We had taken the proverbial road just as the grey and drab moistness of England struck in earnest. In the late afternoon we have landed in Miami and luckily have done two things right immediately: We hired a small satellite navigation device and bought a SunPass to drive on toll roads.
We gratefully arrived at our Hollywood Beach timeshare resort after many different highways. Unlike the glamorous name of the environment, the old timeshare building was a little bland and unimpressive, to say the least. It looked like one of the old, cheap boarding houses in Visagie Street in old Pretoria in the 60s. The office was closed, but fortunately one of the other friendly occupants helped us getting the keys that were left in a brown envelope. While unpacking in our spacious but simple unit, I noted that at least the equipment such as TV, fridge and microwave were top class.
It was Mariaan’s first visit to America and fortunately the beach and sea were beautiful when we quickly went there before dark. Loitering on an outstretched beach in the late afternoon sun was wonderful. There was a boardwalk near our resort and we walked kilometres with the sea on one side and shops and restaurants on the other side. Everyone was walking or jogging or roller skating or using Segways. In the nearby parking area I noticed that the vehicles only had rear number plates; signs required that people park in such a way that the license plates are visible to anyone driving in, I suppose especially to police cars. There were several places where one could hire neat, almost new bicycles for a few dollars.
The next morning we went for a long swim in the beautiful blue, warm sea, which was just as well, as a fierce wind afterwards began to blow and continued blowing relentlessly for the next four days. We first went to the sheltered pool at the resort and then decided to take the boat taxi to Fort Lauderdale. Fort Lauderdale is almost like an American Venice, with waterways and grand houses on the banks. The biggest, most extravagant house belongs to the owners of L’Oreal and the simplest to the Wells Fargo Bank’s family who bought it in 1919 and kept it as it was. I was excited to see that the heavyweight boxing champion of the 50s, Rocky Marciano, and the original Tarzan, Johnny Weismuller, also had homes there. Our guide told many anecdotes on Al Capone, because that part of the world was the infamous rogue’s operational area.
We incidentally were there during the American Thanksgiving and could not help but notice how many pumpkin pies were sold. We involuntary thought of the “pampoenkoekies” (pumpkin fritters) that we used to eat. Since the wind was still in full swing, we decided to drop in at the Black Friday Sale, which at Wallmart was quite an orderly affair. Also noticeable was the number of police officers at the sale – seven police cars in front of the place and another patrolling. After the horrific events in Paris, the Americans are very careful at any occasion where large groups of people are gathered. The young man in front of me in the shop was a Russian. We heard many other people in the Hollywood Beach area speaking Russian or Polish. The world has become so open and cosmopolitan.
On our last day in the resort, a neatly dressed, elderly man with a file under his arm arrived at our unit. I immediately presumed that he wanted to sell us more timeshare, but we started talking and he described how, when he was a child, his family travelled from the north down to Florida every year. The cotton fields in South Carolina had mostly black farm workers and looked like a scene from Gone with the wind. In those days, people would not live in Florida because of the heat and insects and the risk of diseases; it was seen as virtually unfit for permanent residence. But, he said, at last the development of air-conditioning opened the world and led to a large migration to the warm south.
On our last evening we went to the famous Art Deco area, dating from the 50s and 60s, at Miami Beach. We end up on a bus/boat type affair calling itself Duck Tours. They showed us both the Art Deco area and the fancy homes on the 24 islands from the waterfront. The problem is that Americans do not like simplicity, so mere comments on everything we saw was not enough; we had to be part of a show. So we each ended up with a plastic sword in hand and were supposed to sing or shout at given moments. But we were fascinated by what we saw and we were more interested in comments on the place where Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier had their third fight, a house where scenes from Al Pacino’s Scarface was shot and the Addams Family’s history than in the almost hysterical, mock pirate noise. We still enjoyed everything, even though we did not get a chance to ask our burning questions; maybe that was the idea.
We decided to use the last few days to drive to the Keys. It was a straight path of almost 300 km with beautiful sea on both sides. Thankfully, the severe wind also calmed down and we could fully enjoy the wonderful climate. After England’s hectic, busy, mostly wet roads, it was a pleasure to tour peacefully in line in the cosy sunshine while taking in the vistas of sea and horizon. Key West is the most well-known village; the beaches are beautiful and the city itself is interesting, with a little eccentricity. We were parking in the usual, large concrete parking garage when I heard a cock crowing. “No,” Mariaan said, “it must be your imagination. It’s impossible.” I then walked in the direction of the crowing and there the little red cock was sitting on his concrete shelf between all the shiny metal. We later noticed chickens running around on the sidewalk; some shop owners even fed them. Something else we noticed were the old, almost ancient, school buses that were still in use.
We ended at a nice market with a wide variety of fresh produce and handmade jewellery and ornaments. We shared a delicious brisket sandwich which was big enough for a meal for two. Just before we left, someone told us that the market was organised by a South African woman.
Our last morning was a sensual highlight because we went reef fishing. We will remember the big, calm, turquoise ocean, the friendly people, warm weather and enthusiastic, colourful fish that kept on biting for a long time.
Pieter
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