We Be At The Beach

Greetings:

This posting is basically to let people know that we are here safely in Miami Beach. Our first week is with our friends Paul and Greg (and Mishu). Here is a picture from last year with the view from their balcony:




It is on the first Venetian Island (Belle Isle) going from Miami Beach to Miami. It is the same island where we have purchased a condo.




However we are renting the condo for the year and are grateful to Paul and Greg for having us each year. But one week is enough if you want to remain friends. So we have a five week rental at a place called The Flamingo South Beach at 1504 Bay Road on Miami Beach.

Miami and Miami Beach are two different worlds. We do enjoy the Design District, Midtown Miami and Chris bicycles through Bayfront Park to get to Key Biscayne. However, the world of South Beach is our preference. Our lifestyle is not glamorous but the surroundings are.

A typical day begins with Gini and Paul meeting some friends to walk five miles down to South Pointe Park and back. Chris sleeps in a bit and will meet Rick sometimes for activities such as a bike ride or coffee. Rick is a very dear friend. Chris was his mentor back in Lowell days to help him get through high school. He and Paul were living and business partners at one time but life has moved on. Rick lives in the next building here on Belle Isle.

More than likely Chris will go to an afternoon movie at the 18 screen Regal on Lincoln Road. Gini, Paul and various other moviegoers will accompany him. So far the list includes: It’s Complicated (Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin were very entertaining); A Single Man (devastating movie that was excellently made but brutal emotionally); Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey and Jude Law redefine this pair in a very good way) and Up In The Air (sad but very well done and George Clooney is great).

Shopping is also an agenda item. The stores on Lincoln Road are world class and places like Sawgrass Mills constantly beckon. Ocean Ave is filled with eye candy and elegant hotels. Art deco architecture also interests us and makes local walks interesting tours, especially with our friends’, Val and Rich’s, book ( Discovering South Beach Deco: Walking Tours in the Miami Beach Art Deco District) which describes the buildings along the walks in great detail.

Over the years many of Paul and Rick’s friends have included us in their company so there is always an interesting opportunity for drinks and dinner. Many of these people live on Belle Isle so the venue is fantastic and the ocean and Biscayne Bay are never far away.

Tomorrow we move into the Flamingo. Val will be joining us on Monday; Eileen on Thursday. Then the following Monday they are tag-teamed by Gini’s sister Janice and her husband Bill. We will be together for four weeks, the balance of our stay here in ‘the Beach’. So perhaps we will post some pictures of our rental there and ambient accoutrements.

But, bottom line, we are safe and doing fine.