Day 3- Fri 22nd Mar 2024
Participants: Tam & Kev
This is our only full day in Florida. The plan was for a relaxing day on the beach and by the pool, afterall it's late March and the weather could only be beautiful, right? Well, best laid plans and all that. The weather before we arrived was lovely and is forecast to be so again as soon as we leave, but for the one day we're here the forecast is for showers then heavy rain and thunderstorms. There is also a wind advisory and flood warnings.
We wake up
around 5.00 am and discuss what to do. We hang around in the room
until 9.30 am before walking up the road to the Family Fresh
Cafe. It's dry as we set out but raining by the time we arrive.
We both have Eggs Royale and coffee with bill coming to $70
including tip.
It gives me no pleasure and more than a little shame to say that
our next move is to get an Uber to the Aventura Mall. It seems
the easiest thing to do that is inside and not too costly (if we
don't buy anything). I've always had a dislike for shopping and
these days Tam does too, so it doesn't bode well. The first shop
we walk by has a top that Tam likes and she looks at the price
tag. $699. Moving on swiftly we go to J C Penny's where we try on
jeans. It takes forever to each find a pair that fits as there is
supposed to be a buy one get the second half price promotion on
Levi jeans. I even ask an assistant if this will apply if we both
buy a pair and I'm told that it should, so we go to the checkout
only to find out that they must be exactly the same. Who buys two
pairs of identical jeans? We don't bother to buy them. It's not
really the price more the principle. Still, I suppose it's passed
a couple of hours.
After the jeans debacle we need a beer and sit at the bar of a Japanese restaurant for a Tsing Tao each. It's quite a nice place and rather relaxed after the jeans debacle.
We get an Uber back to the hotel in the now pouring rain where we spend 3 hours in the room watching Netflix and getting ready to go out.
We've booked a
6.00 pm table at Juniper On The Water at an outside table
overlooking the intercoastal waterway. The forecast is for heavy
rain and possible thunderstorms, but we are incredibly lucky as
it remains dry and not too breezy while we eat only chucking it
down as we wait for our Uber back.
It actually is a lovely meal, sometimes it works that way when
you are expecting the worst. We have a cocktail to start - a
Smoked Old Fashioned for me and a Mai Tai for Tam. We have 5
small plates rather than a main meal and they are all very good.
We also have a few glasses of wine including a lovely Pinot Noir,
which Tam doesn't usually like, but has a taste of mine and
enjoys it so much that she orders a glass of her own.
Can't remember what it all was, but in Tam's words 'it was all yummy'.
The server is
lovely and brings us a brownie with cream and ice cream as a free
dessert as they don't have the lime sherbert dessert that Tam
wants. We have a coffee each and the final bill is $205 the
majority of which is alcohol. It's been a lovely warm evening by
the water and with perfect timing starts to rain as we get up to
leave.
An Uber back costs $8. We are in bed at 10.00 pm, but that
doesn't really matter as it's been a lovely evening.