South Beach 1 - the Pelican

Miami at dusk looked spectacular from the tiny American Eagle plane as it came into land - the western horizon blood red with the sunset and the moon enormous and deep crimson to the east.

The arrivals hall cafe used Spanish as its first language and offered the choice of Cuban or American coffee - Cuban being the default option.

More choices - $2 bus ride or $32 taxi...? The taxi won of course!

Room 250 'With Drill' at the Pelican - heavy industrial chic - almost like they knew me? A simple roast beef salad at the Sandwicherie and an early night.

Tuesday started with breakfast at the News Cafe, followed by coffee at the Pelican then a few hours on the beach. Free giant towels from the hotel, free loungers on the beach and the perfect temperature in the high 20s - time to hit the kindle hard. The sea was not so pleasant - I usually associate the water off Florida with the temperature of a warm bath, evidently this isn't the case in January - it was freezing.

Lunch at the Pelican was amazing - red snapper ceviche and the best focaccia ever, served in a paper bag.

A bit of shopping in the afternoon followed by cocktails and dinner at Joe's Crab Shack - which required a 1.5hour wait before our names were called to join the second queue - this time to enter the gargantuan dining room. The baked Atlantic cod was amazing, but in hindsight the deep fried side orders were unnecessary so we mostly resisted them! I could say that we then hit the bars, but in reality bed was calling!