-looking lounge chairs and shady umbrellas, but I was wrong. It seems that another company rents out these commodities: 10 bucks a piece for the chairs and 15 bucks for the umbrella. Since my blanket was tucked under my arm at the cost of free, we decided those chairs were too shabby for the asking price and continued on our way to the sparkling, blue ocean.
We saw some adventurers on jet skis and parasails and thought we’d peek at the cost. If it was reasonable, why not splurge a little?
The jet skis rented at 80 dollars for a half hour! At that price, I want a dolphin escort to an island of gold. Parasailing was double that cost. I figured that I could drive around Miami and get the same sinking feeling in my stomach for the bargain price of a few gallons of gas.
Ultimately, the beach was relaxing until the clear water revealed to my husband a UFO (unidentified floating object).
Another deterrent keeping me from being a Miami resident is that, when you drive through the regular, non-gated neighborhoods, there are bars on all the windows. I can’t comprehend waking up each day to the morning sun casting jail-bar shadows across the floor, even if I imagined myself as the warden.
All in all, the hotel was above par and the people we met were wonderful. My final rating for Miami’s South Beach is: nice place to visit, but couldn’t afford to stay longer than a couple of days. Thank heavens we didn’t.
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