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Sunday, December 23, 2012

Of Palm Trees & Sweet Orange Pedicures

I love the Kareena's cover-up on the right! Wow. My cup of Miami Beach tea.
I again prefer road trips b/c I can overpack, pack @ the last minute and not worry if my suitcase zips. I swear it was a workout to get my rolling case zipped at 2:30 A.M.--had to use strong arms. And all of that airport walking and lugging must be good exercise, too.

We are at the Holiday Inn on Ocean Blvd. in Highland Beach, right on the sea. It is very pretty and we have the windows open to feel the breeze.

Tonight we met H.'s stepmom, Marge--his Dad's second wife--for dinner. She lives nearby and it was good to see her again.

Before that, we drove to the Turnberry Isle Miami, a luxury resort built in 1970 and recently renovated to the tune of $150 million. I received an e-press release about it after we booked our flight to Miami, and Rachel, the public relations director, was good enough to fit us in today for lunch and pedicures. I took notes. Sunbeams:
  • The Miami aqua poinsettias. I have seen red ones, white ones and pink ones up North. But here @ the Turnberry, the decorating scheme is silver and turquoise and the faux poinsettias tucked into the sparkly arrangements are a glorious, glitter-dusted aquamarine. So pretty and beachy.
  • The pampered clientele. The Turnberry just says You are in Miami, and it is glamorous here, the center of the universe. It's fun to be where the wealthy are, if even for three hours. As soon as we stepped out of our shiny black rental convertible, I spotted a shopping bag from Armani Exchange. The Aventura Mall is just across the street and houses stores like Louis Vuitton and Tommy Hilfiger. I also noticed Turnberry guest feet clad in bright sneakers, like red and blue. I have a stowaway: Red Ralph Lauren sneakers bought on sale in men's department on Black Friday. So I should fit right in. Let's not mention that we three were kind of a slight spectacle when we pulled up for valet parking, trying to figure out how to close the windows on the car, H. and Fig fishing through their bags for things. Awkward. You can take the New Jerseyans out of New Jersey but you can't take the New Jersey out of the New Jerseyans.
  • Paul McCartney slept here. Yes, he did. And so did/do James Caan and Michael Jordan and many other stars.
  • The Laguna Pool. With three pools on the property, this one looked most inviting. There's a lazy river [float in inner tubes], poolside food and drink service, fun oversized round lounges that can fit two people. Wanted to stay, but we had to get to our hotel for the night.
  • Lunch @ Cascata Grill. We ate outdooors, overlooking the rolling green golf course and surrounded by pink and purple blooms. The bread basket held pillowy focaccia squares and came with flower-shaped butter pats. The smoked salmon toasts with finely snipped chives were excellent. H. had Key West rolls with shrimp, crab and lobster, and I had a very nice  strawberry margarita on the rocks, great salt on the rim, with my lunch and Key Lime tart for dessert. Cannot do that every day!
  • The Spa!!! Figgy and I were greeted with beverages, as though we just stepped off a plane in Hawaii--hers a fresh berry smoothie, mine pink Champagne. We loved our one-hour deluxe pedicures. They are priced @ $79 and incorporate sea salt and the Turnberry Spa's signature sweet orange oil. We both slept very little last night, up packing and leaving early, and so we both feel asleep in the pedi chairs. Fortunately they were not aggressive pedicures, where you wouldn't dare close your eyes for fear of getting wounded. These were gentle.
  • Spa lounge, where you rest and read post pampering. Pale, pale mint walls, cool consoles, skewers of bright honeydew, cantaloupe and pineapple chunks. My favorite perk: the carafe of crisp, clear ice water with fresh orange slices.
  • The spa store. Wow. It's a good one, and I have carefully combed a lot of them. This one had gorgeous beaded silk Kareena's beach cover-ups in turquoise and white for $195 and up. [Made in India, so pretty.] So pool-perfect and dreamy. Also, cute floppy Sun N Sand hats with SPF 50+ [$29.99], earrings, Seda France candles and Moroccan Oil hair products, even great blue brushes.
  • Christmas in Miami. I was always curious about how Floridians embrace Yuletide traditions when it's warm out and they are coatless. Rachel gave me an insight. We take hot cocoa and turn it into a frozen hot chocolate drink with fresh mint, says Rachel of one twist the Turnberry takes. Oh, I see, so that's what they do--they don't try to repeat our White Christmas traditions here--which wouldn't quite work with sunscreen and sand--but to tweak them. The swimming-pool-blue poinsettias, the new take on a mug of cocoa. Nice!
Good night.

TCOY
  1. Short restful nap.
  2. Put feet in ocean tonight.

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