Keep talkin'

Happy talk, keep talkin' happy talk

Happy talk

My next gay, Tim, sent me a text to say that he was on his way over to Fort Lauderdale a little earlier than planned. I was still in bed. I jumped up and headed for the shower. Tim had been a last minute Miami gay, courtesy of Bob texting a mutual friend of ours while we were at dinner in Atlanta, and her getting in touch with Tim. I didn’t know much about him other than the information he had shared in the emails we had subsequently exchanged. He worked at two restaurants, had two dogs and had arranged to be off work the day he picked me up so that he could show me round.

Tim arrived and we introduced ourselves. I checked out of the hotel, loaded my case into the car and we set off for Miami. It was already hot and humid despite only being 9am. Tim cranked up the air con, explaining that the car we were in belonged to his roommate (who was away) as his car didn’t have air con. I thanked him for making the switch, glad of the stream of cold air blowing at me. He said we would need to stop for gas at some point. As we drove towards Miami Tim asked me what I wanted to do and see once we got there. I said I was fairly relaxed about the itinerary but it would be nice to see the art deco buildings and the beach at some point. I also said that I would need coffee fairly soon so stopping somewhere for breakfast would be good. Tim talked the whole way to Miami. He seemed very hyper which at that time in the morning was a lot for me to handle, especially as I had yet to have my caffeine fix. We eventually called in to a lovely little Cuban place near Tim’s for a breakfast sandwich and coffee.

After settling in at Tim’s, meeting his two dogs, taking them for a walk and having a small nap we headed downtown. Tim said that we would have to call for gas very soon, just as the car started to shudder and grind to a halt. We pulled over to the side of the road. Tim tried a couple of times to get the car going again but it wouldn’t start. Tim apologised profusely. Luckily we had run out of gas by a nice looking bar that looked out onto the water so we headed in there to have a drink. As I finished my drink Tim headed off to the nearest gas station to get gas to get us going again. He returned a while later carrying a little plastic container of gas. In the meantime I had enjoyed a second drink and chatted to the woman who ran the bar. We were on our way again. Tim kept apologising, he was mortified. I told him not to worry, I could see the funny side of it.

Keep talkin'

We did a tour of the downtown area, Tim pointing out various landmarks and giving me a running commentary as we went. He was still hyper and I wondered where he got his energy from. After the tour we headed home for a bit of a rest before dinner. As I filled out my journal of what I had been up Tim was doing a few chores round the flat. He was talking to himself as he did it. I suspected he had ADHD which would make for an interesting weekend. After I showered and changed we headed down to the South Beach. We walked along the beach for a while taking in the lovely scenery. As we wandered along the sand Tim explained that for years he had worked in sales in the financial sector but a few years ago had decided the stress was not worth it. He had quit and taken a job working in a restaurant instead. He said he was much happier and could relate to me quitting my job to do something different for a while.

Tim showed me some of the nice buildings and hotels along the beach, giving me constant commentary, before we headed along to the Holocaust Memorial which scared me a little as it was rather gruesome. We also took in the most stunning sunset from the terrace of the Mondrian Hotel. We stood in silence (finally) for a while just watching the sun slowly set behind the buildings of downtown Miami just across the water. The sky turned from blue to orange and purple. It was very serene. After walking around a bit more we headed for dinner and then took a walk through the art deco buildings, all lit up with neon lights. Our walk took us past Palace Bar, the only gay bar on Ocean Drive. Tim asked if I wanted a drink but, surprisingly for me, I wasn’t really in the mood so we carried on walking for a while before heading home.

Happy talk

The next day Tim headed off to work. He was working all afternoon and evening. I got myself up and ready and spent the day having a wander round the local area. I wandered for a while and then found a nice spot on the beach to sit and watch the world go by. I also managed a bit of a snooze. The weather wasn’t great for sunbathing as a lot of cloud was building up as a result of Hurricane Irene making its way towards the Florida area. I wondered if it would affect my upcoming flight plans to Rio de Janeiro. The combination of doing very littleand the humidity of the day seemed to sap all my energy. I made my way slowly back to Tim’s in the evening via the local store, picking up some things for dinner and a bottle of wine. I cooked dinner for myself, enjoyed most of the bottle of wine and watched some TV, flicking between unfunny American comedy shows and the weather report to see the latest on Irene.

 

Tim was working Sunday too but he told me that I should head down to the Design District as it was a really nice place to have a walk around and it would also mean that I could go for brunch at Sra. Martinez, the place where he would be working. I took his advice, walking from his place. It was about 40 blocks which in the heat was a fair old walk. I was in need of rehydrating when I arrived at the restaurant so I ordered a mimosa with brunch. The food was amazing, my brunch consisting of poached eggs, local braised vegetables and toasted brioche. I also got some croquettes too. The brunch kept me going for the day. After brunch I took myself off for a walk around the design district

I had another fairly lazy evening during which I finished off the bottle of wine from the night before and packed my suitcase ready for leaving the following day. Hurricane Irene was getting closer to the Florida coast but the weather people kept revising where it would hit. I hoped that my big gay adventure wouldn't be ruined by this rather angry looking woman headed for Florida. 

“Happy talk, keep talkin' happy talk” 
Lyrics from Happy Talk from the musical South Pacific