Vice, Part II - XXVII

Beau and I awoke to the perfectly sunny and clear (albeit still chilly) Miami weather with about twelve hours to see and do as much as possible.  Our flight was leaving for Nola at 11 pm Miami time.  If we did not have our dear friends' wedding on Saturday day and night, we may not have returned ever until Sunday!

We bid adieu to our pals at the Mondrian, stopped for our necessary coffee and headed to the Delano for lunch, per the recommendations of many friends (and Madonna, of course).  This trip was half way on foot and half way in a cab.  As we crossed Washington, Beau really wanted to stop in at Dash, but unfortunately, we just didn't have time this visit.  I promise, honey, next time!

Okay, back to the scheduled program.  Can I just say that the beauty and almost otherwordly quality of the Delano exceeded my expectations?  The lobby is painfully cool and immediately transfers you to a calming and relaxed respite from the utter mayhem of Collins Avenue. 

Ahhh.

Stunning and peaceful.

We sat outside at the Blue Door Restaurant which overlooks the yard and pool.  Aside from delicious food (Beau loved his lobster burger and I, my small Cobb salad and crisp glass of white) and impeccable service, we both loved the view of the grassy lawn and pool in the not-too-far distance. 

Lush back porch. Loved the more cozy/traditional Floridian look of the Blue Door. 

I only snapped this shot of these masks decorating one of the outside patio walls in the restaurant.  I honestly just loved the grouping.  The Delano common areas embody the perfect blend of warm natural elements with clean modernism.

Tiny blurry pic, but check out the plastic mod chairs paired with wicker as well as wooden tripod lamps...perfection.

Upon seeing the yard and pool area, we decided that we are definitely coming back and definitely staying at the Delano.  Because of our Mondrian "privileges," we were able to check out the pool area, the bungalows and, of course, the Delano beach area. 

Exactly like the photos on their website. 

Outside of one of the bungalows.  Love that bar cart! 

Next time, Florida Room!

Gorgeous.

We never felt rushed, but, as we both knew, we didn't have time to actually lounge on the beach this time around.  Instead, we walked along the beach path, checking out the backs of the resorts and guessing which ones they were (most were completely unmarked and heavily bodyguarded!)  I have now figured out that we successfully identified the W, the Setai (I die), and Lowe's. 

Setai.  In my dreams!

More hoofing led us to Lincoln Road.  The pedestrian promenade reminded us a little bit of Canal Street in New Orleans and a little bit of the Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade.  I am glad we walked it, but we weren't looking to shop too too much, especially at stores we have in Nola. 

However, someone bought some new shades....

Ahh, the Wayfarers.  A preppy classic. 

Someone died at went to heaven at Jonathan Adler.  The salesman at JA was so hilarious and nice!

Snap of store via flickr

I bought this napkin for purposes of making a pillow for our guest room.

My favorite snag...the penguin salt and pepa shakers I have long loved.  Just chillin' on the stove. 

I wanted to snatch all of these newbies, but was forced to control myself:

 One for Beau....

 One for me...

And all of these, too!

Two someones hung out at Books and Books for quite some time.  I was very excited to see that there is an Assouline boutique within Books and Books.  I was able to paw copies of these books (too bad I missed them on One Kings Lane!)

The title of this book has always sort of cracked me up.  I have always been intrigued by it.  The snaps of the Kennedys (multi-generations) did not disappoint!

More walking.  We checked out Ocean Drive "just to see it."  Glad we were able to admire the art deco hotels and see the tents getting set up for the Wine and Food Fest, but okay with never having to walk through Spring Break crowds a la Bourbon Street again.   I loved checking out the front area of The Tides. It looks just as impressive in person as its website and various magazine articles indicate. 

Hotel Shelly.

This is a good photo of Essex House from Getty Images.  We both loved this one. 

Colony Hotel

Because I am a g-e-e-k, next time we go, I really must go on the Art Deco District tour.   It was fascinating to be surrounded by so many fine examples of Art Deco architecture.  God, I forget how much I love the 20s and deco era.

Time for the haaaackey (hockey) game for Beau.  We perfectly combined his watching of haaaackey with our visiting the rooftop of the Gansevoort.  Are you tired yet from reading this?  It is okay.  You can stop and take a rest.  Or just scroll through the embarrassing pics.

Even better than Miami Social depicts, the rooftop there really is incredible.  We buddied up with the bartenders (one of which was a law student--gooo) and, although the rooftop views and pool area are not open to non- hotel guests, they let me in to check out the views.  Wow.

I promise that I only watched it a couple of times.  I just remembered that they were filming all the time at the Gansevoort.  I swear! 

iPhone snap off the glass encased promontory.

Serious pondering of life amid palm trees and ocean. 

Grossly, we needed to sober up after our entire afternoon of haaackey watching and socializing with a publicist (who certainly did not mind sharing some good celeb goss...if you email me, I will tell you individually!) so we headed to our final Miami din din at Big Pink.  Everyone's happy now!

Our 1.5 days in South Beach was the ultimate tease.  We are not yet satiated in our collective desire to check out South Beach as well as other parts of Miami.  I already have a list going of places to see, restaurants to try, and hotels to stay in.  What a pleasant surprise...such a decadent and delightful 48 hours! 

Cheers,

JSH

P.S.  I have posted my reviews of the Doral and the Mondrian on tripadvisor under the name Nola Native.  They should be up tomorrow afternoon, per the reviewers at TA. 

P.P.S.  Is it disgusting that I am now (again) saying that I am happy it is Lent?  Do I just have embrace and accept the utter debauchery of food, friends and fun that lurks around every corner in New Orleans?  Yes?  Okay.

P.P.P.S  When I married Beau I had no idea that I would also be gaining the absolute best travel buddy ever.  We were broke in law school so we never really had the opportunity to test each others' travel partner mettle.   Now that we have a fair amount of travel adventures under our belts, I must say that I am supremely blessed to have a built in "VP of Operations" on all of my trips....who also happens to be really cute and fun, too.  I can only hope that I can continue to be the best "Creative Director" possible so that our next trip is just as relaxing and fun as Miami (and our other past travels)!

Such our travel photo schtick...one picture of us together, can't tell where we are, blurry...

I have a whole treasured collection of them.