Miami, Florida

We chose to fly to Miami because it was as far south as we could go. I didn't really know too much about Miami, most of my knowledge of the city had been gained from the odd episode of CSI: Miami and the Will Smith song of the same name. It turns out there isn't a lot to know. Yeah it's got a good beach and the nightlife is probably good if you've got money to burn. We head tales of having to buy $400 worth of champagne just to be allowed on the dancefloor and of club which only let people in based on their attractiveness (well maybe that's not such a bad idea). I found the whole place rather soulless. The city doesn't feel like it has any centre and the art deco aspect is overexaggerated and overrated.

The character of people that Miami attracts is of a certain kind. The type that drink all day and fall out of the top bunk while they are sleeping, hit the floor and then continue to sleep (true story). These people aren't the best to be around when you're ill.

After leaving Miami we picked up our 'ride'. To cut a long story short we got a cheap deal on a rather unsuitable car. Said car is a 7-seater Dodge 'Ram' van. She's big and rather thirsty for petrol. One benefit is that we can sleep in there if needs be which given the lack of hostels here is a distinct possibility.

Key West, FL

We headed down to the Florida Keys and were pleased to be escaping Miami. The drive there is beautiful. The Keys are a string of islands which are connected by a series of bridges which at soe points extend for miles over a glittering blue sea. Key West is much more my kind of city. It has narrower roads (as opposed to the 8 lane behemoths which seem to run throughmost American cities) and it has some lovely quaint clapboard housing. It also has some rather strange characters.

One night we went out and met a man called 'Dave'. He seemed ok and was friendly and chatty. He seemed to have led a very interesting life having been a pilot in the Air Force (retired), a teacher (retired) and was now a business entrepreneur and landlord...even though he was only 26. Dave was extremely boastful and was constantly telling us how much his jewelry was worth or what kind of cars he had. Certain things though didn't add up. If he was such a big guy around town, how come he was on his own and was hanging around with us? If he was so rich how come he was drinking $2 wine at happy hour?

Regardless of these small inconsistencies we went to another bar with him and his story seemed to get even more incredible. Apparently he had been a Prisoner Of War in Iraq - at this point I started to get suspicious. Apparently he could speak nine languages - I got very suspicious. I asked him to say some Japanese which he duly did. It sounded strange though to me so I asked to some Spanish which I knew it would be. He just gabbled something. At this point I realised he was not only a compulsive liar but slightly delusional. Howard ad I conferred and got him to buy us a drink back (as we'd already bought him one). We challenged him about his lying but he simply sat there lookin confused. He was a truly strange guy. The day after next we left Key West and headed for St. Petersburg.

Richard, St Augustine, FL, 13th March