Red Chuck

Yellow Swing

(rollover)

Actually a hammock, but Helen loved using it as a swing.

(Please note: those are the guilty flip flops from the previous post.)

Walking to the Creek

Did I mention that we went camping last weekend?

Here we all are walking to the creek. At the very instant I snapped this picture Helen tripped and fell. Don't worry. She's OK. She was wearing those damn flip flops with the big butterflies attached to the foot straps. Cute? Yes. Practical? Nooo.

But as you can see below, she changed shoes and eveything turned out just ducky. Happiness creek-side.

St Louis - Day 1

Pithy commentary now aside, our trip to St Louis was great. Last Friday we went to the City Museum which is undoubtedly the greatest kid's museum in the world. Tunnels, slides, ramps, trains, nests, ropes, sculptures. . . the place is amazing. And if all that ain't enough, City Museum is also the home of the World Aquarium, which is the home of We, the now famous $150,000 TWO HEADED ALBINO RAT SNAKE! (I think one of We's heads was sleeping when we saw him.) Terry Gilliam couldn't have designed a better museum. If you are ever in St Louis, whether you have children or not, GO TO THE CITY MUSEUM.

Also while we were inside the museum, outside it snowed! Harrison & Helen have been asking me "whenzit gonna snow? whenzit gonna snow?" all winter. Now. Finally. Snow. And unlike the light flurry we experienced here today, this snow stuck. Which to Harrison meant snow balls for both eating and throwing.

After leaving the museum. Katherine drove us to Fitz's for lunch. I navigated. Our route took us along the northern and western edges of Forest Park. Seeing all those mansions brushed with snow struck a Brahmin chord with me. Though there's nothing particularly Oriental about these homes, something about their wide, stone facades and their green tile roofs, something about each building's quiet countenance made me think of them as square-jawed Buddhas sitting patiently through this wintry storm. The snow's touch both further dignified and pacified these solemn neighborhoods. And for a brief moment the world hushed. Even Harrison and Helen seemed to be holding their breath in the backseat as we drove through this architecturally impressive part of town.

After lunch I ducked quickly into a record store across the street from Fitz's for some brief browsing. Whenever I'm in a new town I try to hit a record store, even though I still don't have a turntable working at home. One of these days. Until then, I'm content to flip through the bins and search for impossible to find treasures - like Black Vinyl Shoes or anything put out by Ze Records or Twisted Village.

After lunch it was off to the St Louis Science Center. The kids took turns running on a large, wheel/threadmill in the lobby before heading to the dinosaur exhibit. Once in the exhibit, Harrison warned me not to look the giant animatronic T-Rex in the eye or it might get me. After this exhibit, Helen and I cut out. She was getting tired and kept asking to go back to the hotel (thank goodness. . . I hate to admit it but Science Museums are starting to get on my nerves). So Harrison & Katherine soldiered on for another hour and then met back up with us for dinner. We found a child-friendly Italian restaurant around the corner from where we were staying and it was spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

Travelling with small children has lots of ups and downs. I wouldn't trade seeing their excitement and joy for anything. But travelling with picky eaters like ours is a challenge. During dinner, I couldn't help staring longingly out of the window of the pasta shack where we were eating. Why? Because directly across the street was an amazing looking sushi restaurant. It was called the Sub Zero Vodka Bar. And obviously sushi is not their only speciality. O Futomaki! O Martini! So close yet so far away. Even though it was just a street width away, the Sub Zero Vodka bar might as well have been in Siberia, because there was no way this group was getting anywhere near it. We did find a Ben & Jerry's after dinner, which helped ease my distress somewhat. After ice cream it was back to the hotel for bedtime and there ended our first full day in St Louis.

Smoke

Checking in on Loose Canon today I discovered that he's in Pakistan! The only other information I could find about his trip was this post from December 6 about volunteering for earthquake relief. Poking around some more, I found this link to current weather conditions in Pakistan, where today they are experiencing smoke. Wow. My thoughts go out to him. He's a brave and compassionate individual. Here's to a successful trip and to seeing him safely back home.

Lake Catherine

Out of all our travels recently, its nice to report that we had a great time here in the Natural State this weekend. Katherine and I took the kids to Lake Catherine Friday after work for a family reunion. Helen and Harrison went fishing with their cousin Jack. Actually they cast plastic fish into the lake and then reeled them back in, which doesn't make for great fishing stories but does make for great fun (if you are under the age of 7). In lieu of a great fishing story, cousin George told us about an incident he witnessed a couple days before (George and his family rented cabins for the week, so they had lots of good Lake Catherine stories).

