A 15 minute taxi ride from the airport got me to the Best Western Hotel and I made my way to the check in desk. There were 3 lines with 6 to 7 people per line from assorted parts of the world. As usual I chose the wrong line, the one that took the longest to get to the desk. When I finally got to the desk clerk I was informed that there were no rooms available. I mentioned that I had a reservation. The clerk replied that he understood and they were checking to see if there was a room at other hotels. Could I give them 15 minutes as he handed me a $30.00 voucher and said I could go into the attached restaurant, Flanagan’s, and have something to eat while I waited. As soon as they located accommodations at another hotel, they would come and find me. That was OK with me, and off I went.
Half an hour later the clerk found my table and told me that they had located a room at a hotel on South Beach. When I was finished my lunch, they would have one of their drivers take me there. South Beach, I thought, where the beautiful people are. What were the cliches, Fast boats and even faster women, Miami Vice. Drug lords in go-fast-boats with guns blazing being chased by undercover police in go-faster-boats, who sported 5 o'clock shadows while wearing loafers with no socks, linen jackets with the sleeves pushed up to the elbows over black t-shirts and best of all long legged girls wearing itsy-bitsy-tini-wini yellow pok-a-dot bikinis. Hmm.
As soon as I was done, I found the clerk and I soon was on my way to my new accommodations.
It took about 30 minutes to get to the South Beach Hotel, and once there I realized I got the better end of the deal. I said a quick ‘Thank You’ under my breath, to all the people in line in front of me at the check in desk.
The new hotel was one of the top locations on South Beach. Down the road was the hotel that Madonna was a part owner of, I was informed by my driver. My new hotel had a spectacular entrance and beautiful foyer area. I made my way to the front desk, which by the way, did not have a lineup of people from assorted parts of the world. I presented myself and the very attractive young lady behind the desk said they were expecting me. I was given a room but was informed that it would be ready in one hour. She said I could leave my bags in their luggage storage room and wait at the pool bar, if I wished. At which time she handed me a $50.00 bar voucher and indicated where the pool area was. Wow, I thought to myself, I’m starting to like this Miami place. I took my bags to the storage room where an attendant tagged them and said, “I will take them to your room as soon as it is ready.” A three dollar tip later I was away walking in the direction of the outdoor pool bar.
Again as I walked outside I felt a blast of heat and humidity, but also a nice breeze coming from the ocean and could hear some light Salsa music playing in the background. The pool was built length wise, about 15 feet wide by 50 feet long and there were a few people sitting in lounge chairs sipping on drinks. At the end of the pool was the bar and beyond that was the ocean.
I headed towards the bar and about ¾ of the way there, I heard someone running up behind me. As I stepped aside I looked over my shoulder as a rather stunning young lady ran by me with a towel wrapped around her. Closing in on the bar, one of the patrons yelled out, “Show us your bathing suit”. The young lady obliged by doing a pirouette, dropping her towel to one hand and modeled the tiniest bathing suit bottom that I had ever seen. A roar of delight and cheers was heard from the bar. Did I mention that’s all she was wearing, just the bottoms? She finished her turn and continued her run down the walkway towards the beach, to more cheers of the patrons at the bar.
Hmm, I thought to myself, I like this place called Miami.
*Names may have been changed to protect the innocent!
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