Bahama Breeze

Well, I made it to the Sunshine State, and without too much difficulty. My Covid test and official CDC "attestation" that I have been vaccinated seemed to satisfy everyone at Heathrow and I was allowed to board my plane with no drama, and the flight itself was uneventful. There weren't many people on the aircraft. In my portion of the cabin, which I calculated could hold more than 100 people, I counted 23 passengers. Most of us had our own rows.

I read about a third of a book called "Moby-Duck," about the accidental release of thousands of children's floatable bath toys into the Pacific Ocean in a shipping mishap in 1992, and where currents and other elements of nature took them. Interesting! I also watched the movies "Supernova," with Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci, and "Cabaret" with Liza Minnelli -- a curious film to find on an airplane, I thought.

On its approach to Miami, we flew over the Bahamas, where I snapped this photo (above) of some random islands.  I was just happy to see land, the first since the UK with the exception of a brief glimpse of Bermuda. I looked the islands up later and it turns out they're Nunjack Cay, Crab Cay and Green Turtle Cay -- and weirdly, I have a good friend whose family long owned a house on Green Turtle. They may still. I'm supposed to see her in a few days, so I'll have to ask!

This was the view looking down on northern Miami Beach. You can't really see it in the photo, but the condo building that collapsed in Surfside is just below that rectangular patch of green by the beach in the center of the photo (a beachfront park).

And here's the view of Miami proper, with the bridges leading to the beaches radiating out to the east, past the cruise terminals at the Port of Miami.

After we landed at the airport and were taxiing to our gate, I was surprised to see this plane on the tarmac. "Is that Air Force One?" I thought. And I believe it is -- Joe Biden was in Miami yesterday visiting the site of the condo collapse.

My onward flight to Tampa was much more crowded but also mercifully short, and my stepsister and her husband picked me up at the airport. I'm staying in my stepmother's guest house, which is pretty great. The only downer is there's no WiFi. I can usually piggyback on my stepsister's (she lives right next door), but for some reason this morning I couldn't connect.

So I walked in the dark, dewy morning up to Dunkin' Donuts on the highway, which according to Google and the sign on its door opens at 5 a.m. But it was still locked up tight when I arrived at 5:30, so I sat on the curb (where I could at least access the WiFi) and worked on this post. Finally someone opened the door at 5:53. I asked if the dining room (ha!) opened at 6, and she said, "No, we're supposed to open at 5 but I think we just forgot."

Hmmmmm.

I also note that the tables haven't been wiped since closing yesterday. But hey, I have coffee and a jelly donut, so the morning has improved.