The Weddingmoon Eats -Jersey-Miami-AMI-Orlando

[Vanillapod]

Evening all

I am going to make a start on my seriously overdue food report.

This is from August last year so there will be some gaps to fill with google images but I'm hoping I still have most of it on my phone.

We were boomeranging through Jersey into Miami, onto AMI for a week then Orlando for 2 weeks before another night in Miami and home.
There were 7 of us for the most part but I'll mainly focus on myself OH and DS (12 at the time)
There was a week of DDP and the rest was offsite.

So, I'll make a start with Jersey.

Day 1

I am fairly sure our flight was 8 am ish from Southampton so we left Winchester at 6 for the 15 minute journey
In my defence I was panicking about Boomtown set-up traffic as every year it cripples the A31.
Our friends literally live at the end of the runway so they arrived at the airport considerably later than us!
We hadn't bothered with breakfast at home so once the very short flight was out of the way we headed to Le Braye for Breakfast.
It's one of our favourites and I failed to take photos however I have got some from Google of exactly what we had

Mushrooms on toast with poached eggs for me and the usual cooked breakfast for OH and DS


It was a really lovely sunny day but a bit windy. A lovely start to the holiday

We spent a little while on the beach then headed down the road to Jersey Pearl so I could buy my wedding earrings 👰🏼

Our travel buddies were on an earlier flight to Gatwick than us so OH ran them back to the airport whilst I sat in the sunshine with DS.

We still had a few hours to kill so we popped to Waitrose for a nice bottle of gin to shove in our case and bumped into one of OH's cousins, then we had a little drive up to Groznez Castle for a wander

and then onto Corbiere for a quick drink.

We made our way back to the airport via the garden centre for citronella tea lights.
OH saw a bloke (he said he was weird) that he used to work with there when he was younger so he demonstrated his maturity and ran off to hide

I was quite looking forward to a real plane!
We're used the the Flybe dash 8s (already not a favourite of mine 😬 ) flying to Jersey but they've handed the service to Blue Island. I have no idea what plane we flew on from Southampton this time but it was TINY and I'm sure the propellers were wound up with elastic bands 😱

We were beginning to feel hungry but the idea was to buy stuff in M&S at Gatwick before hopping in the cab to the premier Inn at Heathrow so we stuck with that.

I made sure I used this at the airport... I've never noticed it before but it's ridiculous.
Complimentary thirst quencher?! What?

Not sure anyone else shared my amusement but hey-ho😆

The flight to Gatwick was painless. In fact it was the best flight of the holiday!
A nice new plane, gin and tonic and lemon biscuits. What's not to like?

We grabbed our cabin cases at Gatwick which we'd checked in as hold luggage, grabbed a stash of sandwiches and salad in M&S and found our cab.
I slept on the journey which was apparently for the best as the driver wasn't great.

Checked into Premier Inn just as FIL arrived with our luggage and my dress, found our friends, had another quick drink, ate our stash and slept as soon as our heads hit the pillows!

We're going to Miami 🎤

I'll only really focus on the food Once I've pasted all the days from my live report! I wanted to highlight how hassle free our boomerang was for anyone else considering it.

[Vanillapod]

Day 2
London to Miami

I think I slept better last night than I have in ages!
I really think the Premier Inn is excellent. They should change those hair dryers though. My son commented that he could dry my hair faster by breathing on it.

Anyway. The alarm went off at 7 so I jumped in the shower assuming the others would be up and about when I was done.
They weren't! How is that possible? We're going to Florida!
So the sight that greeted me was this...

It took a few minutes and OH resorting to finding Going to Miami on Spotify before he would actually get up. By which time he was so excited he was driving us potty!

Once we'd packed up again and called a cab we were at the airport by 8 and our bags were dropped within minutes.

What is it with idiots going through security?

Before you're allowed through the turnstiles into security at T3 an officer tells you to use the tables to remove liquids, they remind you that it's no more than 100mls and that you can't take any drinks though.

So, we arrive at the conveyor belt to find the 2 women in front of us were completely unprepared. They held everyone up whilst they started getting all their make up out, laptops, phones etc. Then when we got to the end they completely ignored this sign and left 5 trays which I then had to move so our stuff could come through.
How stupid are some people? Yes, they were British

Once we'd located DS's sunglasses which had somehow disappeared into the conveyor and gathered our stuff, being sure to stack our trays, we saw some fool having massive bottles of Pepsi max being removed from his case after X-ray!
What?
Just having a little wander around duty free now before we board. Apparently we're on time but I've been tracking for weeks and it's usually at least an hour late.

I had a lovely treat from OH just as we were waiting for the gate 😍

OH and DS had muffin type things from EAT I think. They quite liked them. I didn't bother.
Now I'm onboard waiting for OH and DS. I was boarded early because of my wedding dress which took my by surprise. Didn't even have time for a toilet stop
See you on the other side! Xx

I knew we wouldn't be leaving on time!
The cargo door needed a part. There was one that could be taken from another plane but in terminal 5 so all in all we were just over an hour late leaving which actually isn't too bad.