George's Story: "Earlier in the week, the cabin next to ours was being rented by an elderly woman who was confined to a wheelchair. One day I noticed that the woman was sitting not in her wheelchair but in a rocking chair on the porch facing the lake and that two young boys were pushing her wheelchair up the hill beside the cabin. After getting the wheelchair to the top of the hill, one of the boys jumped aboard and rode the chair down the hill and off the dock into the lake. The other boy cheered and then ran down to the water's edge. The two of them fished the chair out of the lake and then pushed it back up the hill for another turn. As this continued, the old woman started yelling at the boys, 'Quit ramping my chair off that dock!' Of course, she couldn't do anything to stop them other than yell loudly from her rocking chair, which she did for an hour or so."

George's story is pretty good but the best part was his closing comment,

"Yeah, that's not the kind of thing you'd find people doing if they were staying in the Hamptons."

Even though Lake Catherine ain't the Hamptons, it sure seemed idyllic Friday evening. A cool breeze was blowing off the calm water. The kids played well together and after "fishing," they went for an evening swim. There were hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, there were funny stories in the air, and miracuously, there were no mosquitos above the skin.

San Francisco

2 reasons why this picture best sums up our day in the city:

1) We had a great time (big smile, wave hello to everyone back home).

2) Katherine and I carried the kids everywhere we went today.

What a day. Golden Gate Park, Haight Ashbury, then Chinatown, North Beach, and Nob Hill on foot. We got into the city around 12 and immediately drove to Golden Gate Park. Once again Helen fell asleep in the van, so Harrison and I went to the children's playground behind Kezar Stadium for an hour. After that we drove to Haight Street and walked around for 30 minutes in search of a burrito restaurant Christina recommended to us called Bob's Burritos. (If you haven't noticed yet, we like burritos). The restaurant was nowhere to be found but we did stumble upon a Taqueria with a "Bob's Burrito" on the menu, so we ate there. Rather we ordered food there and then got it to go because Helen stared to have a major meltdown. So after getting back in the van, we headed to our hotel for our 3pm check in.

Out of all the hotels we have stayed in this trip, this hotel is the worst. Our room at the Ramada on Market Street looks out on a brick wall. The beds are uncomfortable, the plumbing stinks (literally), and the only amenity is wireless internet in the rooms. The only reason I bother complaining is becasue this is Expedia's number 1 choice for reasonable accomodations in San Francisco. Blech. Next time we'll stay at the Hotel Triton.

Once we got settled in our room, the bed jumping began, so we decided to get everyone suited up for a trip to Chinatown. By the way, the "I'm tired, I wanna go back to the hotel" whining thing that strangely turns into "Lets spazz out in the new hotel room" is an interesting and frustrating part of traveling with young children. As of yet, I can think of no way to counter this phenomena.

Anyway, our plan was to walk three blocks down Market to the Powell St. cable car turnaround and then ride a cable car to Nob Hill and Chinatown. When we got to Powell the cable car line was a block long so we decided to hoof it. This was when both Harrison and Helen got tired so we carried them up to Union Square. Pant pant. At Union Square, we all sat down for a breather, grabbed a pretzel for a snack and then cut over to Grant street and the green gates that mark the south entrance to Chinatown. I should also pause to note that there was a lot of whining about going to Chinatown by Harrison. This all ended once we got there. Harrison was in heaven. We went into about 5 different shops in the first block. Harrison couldn't believe all the stuff. Then, out of nowhere, a dragon parade came down the street. Harrison and Helen couldn't believe their eyes. A white dragon came right down the sidewalk past us. The parade actually consisted of 2 dragons and a small procession of teenagers in red t-shirts clanging cymbals and beating drums. It was all very loud and exciting. My camera's memory card was full so in trying to make room for a couple more shots, I missed the beginning of the parade. I did get this shot of Harrison and Helen as the noisy tail end of the parade passed us.

After the dragon parade we ducked into another store where Harrison found some glow in the dark dinosaurs and Helen picked out a Hello Kitty clock. After checking out, we faced a new challenge. Both kids needed a bathroom. I thought we were getting close to North Beach so I suggested we high tail it that way and try to find a pizzeria. We went down 1 block, up 2 more (lots of whining at this point) and walked straight into Café Niebaum~Coppola at the corner of Kearny and Columbus. Halleluia. We all sat down in a corner booth and shared a small pizza. After dinner we walked up Columbus to City Lights Bookstore and then kept walking to the Gellato stand on the corner for desert. We considered walking over to Telegraph Hill to watch the sunset but wisely decided to head back to the hotel.

