Space Waitress' Travels on Earth

Hahaha, bet you think I mean me, but no, the name of a drink I had in a bar with Polynesian / Japanese influences. The bar was rooftop on the “1” hotel , here in South Beach, last night. But I digress..

we started the day on the balcony , breakfast delivered , which was awesome.  Katherine and I then wandered up Collins St, assisted the local economy by purchasing “just a few” items. 😝😝. We wandered back along the boardwalk , people watching as we went. There were as many beautiful people as down and out people sadly 😢 The afternoon was spent beside the pool where the sun decided to spend the whole afternoon playing hide and seek with the ⛅️ clouds . Still relaxing 😎. 

We checked out the actual beach , fun fact: each hotel has an area in front of their hotel, set out with cabanas , deck chairs and beach tents. So it looks very organised and different from a Kiwi Beach. The sand is groomed and perfect.

Dinner was at the same hotel as the rooftop drinks , in a restaurant called “Beachcraft” run by Tom Colicchio, a celebrity chef. The whole hotel has a mission of organic and environmentally friendly goals, the pork belly and roasted mushrooms was amazing. 

Another evening in Miami over and still no vice 😉😝

Had a great flight south on American Airlines. I took chocolates from NZ for the crew and they spoiled us ! So great to chat to them too. The weather was amazing, views of the countryside we flew over for the majority of the flight.

After landing in Miami, large airport by the way, we picked up the rental car that Kevin ordered. It was a Cadillac Escalade. Massive car , very roomy and luxurious. 

Great drive into the city, saw some great architecture, will take some photos of buildings tomorrow, for those that share my love of interesting buildings 😝

The best was yet to come however, when we checked into our  room and checked out our view ❤️

Spent the afternoon chilling on the balcony , soaking up the beach view.

Dinner time came around and we wandered along Collins Ave looking at the Art Deco Hotels , stunning ! Popped into Kevin’s favourite spot for dinner , Lure , Katherine and I had the Tempura Lobster roll. It was very good. The wander back along Ocean Drive was fun, lots of people out and about , lots of bars spilling out onto the footpath. It’s nearly midnight , eyes are closing so , once again, thanks for reading , goodnight 💤

Well, out last full day in the Big Apple 🍎 

It seemed the city was crying too as it rained all day. We had a late start after an amazing breakfast cooked by John and Kevin. It would rate way up there with best breakfasts eating out. 

Waffles with cinnamon apples and rum spiced cream. Bacon that was cooked with brown sugar and black ground pepper !!! Amazing ! 

Did a bit of last minute shopping at White  Plains, adding to the already heavy cases !!! Oops 😜

We had a new experience this evening, watching a 🎥 movie, while eating 🍕 pizza and drinking wine at a table in front of the row of seats 😊 very cool, ordering at your seat and having it delivered. We saw “Arrival”, a thinking movie …..this was the venue 

We head to Miami tomorrow for some fun in the ☀️ 

I forgot to mention yesterday that we found amazing friendliness all day , all over the city beginning with the ticket box man at Scarsdale train station and all day at all the shops we stopped at, the places we ate at and the times we checked on directions. I’ve been to NY quite a few times over the last 10 years and I can honestly say that New Yorkers in the service industry  have had a tendency to be abrupt, not really interested in foreigners and even rude BUT yesterday all we found, all day,  was friendly conversations, interest in where we were from and assistance when we asked for it 😊  ” you are very welcome” was repeated often during the day. 

Love your work NYC 🍎🗽

We began the day as commuters on the Metro-North line to Grand Central Station. If you know NY, you will know that the exit from the station is 42nd St. From there it was a walk down 5th Ave to Macy’s , stopped on the way at a cool little street food area called Broadway Bites, had a vegetarian Flatbread, sat in the sun and enjoyed a spot of people watching as the weather was really mild. 

After a quick stop in Macy’s we headed to the High Line and walked the 20 block (2.3 kms) walkway. It is such a great walk sitting at about 2nd story level, around  buildings and above streets. There used to be some amazing murals on this walk but they seem to have gone 😢

The High Line took us close to Greenwich so we wandered through the village and then to Washington Square Park. As we left the High Line ,we were unsure if we were heading in the right direction for the park , so on 3 occasions we asked locals if we were on the right track. All 3 said “mmmmmm, not really sure, I think it’s that way”. We spotted a lady and a kid on a bike , we knew she would know!  She  was the only one who was able to confidently give us directions .

After sitting in the park for a bit, we left and walked up 5th Ave again , this time from 9th St ALL the way to 45th St, how many blocks folks ?? 😜

On the way back up 5th, we stopped and admired Lord And Taylor’s beautiful window display , all ready for Santa 🎅 

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I HAD to stop at Kate Spade ♠️ on 5th Ave and bought myself a Christmas gift 🎁😁

The train ride home didn’t take long as we chose the Express, like any good NY commuter would . Mexican and Margarita for dinner with our amazing hosts and it’s another day done in NYC🍎

Sad to hear of the earthquake back home in NZ. Hope all is well. Feel guilty that we had another great day here in NYC. Another day out in the convertible 

John is the best guide we could ask for when we have a shopping list to get through ! We had a great dinner at Liz and  Peter’s and were entertained by Harry and Edward. Met their lovely neighbour , Betty, an adorable elderly lady, originally from Atlanta , loved her accent. I taught my sister the joys of laundry in an apartment building , taking the lift, putting washing on, setting timer , heading back down , popping in dryer , setting timer, heading back down, collecting and folding , good fun ! Till tomorrow ……

Today started with a drive into Manhattan in a BMW convertible, as you do 😜Kevin kindly let us use his car and as the day was perfect for it , we popped the top!

We made our way into One World Trade Centre and admired the amazing architecture that makes up the Freedom Tower, the views and the amazing lunch that we had on the 102nd floor. 

Sadly we left the views and headed down to ground level again. We found ourselves in the new Oculus Transport Centre and thought we were in Star Trek, these videos are for our favourite Trekkie …….G Man. 

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​This transport hub is worth a visit , futurist and stunning .

Close by is the iconic Brooklyn Bridge , and as the sun was setting, we wandered over it. All the lights were starting to twinkle and the city became full of lights. We even had a photo with the NYPD. 

A first was achieved tonight ….. Chick-Fill-A for dinner lol

After this is was off to midtown, we had a date with the Radio City Rockettes, Christmas Spectacular. It was amazing , the precision was awe inspiring, the costumes divine, loved every minute ❤️It made it feel a bit more like Christmas 🎄 Really hard to describe and do it justice , photos not allowed so I’m not sure how I got these couple. !! Also the foyer of Radio City is beautiful. 

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Anyway , thanks for reading , have a great night x
 

Forgot to add this yesterday , part of our drive ……