The flight was as long and as boring as always but it's a means to an end so I'm not too fussed.
Food was actually ok

We had a mushroom risotto which OH said was actually nicer than some he's had in some chain restaurants. I realise it doesn't look very appetising!

I left everything else but DS polished off the pudding for me!

We had a really demanding woman next to us with 3 children who spent most of the flight with their feet pressed against the tables throwing their rubbish all over the place. She put her eye mask on as soon as we took off and left them to it! Nothing was good enough for them and they just made such a mess. The poor stewardess looked exasperated.

I fell asleep for a little while, read and watched A couple of movies.
How to be single and the Eddie Edwards film. Both quite good.
We were given a snack later in the afternoon which I didn't have but was apparently very nice

DS immediately knocked his cup of tea over his which is how I ended up without! OH was clearly very bored at this point because he entertained himself with som Jam art! This is apparently a J and a G

After that we had a few games of connect 4 and eventually we started to make our decent. I ways seem to forget how boring flying is!

We did have a beautiful view about an hour before landing.

Immigration was a breeze. I couldn't believe it! We were collecting the car well under an hour after we'd landed. Sadly our friends were on the later flight and they still haven't arrived at the hotel so it must be busier in the afternoon.

We've just had the most delicious meal at The Matador Room and now I'm sat watching the lightning on our hotel balcony at The Grand Hotel Surfside. Great hotel and great staff. Our friends are again unlucky as they only arrived here at 22:55 by which time they were given an incorrect room ( just a king for 4 people) and they had a very sick child in tow. They've now been moved but they shouldn't have had to make it all the way up there at that time of night to find there was nowhere for the children to sleep. The children were stood with them at the check in desk.
Besides which, we all paid for ocean front king suites which are supposed to have the second area with the sofa bed.
I'll post a photo of ours when we're leaving as we seem to have this ability to make a room look awful within minutes of arriving. Particularly if we're not unpacking.

I'd thoroughly recommend the food we've just had. It was spectacular. I know there are a fair few Dibbers flying into Miami so if you have time, you should try it.
The lobster was the best I've ever eaten.
We had the following to share after these fabulous cocktails

Crispy potatoes with a Rosemary aioli

Minted pea guacamole with tortillas which I seem to have forgotten to take a photo off. I have one on my actual camera so I'll add when I can.

Fish tacos which had a good kick and almost a romesco sauce too. The belly pork which was with kale, turnips and an apple purée, and lobster with jalapeño and Manchego corn. I could have polished off all the corn myself! It was so delicious :p

The restaurant itself is beautiful. We sat outside and it was the perfect start to our holiday
The service was faultless. The staff know the dishes and I felt like we were talking to the chef himself!

Our pineapple cocktails were delicious. They had a smokey Rosemary flavour to them along with pineapple and maybe bitters. Apparently there's a secret syrup in them with 15 ingredients. They kindly made a non alcoholic version for DS

We Uber'd there and back which is amazing in Miami. The cars arrive literally as you press order.

Quick q, I know you they aren't supposed to carry cash in the UK, but what about over here? I keep asking OH if we're supposed to be tippkng but he says its included. True or false?

If you started reading this last night before I finished, I apologise... I fell asleep writing it!

I've just woken at 4 ish so thought id finish off.

The next instalment is a day in Miami before heading off to AMI this afternoon for a week

I can't wait!

Thanks so much for reading and at some point I'll lighten those food pics so you can actually see what we had!

Xx

* I just copied this day from my live report that I gave up on so apologies if you've already read it!

[Vanillapod]

Day 3
Birthday celebrations in Miami Beach

I woke at about 4am this morning and couldn't get back to sleep so I sat watching the cruise ships from our bed and caught up with yesterday's report.
OH woke shortly after so we went out into the balcony to watch the sunrise together
We were surprised by how peaceful it all seemed.
I'd had in my mind that Miami was a 24/7 party town?
DS stumbled out of his bed and joined us just in time and then it was time to pack up and meet the birthday girl downstairs for a quick swim before our brunch reservation at 11.
The kids enjoyed an early morning swim whilst we went on the hunt for some birthday champagne.
Now I wouldn't usually drink so early but

1. It's a birthday
2. We're on holiday
3. We're in Miami

Anyhoo, we were looked at like we had 2 heads. They seemed pretty disgusted actually
We thought anything went in Miami?
It was a fruitless mission so we got the kids showered, changed, packed the last few bits up, checked out and booked 2 taxis to YardBird.

Here are a few pics of The Grand Beach Hotel Surfside

Über to YardBird was quick and easy (the same can't be said for the journey back)
And the good was fantastic.
They had champagne there too and were perfectly happy to sell it to us

We had the following...
Green Tomato BLT. Wow, this was amazing but I donated 1 stack to DS. It's apparently their own home cured bacon. The flavour was just incredible.

DS chose Mac and cheese. No idea why because he was never going to be full after that. He's ALWAYS hungry. He loved it though

OH went for a brisket sandwich which was almost like a fried bread. It came with the best fries I've ever tasted. I forgot to try his but everyone else did and said it was delicious.

The birthday girl went for eggs Benedict which was so good but so rich!

