After talking to the rest of our party in Tampa we decided that the snow and cold temperatures were too much, so we decided to make our way south. Getting a cheap flight from Reno through San Jose to Vegas (I know, back to Vegas again) we started our trek towards Orlando.
With some time up our sleeve before our next flight out, we decided to see the Titanic Exhibition at the Tropicana. Although interesting, I found that unless you’re a major Titanic buff, even an interest in history and museums can’t help but make it feel a little lacking, although it was a nice touch to walk through re-creations of the hallways aboard the ship.
That brings me to another travel gripe; WIFI in Vegas is hopeless. After trying the Tropicana $14.99 a day (and failing to be able to login after paying) we tried their business centre, and were promptly slugged a dollar a minute for slightly better than dialup speeds. Other hotels offer better deals, but considering the small size of the strip there really is no reason why a similar WIFI situation as Honolulu’s unified wide coverage could be done. Instead, you might get WIFI (to which you’ll pay for certain) and on failing that you’ll pay through the nose at the various business centres tucked away in the lower bowel of your casino.
After two nights in Vegas I was keen to finally go somewhere without poker machine jingles and copious smokers, so we decided a flight to Jacksonville FL satisfied both of those, and it came to a paltry $150US. I’d never flown AirTran before and had the weariness that only United Airlines customers are familiar with. It surpassed all expectations. Not only are the entire fleet of planes new, the staff friendly, but it’s the first airline to provide free Satellite Radio to all passengers. Two hundred channels at once with about any two at a time worth listening to – or maybe i’m just too picky. 
We nearly missed the plane (arriving thirty minutes before our flight) but were ushered down what I can only describe as the “five items or less lane” at security. Instead of being questioned and prodded, you step inside a big plastic machine where various holes blow air at you, where I can only imagine it takes samples from the air you cast off. After ducking and weaving a few times (I saw the person before me doing the same dance, yet I couldn’t resist when it was my turn) I passed the test and fifteen minutes later we were aboard the flight. Top marks to LAS airport. 
Arriving at Jacksonville we were instantly happy to put the cold weather behind us, and after picking up our hire-car we decided to hit the road. Through some small bartering and a very generous girl at Dollar, we ended up with a Chrysler 300 with leather trim (for the price of a regular car) for the entire time left in continental USA.
The next few days were pure roadtrip days; no fixed destination, no planned accomodation, and many a town inbetween. After heading into Georgia we drove slowly (for there is no other way) through Savannah, stayed a night at Macon, snaked through plenty of small towns south of there before retiring to a enticingly named Gator Inn. The owners were Indian (Hindu indian, not native indian) and once they found out we were Aussies a half hour cricket conversation was in order. They really don’t get to talk to anybody over here about the sport, so we were glad to chat. The day after we ducked across the highway to Miami.
I was surprised by Miami, but only because of the standard fare of only seeing it on television and film. It’s really just a large version of Surfers Paradise (including the dirt), it’s really not orange and blue as CSI would like us to believe, and has more current renovations and seemingly endless amounts of condos and apartments. If anything bad goes down in America, this is where you send whole cities to stay.
We’d got pretty organised by this stage and decided to book ahead a whole night beforehand online for accomodation in Juno Beach. Again, the surrounding areas of Miami are just like those of Surfers Paradise; there’s a couple bad ones, but the majority are clean, have nice weather good weather, and nicer people. Deciding to take it easy after a late lunch (American food does that to you) we decided a movie was probably the safest bet for the night, so we checked out Walk the Line and were expectantly impressed. James Mangold (of Girl, Interrupted and Copland fame) does another great job, and it should do well Awards night.
Tomorrow we gain control of the holiday house in Orlando which we are looking forward too completely (living in hotels wears you down after a month), so hopefully we’ll work out some sort of internet connection then – I’ve taken plenty of the dodgy free discs offered by earthlink, aol et al so one way or another we should find our way online.