Once again our intention was to ride a cable car! We walked down Broadway to Powell. When we finally found a cable car, it was packed. We kept walking the cable car route (basically Powell) in the hopes we might find a less busy car. No dice. So with the kids on our shoulders we hoofed and huffed it up and down Nob Hill all the way to Market and back to our beloved Ramada. What a day.

And what a trip. Tomorrow we get up early and head for the airport. On our walk down Powell this evening, Harrison said, "Dad, I don't want our vacation to be over." That felt good. Its been quite an adventure. Though I have complained some, Harrison and Helen really have been great little travellers. We've been on the move a lot and they've stuck right with us.

Also of all the places we've been this week, I think we all liked San Francisco the best. What an incredible city. The people, the food, the parks, the culture, the geography! We could see the bay from Nob Hill today — a sailboat in the distance framed by the houses and buildings that line the street. What other city in the world offers such surprising views? I am always inspird by this place. Maybe some day soon we'll all come back.

Breakfast

OK. Just had the best breakfast of the trip. The coffee and scones at the Downtown Bakery & Creamery in Healdsburg are out of this world. And its no wonder. Our host and guide, English, tells us that this place is owned and operated by two former managers from Chez Panisse. We bought a small potato leek pizza for the road.

By the way, I'm sitting in the rental minivan with the kids while Katherine and English shoe shop. Can't wait to get rolling. . .

Healdsburg

Another action packed adventure filled day. We drove up from Monterey to San Francisco, hitting the foggy city around 12. An easy 2 hour drive. No problems. The minute we got off the 101, Helen started screaming. So we spent 30 minutes winding through the city with a crying 3 year old as our soundtrack. All our troubles vanished when we discovered that the Greens Restaurant now has a take out counter. All praise the veggie gods. We sat at a picnic table at Fort Mason Center and devoured delicious tapinade and arugula sandwichs and sipped moroccan bean soup. (The child who will only eat french fries nibbled a croissant). After that it was an easy drive to the Exploratorium. Man, what a great place. So many different things to explore. Harrison really got into the biology exhibits. We spent a lot of time looking through microscopes at potato skin cells. Thankfully he wasn't intereted in the cow eye dissection. He also liked dancing in front of 3 color projection wall. Overall I was impressed with the museum's mixture of science and art. A great deal of the mechanical exhibits are credited to sculptors. Their creations are as structurally inventive as they are educational.

At 3pm we hit the 101 North to the Golden Gate bridge and an hour and a half later found ourselves in Healdsburg. What an amiable town. With Finch Mountain in the distance you get the feeling that you are in some thawed alpine community that is nothing but friendly. We walked to the town square for a picnic supper. A swing band was playing in the bandstand and the park was packed. It looked as if the whole town was present. We drank red wine and ate ham sandwiches while Harrison and Helen danced and played. I mean, what the hell? Have you ever been to Northern California? Is this the norm? Perfect weather, good food, people drinking great wine downtown on a Tuesday night. What's not to love.

Monterey

It's 9:45. Everyone is in bed but me. Helen has been whining because she wanted someone to remove the sales tag from the stuffed animal (a sea otter) we bought at the aquarium today. Harrison is alseep. Katherine just murmured form a half sleep "OK. Ya'll. I'm just so frustrated with everybody." Here we are at the end of another day on vacation.

The picture is from today at the aquarium. I love the light. We were sitting in an alcove having a snack. Actually we were just getting up from our snack to go to the next exhibition. I like this as a family portrait because its not your ordinary here-we-are-all-smiling-together-in-front-of-something-grand type picture. (Don't worry, I do have some of those from this weekend). But lets face it. Half of a family vacation is fun and half is hell. At this point in the game, we are all getting on each other's nerves a little bit. But don't worry, we've had fun.

Today, for instance, was pretty great. First we spent 2 hours at the aquarium. The jellyfish exhibit was amazing. Its a glowing, slow motion ballet of aqueous flower creatures. Mesmerizing. Strangely relaxing. Oh wait, they're piping some new age music in here. Oh well, this is California after all. So, moving on, the kelp forest was amazing. Would you just look at those giant stalks of kelp swaying in the tide!? Its so hypnotizing (tolerable new age music playing in the background, a loopy synthesizer piece, very Terry Riley-ish). Look! There's a bat ray! Look! There's a spotted fish! Look! There's a six year old boy with a mohawk! I mean, what mother would allow. . . There were so many things to see today at the aquarium. Harrison and Helen kept darting from window to window, wide eyed at each new discovery while Katherine and I both kept a watchful eye on them and on the throngs of people that surrounded us. Even on a Monday, the aquarium was very busy.

