An ongoing adventure of travel and living while using a wheelchair. Tim has been disabled from birth. Darryl is his father and caregiver who travels with him.
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(Please read our Covid 19 Statement first - Ed) Years and years ago, I used to do a tour, strictly for family and friends, called the 'Death Tour' where we'd visit sites where the famous and infamous left this mortal coil. It was a Christmas Eve tradition, evolving from ways to keep everybody from getting bored until midnight, when we'd open presents. I no longer do that, but today's chapter of our Florida adventures covers a stop that would have made the tour...
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South Beach is another of those Miami locations that's a bit harder to do via public transit. There is a bus which goes there from downtown, it would take a few transfers to get to it so it's not the easiest one to make. Especially since it goes right over the crowded MacArthur causeway, getting stuck in that traffic. Instead, we book a ride on Lyft. It's doable if you have a light, folding wheelchair and can transfer into a car seat. We can do that with Tim, as we've practiced for emergencies without the chair before. Now, we get taken directly to Lincoln Avenue, at the south end of South Beach, and don't have to worry about finding a place to park. Lunch today is at a French place, La Provence, which is supposed to have some of the best croissants in the area. Actually, they're a bit heavier than I'd like and the place is buzzing...with flies. Seriously, they need the help of a pest control specialist here. Other than that, the food wasn't bad but nothing to go out of your way for. Across to a Walgreen's to pick up a few supplies and then over to the water. While Letty is off taking pictures, Tim and I strike up a conversation with another wheelchair user from Argentina who's here with his wife. She's out on the sand but he can't get his chair out there.
We do find some mats that let chair users go out to the beach but they don't get you too far. He tells us about Argentina and it's accessibility (buses pretty good, trains not) and that Buenos Aires can be a bit dangerous.
Speaking of dangerous, it's been a bit over 20 years when the day got very dangerous for designer Gianni Versace. Across the street from us now is he mansion he lived in when he was alive. On the morning of July 15, 1997, Versace was returning from his morning routine of grabbing something to read from the local newsstand and having a cup of coffee. As he approached the entrance of his house, Andrew Cunanan came up and gunned him down with a gun he'd stolen from a friend. Now, it's an upscale hotel and restaurant.
We wonder if the hostess standing at the podium of knows she's standing on the spot where this fashion icon's life was taken from him. Moving on to happier touring, we go to Mango's Tropical Cafe, which is more of a bar, really, to have a cool mojito.
Tim is happy to get his.
We're all happy as we cool off with this minty cocktail.
Another hour is spent enjoying the amazing art deco architecture on one side of Ocean Drive...
...and exploring the beach via the wheelchair mats on the other.
At the end of the day, we catch another Lyft ride back to the hotel. Darryl Musick Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved Photos by Letty Musick Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved
The plan for the Florida Keys was one day in Key West, one day of snorkeling, one day to spend in Miami, and one free day. The reality turned out to be the Key West day, the 'free day' was spent on a futile effort to see the Everglades when weather took away our day of snorkeling, and then a day going on a glass bottom boat tour.
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Miami would have to be pushed back to the last day, where another potential problem reared it's head. Our flight home from Fort Lauderdale was to depart at 9:05am. Being 'special assistance' passengers mean we have to get there extra early...we shoot for two hours before leaving to make sure we have time to drop off the rental car, check in luggage, go through TSA, and find an airline representative to make sure they gate check Tim's chair and are aware of our needs. Yes, it is a bit easier when you're not in a wheelchair but such is life for us - we deal with it. That means getting to the airport at around 7:00am. Doing the math, with decent traffic, that means we need to leave our hotel in Key Largo at around 5:00am, which means we have to get up...damn, do we even get to go to bed? Letty convinces me that this is not an ideal solution so we come up with a new plan of attack for our last day...move to Miami. We really weren't in love with our hotel, the Hampton Inn and Suites, in Key Largo anyway. It did it's job but is really kind of a tired property in need of a rejuvenation in a quite stunning location. I went to the desk manager and cancelled our last night there. Instead, I made reservations at the Homewood Suites near Fort Lauderdale airport for us to spend our last night there. As a bonus, I was able to land the plushest suite (at least according to their website) for about $100 less than the rate we were paying in Key Largo. Now, the plan is to leave Key Largo, head up to Miami, and spend a few hours there before checking in for the last night. I set the car's GPS for South Beach and off we go.
We make it over without too much drama. The main, waterfront drag in South Beach is Ocean Drive and it's a bit crowded today. I make Letty and Tim a deal, if I can find a parking spot (which looks highly doubtful), we can stop and get out. I go north to south on Ocean...nothing. I go the other way and one spot opens up. I pull in and put in an hour's worth of change.
It's loud and a touch crowded as we navigate the sidewalk in front of all the art deco hotels, weaving in and out of crowded bars and tables before we find one with a lot of empty tables.
The staff at Mango's Tropical Cafe assures me they're open so we park to have a couple of mojitos for Tim and Letty while I get by with a Diet Coke.
The hostesses...and host...dance to the loud salsa music coming from inside the bar as we sip our drinks and people watch on the sidewalk of South Beach. Inside, there's a faux jungle and waterfall surrounding an island bar near a stage where full floor shows take place each night.
We're content with our drinks and wander around afterward, eventually crossing over to the beach.
Ripped bodies occupy the workout area while volleyballers spike on each other in their area.
Tim and I find a temporary mat that allows wheelchairs to roll over the berm to the main sandy part of the beach so we do and take a gander at the water and all the people laying about.
It's fun but about all there is to do at this time is to drink, walk around, take in the sights, and maybe lay out on the beach. When our parking meter expires, we pile into the car and head over to Little Havana on Calle Ocho.
So here we are, after passing a massive traffic jam going the other way across the bay towards South Beach, in the heart of Little Havana. Problem is, it's a Sunday and this very Catholic neighborhood is in church or otherwise at home...nothing is open and it is ghost town quiet. I only see one man barbecuing dinner for his family in their driveway...and it was very tempting to just crash that party...but, otherwise, deathly still.
Except we found one bakery open so we grabbed a box of sweets for later while we head over to the last stop on Tim's list.
The Marlins were out of town this week, so we couldn't get inside to make it an official stadium visit, but we did drive over to Marlins Park so Tim could take a look at one of baseball's newest stadiums. It was all blocked off but we managed to take a slow lap around before heading off to our hotel.
One last note about the hotel, the Homewood Suites at the airport was just as advertised...a very nice, plush hotel with a lot of room in the suite and big, comfy beds to rest up for our 9 hour flight home in the morning...and we only had to get up at six instead of God knows how early in Key Largo.
