DAY 110
Week 16
KEY WEST (Florida, USA) to ORMOND BEACH (Florida, USA)
Sunday October 8th, 2006
TODAYS MILEAGE – 442 miles or 711 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 15117 miles or 24328 kilometres
Another Sunday – another day of rest??? Not bloody likely!!! 
A few months ago, the plan was to hit Miami and hang with a mate of mine, Dondi, but seeing as she was jetting out of town this weekend, I had to make do with playing Tommy Tourist on my Pat Malone. No dramas, you could stick me in a room by myself and I'd have fun.
The first thing you notice driving around Miami is how so many people are jammed into such a small area. It is spread out and up.
I didn't worry about going downtown, as I read in the paper, that half the streets were closed for one festival or another. Instead, I headed over to Miami Beach and it's Art Deco Historic District and seeing as it was lunchtime, I thought I'd strap on a feedbag while I was there. Parking is pretty scarce anywhere near Ocean Drive, but believe it or not, I ended up parking above the Cop Shop. Cool, all my gear will be safe while I'm a way.
Being a beautiful Sunday afternoon, it seemed every man and his dog was out and about. All of humanity was on show: from the "beautiful people", to the proponents of the Lifestyles Of The Rich & Stupid as well the usual flotsam & jetsum of society were all represented. I don't mind admitting that if they charged for people watching – I'd have run out of money!!!
Miamians must be very family oriented, as I noticed one guy in his Fifties taking his young daughter for a spin in his new Lamborghini Murcíelago. She looked all of 21 or 22 and seem to appreciate the ride by the way she kept hugging him an holding his hand!!!
Lunch was at a joint called Primetime and I confess, I had the best fish sandwich that I've ever got me laughing gear around. A fillet of Mahi was grilled to perfection and sat upon a fresh crusty Cuban bread roll and topped with sweet tomatoes, lettuce, red onions and a sweet roasted garlic aioli. This was accompanied with a shredded cabbage and cucumber coleslaw. Fantastic!!!! I kid you not. Normally it sells for $18.50, but they had it a special for $7.95. I would never had got it at full price, but after having it, I would have gladly paid full price.
One thing that annoyed me though was the restaurant automatically charging me 18 percent of the bill for gratuities. Normally, gratuity is only automatically added for table of 6 or more, but it seems to be the norm here for any tables here in Florida. My waiter was shithouse, but you still have to tip and that my friend is bullshit!!!
All up I spent a couple of hours in Miami Beach and could have spent a lot more. Optimal word being spent. It's not cheap hanging with the beautiful people, plus that simply ain't me. So it was back on the road for another 277 miles (446 kilometres) and North was where the compass was pointing.
As the song goes ..... Georgia's On My Mind, so we'll see what happens.
• MIAMI (Florida, USA)