So after a side trip to the gift shop, we all strolled down Cannery Row until Helen started complaining that she wanted to go home. OK. Fair enough. We've had a busy morning. Assuming she needed a nap, we took the trolley back to the Hotel Pacific. After getting everyone settled, I went in search of lunch. 2 blocks away I found a great burrito place. I ordered a veggie for Katherine (her usual) and got myself a Super filled with chili verde. Then I returned to the hotel to find no one napping. Helen and Harrison were jumping on the bed, so we ate fast and then headed to El Estero Park.

After Harrison & Helen worked off some energy sliding down slides and climbing on the playground, we drove 2 miles NW to beautiful Pacific Grove. Within five minutes of being in the car, Helen fell asleep. Oh well. The rest of us enjoyed the ride. Pacific Grove is a surprising town. The architecture is like fusion cuisine. We saw an asian style adobe house as well as some victorian style motor lodges. Amazingly, none of this seemed tacky. Quaint, yes. But I think the clean sea air keeps you from looking at anything in Northern California with too critical an eye. So after cruising this little town, we made it to the beach where Harrison and I waded in the tidal pools in search of starfish, hermit crabs, anemones, and other coastal creatures that we had seen earlier at the aquarium.

From Pacific Grove we drove back to Monterey. Helen woke up when we got into town. The four of us spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through Monterey State Historic Park. We walked through the walled sanctuary of the Pacific House and the gardens of California's First Theater (lots of Morning Glories). After that we went in search of dinner. We ordered a cheese pizza (the child who will only eat french fries agreed to this compromise) and Katherine went off for falafel. I forgot to mention that Katherine was today's winner in the Don't Lose Your Cool parenting contest. I lost 3 points during the bed jumping incident. As I've said before, there's always tomorrow.

Overall, Monterey is a great town for a family trip. Its easy to get around. Our trip to the aquarium was a free trolley ride. Other than that, we walked everywhere (excluding the jaunt to Pacific Grove). Our hotel is a little pricey but I'd say its well worth it since we are right in the middle of everything we want to see and do. Also, we found a great market right around the corner which has enabled us to eat several meals in our hotel room's kitchenette, saving us both money and the hassle of dealing with little kids in a restaurant.

Oh, I forgot to mention, the Beat Museum is also right around the corner from where we are staying. The Beat Museum is full of beat poet memorabilia like a photograph of Allen Ginsberg taking a picture of the guy who owns and operates the Beat Museum (which is what the caption said instead of "Allen Ginsberg holding a camera in front of his face" which is what the caption also could have said), like a paperback copy of the Grove anthology "The Beats" sealed in a plastic bag, and like, not much else. Nevertheless, I did like the store, I mean, museum. I bought a later-years Ginsberg first edition though the store owner was really pushing some sort of Kerouac narrated art film on me. I said, "I think I'll stick with a book."

Tomorrow we get up early and head to Healdsburg to see some old friends and a little bit of the wine country. Our plan is to take the 101, stop in San Francisco for lunch, visit the Exploritorium, and then head north over the Golden Gate Bridge before rush hour begins.

The Aquarium

Are we going to the aquarium today? Are we going to the aquarium today? I have been asked this question approxiamtely 400 times on this trip. Today I can say yes. Monterey Bay Aquarium here we come.

The Wedding

When my brother was 7 or 8 he planned a Super Event. The occasion was his birthday. The plan was astounding. It was to be a weekend long celebration. It was a schedule of events that included everything from roller skating to movie theaters. He foresaw all of his kindergarten friends spending 2 nights at our house to expereince a birthday party like no other. Explaining this vision was easy. He simply listed each event sequentially in a monologue to my parents that left them wide eyed and speechless. "First we will go roller skating, then after that we are going to eat ice cream, after that we are going to go see the Empire Strikes Back, and then we will have a spend the night party, next morning we'll eat pancakes for breakfast and then shoot off fireworks. . ."

The answer from my sensible parents was of course no and a compromise was met. One event was settled upon (I think we went roller skating) and the birthday was effectively celebrated.

