We were in Miami and I had an agenda. That much you can count on for sure. I had suggested to Mom that staying in Miami for a day before we embarked on our four-day cruise was imperative. After all, I had no idea when I might get back to see the Hard Rock Cafe and other things. The Hard Rock in Miami we had picked up the night before, but we still had a full day’s adventure ahead of us on Sunday, February 6, 2011 – otherwise known as Super Bowl Sunday.
I was proud of all of us – Bob, Mom, and myself – for getting up and ready and out the door by 9:30am that morning. We walked across the street to Burger King for breakfast, then stopped at a local convenience store, then everyone except for me made a mad dash for the bathroom. Don’t ask. That’s typical of a day with Mom and Bob. Even with all this, we were on the road by 10:00.
My GPS and Mom’s excellent map reading skills got us to our first exciting destination, the Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery. This would be our only grave excursion of the trip, but I just had to get here to see one of my favorites – The Great One – Jackie Gleason. Here in Miami, he had filmed The American Scene Magazine and The Jackie Gleason Show (which included the color Honeymooners episodes) from 1964-70. He loved the area so much that he chose to be buried here.
The Find-a-Grave entry had alluded to the fact that the cemetery didn’t allow photos and I told this to Mom just to make her nice and nervous. Of course I took photos! He had a beautiful memorial next to a serene pond. Just behind his grave was the final resting place of June Taylor, the choreographer of the June Taylor Dancers often seen on Gleason’s show. In addition, her sister became Gleason’s third wife and final wife.
The serene view from Jackie Gleason’s gravesite
Bang! Zoom!
Bob and Mom relaxing on the grave
A little traveling music, Bradley
The grave of choreographer June Taylor, located directly behind Gleason’s monument
Once we finished at the cemetery, I drove us into Miami Beach, stopping at the great sign at the entrance to the city. We drove up the coast and came to the beach area that our hotel desk clerk had recommended – a nice, quiet area away from the hustle and bustle of South Beach. We climbed on the jetty, talked to a stranger, spotted dead jellyfish and under-clad beach denizens, and waded in the water. After we had had enough of the beach, we departed and drove into the Hollywood, Florida area for the second Hard Rock Cafe in two days.
Entering the sun and fun capital of the world
Out on the jetty
A stranger takes our picture
Wading for something exciting to happen
Rocks just aren’t rocks until you climb on them
The view down the beach
One of many, many jellyfish washed ashore – some alive, some not
Two examples of over-tan flesh carriages – some alive, some not
I love Jesus too, but still found this vehicle in the beach parking lot incredibly tacky
This one was part of the complex that included the Seminole Hard Rock Casino (being located on an Indian Reservation, just like it sounds). We took the long walk to the casino, and then through the casino, and came upon the restaurant. Bob noticed a tall guy with a beach ball and two young kids playing with some sort of game outside joint and remarked that he looked a little like Penn. As the consummate Penn & Teller fan, it took me only a matter of seconds to become convinced that it was in fact Penn Jillette standing there, big as you please, right before my eyes.
Entering the giant Seminole Hard Rock complex
I approached him and gave him a friendly “Hi Penn”, shook his hand, and offered to let him get his picture with me. As always, he was cordial but rather quiet. I asked if he was taking a break from Las Vegas, but he informed me that he and Teller were performing there. We saw him walking around the casino a couple more times, still with the kids, still with the ball. Bob had been interested in perhaps seeing them perform, but alas, the show had been the previous two nights and they were moving on to Gainesville a few days later.
My first Hard Rock celebrity encounter: of all people, my pal Penn Jillette
Having just had a big burger the night before and having discovered an all-you-can-eat sushi bar next to our motel, I decided to eat relatively light – having only the Twisted Mac & Cheese, and we all split the Hickory Smoked Chicken Wings and Hard Rock Nachos appetizers. This was the only Hard Rock I had ever seen that didn’t have a street entrance. We ate, I bragged via text about my Penn encounter, browsed the memorabilia and we headed out.
Hard Rock Cafe #33
The fam and me with loads of appetizers
Yamaha bass owned by Cheap Trick member Tom Petersson
The only real ‘exterior’ Hard Rock sign
John Lennon memorabilia adorning the entrance hallway of the casino: a jacket that Lennon wore in 1967 and a 1963 letter to a fan mentioning his newborn son Julian
It was about 4:30 when we got to the Hollywood Beach Boardwalk. There wasn’t a heck of a lot to see here, just a few beach shops, and what was possibly the most run-down mall in the state, the Oceanwalk Mall (but hey, Mom had to use the restroom. Remember what I told you?). We picked up some magnets, admired the beach (and saw what was most likely the Imagination cruise ship that we would be boarding the next morning), and sat down and relaxed and stared at the ocean-walkers for a bit, heading out after about an hour or so.
Hollywood beach and boardwalk
Waiting for our ship to come in
Bob and Mom kick back and watch the passersby
Back at the motel…those crazy kids and their Facebook addiction
I had seen basically everything on my list in Miami with the exception of the Sun Life Stadium. It is my desire to see either a game or get a tour of every Major League Baseball ballpark, but we were not in baseball seasons and tours were not offered. This venue is unique in that it not only serves as the home to the Florida Marlins, but also the Miami Dolphins and the University of Miami. It is also home to the annual Orange Bowl. During our visit, there was some sort of circus going on there.
Speaking of the Orange Bowl, this was the day of the Super Bowl. And speaking of the Super Bowl, we decided to miss the first half of it so that we could eat dinner at the Tokyo Bowl. The sign in the window said that it was all-you-can-eat sushi for $14. Unfortunately, the world all was a little misleading. It only included the basic rolls and the sashimi, and not the specialty rolls.
I wanted to give Mom and Bob a real feel for sushi, and not just the generic rolls that they had had in the past. Bob wasn’t convinced so he ordered his own meal. Mom and I split a Dynamite Roll, aJ&B Tempura Roll (deep fried salmon, scallion, and cream cheese), a Volcano Roll, and the American Dream (shrimp, eel, cream cheese). I think I convinced them both that there was more to sushi than meets the eye. We had a particularly nice and cute waitress named Socil, who gave us a free Tempura Banana for dessert. I liked her so much that I got a picture with her and we are now Facebook friends.
A delightful smattering of sushi at the Tokyo Bowl. Notice Mom making hte rookie mistake of crossing her chopsticks.
The sushi believers
It’s hard to tell, but this volcano is going in, not coming out
The lovely Socil – an awfully tan waitress
Full, but not over-stuffed, we retired back to the room to finish watching the Super Bowl. I was very pleased with the destruction of the Steelers by the Green Bay Packers, who won the Super Bowl 31-25.
Our trip will continue as we make our way onto the boat…
PENN! great pic!
Eric Hubble
March 8th, 2011