Well, we didn't get to eat natto in Japan and it was too cold (-6) to leave the hotel; our Antarctica outfits had be forwarded onto the ship. The Nikko Hotel was forgettable and we had an incredibly long trip to Chicago in the dark, but we were awake the whole time. Chicago had received some appalling weather of late - here's a shot from the plane's bird's-eye camera:
Yep, that snow went on for ever!
But now we're in Miami - met and driven to the Hotel in a shiny Lincoln Continental by a Greek chauffeur of much charm who had relatives in Canberra. The weather is just perfect and the Biltmore Hotel - a National Historic Landmark - is just pure decadence in the style of the late 20s and 30s. Here's where we're are located (our room has a red arrow if you enlarge the photo):
And this is a shot of the interior of our room - just amazing - the is just the sleeping area, there's a sitting room as well and the marble (Jerusalem stone) in the bathroom...
And the view from our window:
We haven't even started on the pool - once the largest in the world and still the largest in the USA; it is as WIDE as an Olympic pool! Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan) used to give swimming lessons, Bing Crosby got his start here as part of Paul Whiteman's band and everyone from FDR, Al Capone and Edward and Mrs Simpson has stayed here. We do a tour of Miami tomorrow and then have a gala reception and dinner on the terrace and ballroom
It's slightly reminiscent of the Cottesloe Civic Centre where we were married for those of you with long memories. I'm actually typing this at 3.45 am as we both woke up at 2.30 am and wanted to do something - we're not particularly jet lagged just in the wrong time zone.
Hey guys, glad you made it safely to Miami and are enjoying your wonderful hotel there. I have always wanted to visit Miami - it looks like an interesting and unique place. I think I read that it was the most multicultural city in the USA, or that it had the highest proportion of people born elsewhere, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteWhenever we watch 'Burn Notice' I always mutter something to Narrelle about adding it to the list someday! Same with Chicago, coincidentally. I always think it looks great in movies! If you happen to go past 5715 S. Kenwood Ave ('Hyde Park' area where Obama is from, right near University of Chicago), grab me a photo of our old apartment block!
Some automotive trivia: Re the 'shiny Lincoln Continental' - I wonder what the 'livery' services and limo operators will do now that it (and its 'Panther' bodied siblings Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis) are out of production. The last of the traditional old American 'land yachts' have finally bitten the dust!
ReplyDeleteThere is really no vehicle quite like these made anywhere in the world now - cavernous boot, crude but bulletproof body-on-frame construction etc. Cadillac doesn't make anything quite like it, although Chrysler 300 does offer something of an alternative I guess. My observation last time was that the luxury SUV (often stretched) was gradually taking over the role traditionally filled by the Lincoln Town Car.
The non-luxury version (Ford Crown Vic) has been the mainstay of taxi and police fleets practically forever. Its recent demise has presented an opportunity for our very own Holden arm of GM. A guy I met in Alaska who I write to occasionally (in Oregon) recently told me that his local police dept was now using the Chevy Caprice Police Pursuit Vehicle, basically a modified and de-luxified Holden Statesman with the big V8.
Glad you made it safely to Florida - the hotel looks fabulous. Hope you enjoyed your day 'out and about' in Miami, as well as the reception and dinner.
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