After what can only be descried as an interrupted, hot and humid sleep in the car, I decided to change my clothes and head off at 0700 into Miami’s peak hour traffic. I decided that the only way I was going to quickly pick up driving both an automatic and on the right side was to get out there in the busiest time. It paid off because I quickly got the hang of it and drove up to the top of Miami Beach, went for a short walk and then headed back down the beach to the main Art Deco district. I was trying to find an information place but they either didn’t exist anymore or they weren’t open so I decided just to head off south. I stopped in a large discount shopping mall first to buy a few things that I couldn’t get at home.
First was a spare pair of sunglasses – polarised for Patagonia and Antarctica. Then a pair of all weather keen sandals. The camping shop that I got them from was massive. About the size of Kmart. It was fascinating to walk around. You could buy your 25L of frying oil to fry up all those fish you might catch. The rifle selection was larger than their entire camping section put together. You could pick up a standard rifle for US$100. The gun safes were about 2m x 2m cubed. How you would get it home is beyond me! I was planning on buying another day pack but they only had 4 to pick from and I didn’t really like any of them so I went back to looking at the rifles and other random things that count as outdoor camping type stuff.
After my fair share of shopping I headed south towards Florida City. I finally found an information centre and they were really helpful. I picked up all the info I needed and then headed down to Florida Keys. They did tell me it would be busy in Key West because the Fantasy Festival was on…they failed to inform me what the Fantasy Festival was! The drive down took about 3hrs and it was quite amazing to see all the infrastructure that links all these islands together. One bridge alone was 7 miles long. The whole of Florida Keys is a mix of kitsch, tacky and beautiful. A little bit over the top and some truly hideous shops. It would have been really pretty once when all the islands were vegetated without any cars.
When I got to Key West it was very different to all the other islands I’d driven through. Very old style buildings very much like New Orleans and Savannah areas. It was packed and I got a glimpse of what the Fantasy Festival was – lots of naked people, pirates and devils! I’m yet to find out exactly what it is. I tried one of the backpackers to see what accommodation they had available and it was US$180 a night. So I jumped back in the car and drove back to Marathon, an hour’s drive back north. It was the first place where accommodation was back to being reasonable. I checked into this quaint little motel, headed to the supermarket to get something for dinner, watched some tele and finally went to bed.
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