The small ones shared a waffle and a pancake. These came with loads of amazing toppings but they had those on the side only choosing to have the dulce de leche, chocolate drops and bourbon maple
There was a pot of some bourbon, caramel, maple concoction with banana in it which I could have single handedly polished off

Brisket biscuits. Also really good apparently.

We also shared this between us just because it's their signature dish and we were curious
Chicken and waffles with spiced watermelon.
I absolutely loved this particularly with the watermelon :p

We had a really good server who went out of her way to ensure we had a really lovely meal.
She then brought us these maple and bacon doughnuts which were incredible. I just had a small chunk!

**Wow! I've been so rubbish with this but 3 kids... How do you lot do it? ! Just the 3 of us again for a couple of days so I'm going to do my best to catch up but it'll be pretty lax until we head up to Orlando I'm afraid**

So we left YardBird and decided to walk as far as we could manage before the heat got to is all.
I realised about a mile in that my flip flops were so uncomfortable because they were on the wrong feet
This was very amusing for the children!
I think we walked for about 45 minutes before it got too much so we popped into a shop on Espanola Way (really cool) for drinks.

I picked up 4 X 1 litre bottles and the conversation went a bit like this...

"Hello, Just these please"

"That's $60"

"$60?! " (All 4 adults in unison)


"Yes $60"

"As in six, zero?"

"No! One, six. Sixty!"

Phew!

Anyway, water purchased and drunk we decided to uber it back to the hotel so we ordered 2 cabs for the 7 of us.

Ours was driven by Jorge and at first I was so busy chatting to the boys that I hadn't looked at where we were. I looked up and noticed we'd gone back over the water and were headed for the airport!
In a completely involuntary move I shouted in mild panic "erm, where on earth are we going?"
OH then realising my imagination was running away with me said "you're taking is a pretty weird way mate" (ha! He never calls anyone mate! He was playing it cool!)
The driver said nothing and just kept driving!
I was completely ready to jump out of the cab but what about the boys? They'd get hurt and one of them isn't even ours.
OH then said more forcibly "this isn't the way, we booked you to take us to The Grand Beach Hotel Surfside. You need to turn around now."
Jorge eventually spoke, turned the car and OH had to direct him.
I was sooooo relieved when we got back (as were ours friends who wondered where the hell we'd got to with their child)
Cheeky beggar charged us $24 for that journey too when we checked PayPal. :angry: It was supposed to be roughly $10 and it's not our fault he was completely useless. Can't find anyway of claiming it back either.
Anyway, we were back thank goodness.
The dads took the kids to the pool briefly whilst us ladies went up to the sky bar for a quick mojito
Here are a couple of pics of the amazing view

After that it was a quick trip to publix for water, cereal, snacks etc then all into the cars and on our way to AMI.
20 minutes in a small person needed a wee so we stopped off at a subway. They kindly gave us the key to an outside loo which I must say was spotlessly clean but the area was interesting.

The doors faced some gardens and residents came down to the fence to just stare. They didn't say anything but it was a little unnerving.
Back in the cars and off we went.
We had a route but one the exit we needed to take was shut with no diversion in place.
We tried to navigate around it but got lost so decided to pull over and re-route. We called our friends so they knew what we were up to and we set about finding a safe place...
Again, I have no idea where we were (It didn't seem ideal) but getting out of the car seemed like a silly idea (to OH and I anyway)
We parked up and one friend hopped out and came over to our window to work it out. We just had it sorted when the other appeared at the window too.
He said the following with a look of half amusement half disbelief;
"I don't wish to alarm anyone but I've just found this on the floor"
He held something up and said
"A bullet casing"


Oh how we laughed... nervously...
We got in, locked the doors passing the STI and HIV van doing the rounds. (Obviously an invaluable service but we all
giggled about it being like an Ice cream van Driving around) and finally made it to AMI at about 9 ish in the end.
I have no recollection of eating anything. The children must have done, so I think we chose our rooms, had a quick swim and headed to bed.

Will give you all a little tour in the morning

Thanks for sticking with it! X

[Floridaagogo]

Reading along.fab start... bullet casing 😥😥😥

[Carole ragdoll]

Hi love to see photos of Jersey❤ I left 37 years ago and haven't been back that often. It looks lovely.
Feeling slightly homesick now...

Just read the rest, great trippie!
We want to drive down to Miami and the Keys for a few days so I might pick up some tips.
Great photos in Miami, can't wait until we go!
Bullet cases...

[Juliemack]

It's nice to see some different places, you've had some seriously yummy sounding/looking meals already... looking forward to the next instalment

[mick]

Great start to your trippie

Joan

[Loopylooloo]

Am still following this vanillapod! Looks yummy so far...

[DisneyDreamer81]

Wow, the food so far looks incredible! I'd love to go to Miami sometime so am making notes!

[Lucyjane45xxx]

On your question about uber, the tip is not included in the amount that they charge you through the app, there is also not an option to add a tip on via the app (there is if you use their rival app Lyft).

You are allowed to tip in cash in the UK so I would imagine you can there. You just cannot pay for the trip itself in cash