This weekend I keep thinking of that story about my brother. Friends and family have flown across country to expereince all the things he enjoys. There has been golf, smores around a fire pit, a dance party, a dinner party, and of course the ceremony by the sea. It has been great fun. The weather has been amazing, the hotel has been amazing (this incidentally is where Chris and Sandi got engaged), the whole weekend has been superb. And in all the years we have joked about Chris and his extravagant plans, I now realize that he just wants everyone to have a fun. So my hats off to you bro. The Super Event is now alive. Its been an amazing weekend.

A Scottish Reverie and a Happy Stomach

Its beautiful and cold here this morning. Foggy. Katherine says she feels like we are in Scotland. I momentarily feel Scottish.

The flights went well. The kids did well. Having the laptop helped. We watched Mickey and Donald and Goofy on the second flight from Salt Lake City.

Amazingly everything yesterday went smoothly. From making our connection, to claiming our baggage, to picking up our rental car, we cleared each marker effortlessly. Smooth sailing. Gliding. We are a well trimmed sail of a family travelling machine. I swell with pride.

Driving into Half Moon Bay yesterday we passed a taqueria near a bus stop. Surfers and locals were loitering about. I made a Uey. What was I thinking passing a busy taqueria? I ordered tacos for me and a veggie burrito for Katherine. Helen was asleep in the back seat and Harrison was eating some Burger King french fries (his request). I inhaled the food. Everything tasted so fresh. The cilantro, the tomatoes, the beans. We are in food heaven here. I vow to always follow my stomach's instincts on this trip.

That said, we are heading back into town for lunch. I see ceviche and fish tacos in my near future. More later.

Kyran's Blog

Kyran moved her blog from here (Notes from the Edge) to here (Kyran's TripBlog). This summer it will be fun both hearing about her adventures up north and seeing her customize her blog.

San Suggestion

Hey. We are going to San Francisco this summer for a week. We = 2 adults and 2 children (ages 6 & 3).

The first time I visited San Francisco I stayed in a Best Western. Across the street was a video store that had the words "Got Porn?" on the marquee. On that trip I spent my days scouring record stores for John Fahey and Skip Spence lps. Nights found me and my posse hanging at a blues club where the bartenders spit fire balls behind the bar between sets.

The second time I stayed in San Francisco was our honeymoon. We did lots of walking: Telegraph Hill, Haight Ashbury, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Labyrinth at Grace Cathedral. We also ate well.

I love San Francisco. I can think of a lot of things that I would like to do there, but I need some help. I don't think my kids want to go to City Lights bookstore as much as I do. So give me some suggestions of kid friendly things to do. For example, here's a good one from Mary:

Go to the Ferry Building, which is where the ferries come in, of course, but also a very cool market. There's a Peet's coffee (best latte ever, I drank two larges). Also a Cowgirl Creamery cheese place, bakery, other produce, shops and restaurants. It would be great with kids. Take the trolley, grab breakfast and watch the ferries come in.

Comments are open, as usual.

Miami, Part II, the Day of the Iguana

Saturday we woke up at 10am. Another beautiful day, another leisurely breakfast. Instead of the beach we hit the pool. An afternoon thunderstorm sent us back inside. As the rain came down, we sat on the balcony and watched iguanas crawl for cover. 3 appeared from the bushes by the pool. 2 took the high road and scaled a coconut tree. The other one swam across the marina to hide in a patch of rocks on the opposing shore. Of the two that climbed the tree, one fell from the very top, bounced softly in the grass and patiently mounted a different Cocos nucifera. After the storm the iguanas disappeared and we had a drink in the rain—cooled evening.

Back to South Beach for dinner. We took a ferry to a cab to Tap Tap, a Haitian restaurant on 5th Street about 2 blocks from the China Grill. Oh what a difference 2 blocks can make. Tap Tap was resonably priced and the food was delicious. We ordered seconds of conch fritters and Haitian mojitos. Mmm mmm. Then back to the Delano where Will and I were stopped by a doorman who briefed us on the Delano's dress code. Funny that. Friday night no one said anything about our open toed shoes. But since we seemed like "nice people" the doorman pardoned our slovenly attire and granted entry.

1 cocktail and then we hit the road. By now we Delano veterans were plum tired and even the rumor that Kelly Clarkson was in da house couldn't keep us in our poolside bed. Enough said.

