The next day, Monday, was to be the only full day we had in Miami and our last full day in the USA. It was really quiet an excited feeling; hard to believe that we had been in this country for six whole weeks and that the part I had really been looking forward to was just around the corner.
The day started a bit late, we missed the inclusive breakfast but luckily we still had some of our cereal and milk left. Looking around our hotel room we realised just how much ‘stuff’ we had acquired that had been left in the boot of the car. Far too much to pack into the rucksacks we intended to carry around Cuba so with a carrier bag or two each we made our way to the Miami Beach Post Office. Originally built in 1937 during the federal government building programme of the depression, the entrance hall is a cavernous rotunda lined with rentable ‘post office boxes’ and a large mural depicting the Cavalry and Indians and even, allegedly, has its own fountain, although we never saw one.. Making our way through to the service hall, we selected a cardboard box, filled it to the brim and posted it back to Mother. The only pain involved were the cost of postage and the acoustics demonstrated by the high pitched communications from young children. There was, also, far more Spanish spoken than English!
Because we didn’t have a lot of time in this city it was decided that we would spend our time looking at the immediate area and Art Deco architecture, but first we would look at the beach. Our Thomas Cook ‘Drive Around Florida’ guidebook suggested that we would ‘see some of the world’s finest physiques tanning on the golden sands’ of the seven mile long Miami Beach. Sadly, this day’s weather saw neither tanning sunbathers on the beach nor miniscurely dressed skaters/skate boarders along the prom; the sun shone intermittently and the wind was again on the chilly side.
Our next building was the Beach Patrol Headquarters and a lifeguard hut on the beach.
Moving on, and trying to warm up, we walked along Ocean Drive to look at the hotels and restaurants built in the streamlined, geometric Deco
style of the 1920’s and 30’s. 
Apparently, these buildings narrowly escaped demolition in the 1970 and were, more favourably, restored with pastel colours followed by
illumination in the 1980’s. There is even a ‘gangster’ car permanently parked outside of the Park Central Hotel complete with a Humphrey Bogart manikin in the driver seat.
As we made our way north the skies darkened and the rain started to fall, slowly at first, then followed by a 30 min deluge during which we took shelter in Starbucks and watched the world go by.
The afternoon was taken up with a visit to the Wolfsonian-FIU museum with its ‘fascinating collection of objects from the modern era (1885-1945) focuses on how art and design shape and reflect the human experience’. After eating we went back to view the same hotels, although this time illuminated.
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