Day 271 - Everglades And Exploring

Fortunately, I did get better. We had to leave at 9 am from the other hostel, annoyingly. The journey was pretty short, before we knew it we were stopped off at the Gator Centre (or something similar) and were soon herded onto airboats for a trip around the marshes. There were alligators in the water, as I had hoped. we saw one a few minutes away from the dock, which terrified Pat a lot more than I expected, and amused me as a result. The airboat went at nerve-wracking speed over the grasses and water, pausing occasionally for us to take in the view, and bask in the incredible heat - the hottest I have been in a very long time. We then saw an alligator wrestling show (more like handling than wrestling, but still pretty cool) and after a brief look around the shop, where Pat bought a 'gator skin wallet, we headed back to Miami. Our plan for the afternoon was to grab a bite to eat and explore downtown, however on our way to Key Biscayne Pat saw the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, where we ended up going for lunch. I was keen for a Wendy's, but when Pat informed em that it was to be his treat, I grudgingly relented (this was to be a theme of the next week or so, I was soon to find out. A suggestion was made, I squirmed about expense and the like, Pat offered to pay, I squirmed about accepting such an offer, then we ended up doing whatever it was anyway). I had some awesome sushi, then Kobe beef something-or-other and a Mojito, all of which were exquisite. A foolish word, but the only one which seems appropriate here. We explored Key Biscayne (just flashy condos) and Miami Avenue (crappy tourist shops) and got the Metromover (free bus thing on an elevated track) to Bayside, where we wandered through malls and failed to buy a hat, before hopping on it again to go to 8th street, home of a bar called Tobacco Road. On the Metromover we encountered a guy called Chuckie, who gave us various tips about the city, laughed about differences between our accents, and claimed to work in a flash bar to which we should come later, despite his ragged attire (he didn't mention the last bit, that was the reason Pat and I doubted him afterwards). Tobacco Road was awesome. As we walked in there was an old blues guy calledbig Poppa E playing a few classics, followed by loads of other bands - apparently we had stumbled into Tobacco Road's annual Summerjam festival, quite by accident. The next band were called the Five Nines, and were all about 15 or 16 years old. They played an awesome selection of rock classics, and Pat and I spent quite a while theorising about the dynamics of the band, especially concerned with the keyboardist, Scott. A tall skinny guy, he was wearing all black apart from piano key braces, and sunglasses even after nightfall. What a hero. He and the lead guitarist, Harvey, we re in the following band as well, although they were nowhere near as good. We left around 10 to go to another area of the city, Coconut Grove, where supposedly all the students hang out. It was really empty for a while, but eventually we got talking to a few people outside Sandbar. One was a big guy who was at culinary school in New York, and another was a really pretty girl called, umm, I can't remember but Pat and I referred to her as Chica afterwards, somewhat patronisingly. They were really cool and chatty, giving us many tips for NY. They left to go to dinner at a friend's bequest, and I feel we should have gone too, but we didn't realise this until afterwards. On our way home we went via a place called Fat Tuesdays, which had an odd, slightly unpleasant atmosphere and sold particularly average frozen cocktails, which we entirely failed to finish before going back to South Beach.