Please click on the link below for more pics: ⬇️⬇️⬇️
On the day that would have been my father’s 81st birthday, I paused for a while and wished that I could still share my adventures with him. The last thing I remember telling him about was a trip to Moscow for NYE in December 2014. He wasn’t very well then and I don’t think he really understood. Sadly the cruel vascular dementia took him in March 2015 and there are so many things that I wish I could tell him today.
After a quick breakfast we checked out and took our bags to the car, ready for the journey back to Miami. It was a very warm start even at 9am. Google said that the journey would take 3 hours and 45 minutes although it was delayed slightly. This was due to the aftermath of three crashes that we saw along the route. The speed limit of 44-55mph also slows things down especially as most of US1 is one lane.
Although it was a four hour drive for me, it was made easy by driving the BMW X7 that the car rental company had upgraded. It had every mod-con going. On the way back, we still saw plenty of beautiful scenery. The weather also got better the further north we went, it looked like we’d missed some heavy rainstorms along the way.
https://www.bmw.co.uk/en/all-models/m-models/x7-m60i/2022/bmw-x7-m-models-highlights.html
Traffic in the Miami city area was very busy, especially around the airport (note to self for planning our journey time back there on Saturday). The car was dropped off at Sixt and we spoke to a lady there who apologised for the problems with our hire car (oil/roadside assistance, or lack of). She was really apologetic and said she’d sort, and get back to us about it by email within the hour. At the time of writing, some 7 hours later, I am still waiting.
Anyway, we got an Uber to take us and our luggage to Avalon Hotel, at 700 Ocean Drive. It’s a lovely Art Deco hotel with retro furniture which was lovely and clean. We were greeted by Julio, a really lovely guy on reception. He allowed us to check in early and get sorted before heading out for lunch.
Meet Dalia is a Mediterranean restaurant situated on the front terrace of the Gabriel hotel, further down Ocean Drive. We had lovely food and good service from the server. Once we’d paid, we headed for a bit of a walk, but there was a storm brewing so decided to postpone it until the clouds had passed.
We didn’t hear the rain whilst back at the hotel in the couple of hours we were there. We did notice that it must have been a really heavy rainstorm, as there were big puddles along the promenade.
The light was starting to fade so we went for a walk on the beach and took some of our last photos of Miami before it got too dark. Back on Ocean Drive it was great to see the hotels all lit up with their Art Deco style lights outside, something I absolutely love.
Our evening meal was booked at our hotel’s restaurant, A Fish Called Avalon. This is predominantly a seafood restaurant but they offered chicken and steak options if you wished for an alternative. There was a Cuban-style singer/ guitarist playing for the diners, but I wasn’t quite sure if he was miming to a backing track…..
https://www.avalonhotel.com/a-fish-called-avalon.htm
We felt absolutely stuffed from lunch and decided to just have entrees. Service was good and our server was extremely helpful. On another day I would have enjoyed it more, I just felt like I’d eaten far too much over the holiday. I did manage to have a drink to Dad whilst we dined.
The diet starts on Monday.
jctraveller 
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