Little Rock, Part I, Early Morning

4:30am — Wake up, answer daughter's request for water, eject dog from bedroom (he's making that horrrible smacking sound AGAIN).
4:45am — Attempt sleep re-entry.
5:00am — Get up, blow nose, squirt Chloraseptic 5 times into back of throat.
5:10am — Attempt sleep re-entry.
5:30am — Get up, it's no use, you're not going to fall back asleep.
5:45am — Fill Neti Pot, irrigate nasal passages, take Allegra D.
6:00am — Go to gym.
6:50am — Leave gym, sweaty, satisfied, you should do this more often.
7:05am — Enter drive thru line for coffee at big name coffee franchise.
7:25am — Leave drive thru line of big name coffee franchise with 2 lattes and an apology from befuddled server (something about a broken machine).
7:30am — Arrive home.
7:31am — Discover copious amounts of dog shit in living room, hallway, and office.
7:32am — Put dog outside.
7:33am — Calm, be calm.
7:50am — Finish clean up, take out trash.
7:55am — Shower
8:15am — Breakfast
8:25am — Go to work.

Note to self: you're not in Miami anymore.

Miami, Part I

So when Katherine's Godmother offered us her condo on Fisher Island for the weekend, we bit. We landed in Miami @ 9:15 on Thursday May 19th and waited in the limo for our friends Will & Mary.

Friday we woke up @ 9:30 and ate a leisurely breakfast of coffee & bagels from the Fisher Island marina store. Katherine ordered Cuban Toast, which turned out to be nothing more than french bread with butter.

After breakfast we took our golf cart (every condo here has its own golf cart) to the beach. We read, drank a round of Bloody Marys and Will and I played 2 man bocce, notable only for our creation of 2 new bocce moves — the "Scythe" (a side arm throw) and the "Hips of Joseph" (a defensive strategy). After our "bocce" game, we swam in the ocean, ate a late lunch and then played backgamon for an hour on the beach. Tough life, I know. At 5pm we headed back to the condo to get ready for dinner.

After taking the ferry to the mainland, we caught a cab to the China Grill arriving there almost an hour before our 8pm reservation. We went for a stroll up Ocean Avenue, Miami's claustrophobic version of Bourbon Street. Not really digging the vibe, we took a left on 10th Street and grabbed a drink at the Essex Hotel where the windows are octagonals and the lobby is quiet. The bartender told us to try Jazzit if we were looking for another laid back bar.

After drinks we caught a cab back to the China Grill. Traffic was at a standstill so our cabbie tried to go the wrong way down an alley for a short cut. Unfortunately about half way down this narrow alley some guy was unloading his car. We honked but the guy won't "move it" for us (I don't blame him) so our cabbie called him a jackass and then sped in reverse back down the alleyway. Once in traffic again our impatient cabbie asked us where we lived. Will and Mary said Nashville. He said he'd never heard of it. "Where is it? North, West, Left, Right?" he asked. Funny guy.

Dinner at the Chine Grill was expensive. We shared 3 appetizers (sushi, vegetable dumplings, and crab cakes) and 2 entrees (grilled shrimp w/ black linguine and seared tuna with seaweed). Obviously the place specialized in asian fusion cuisine. The food was good but not spectacular given the exorbitant prices.

After espressos, we hit the street. We walked 16 blocks up Collins Ave to the much hyped Delano Hotel. Outside, white curtains drape the facade. Inside, the lobby is enormous. Giant columns and more diaphanous white curtains cut up the space. It sounded like live jazz was coming from somwhere in this mantled labyrinth. We walked directly to the back, down and out a pathway that led past a shallow swimming pool lined with king sized beds. We grabbed drinks at the poolside bar and found an open bed where we spent the next 2 hours drinking vodka tonics and talking.

From midnight on there was a steady stream of people walking back and forth from the hotel to the pool side bar. We hung out on our bed until we spilled a cocktail on the sheets.

Next stop, David's for a late night snack. This entailed another colorful cabbie who asked us which David's we wanted. When we said we didn't know he said, "Well if you guys wanna be gentlemen, you will take these ladies to the David's where you can sit down." So that's where we went. David's is famous for its Cubanos sandwiches (ham and pork with mustard and pickles on french bread) which we all ordered. What could be better at 1am? After eating, we caught another taxi back to the ferry and were home by 2am, thus ending our Friday night on South Beach.

iTour

Here's an interesting development in the world of iPods and audio production — iTour, audio guidebooks that focus on the music history of particular travel destinations.

And here, for example, is Tennet's iTour of Glasgow.