Florida - turn on that air-con!

The good old boys!

Back in the groove once more, no park runs in southern Florida so we had to find something else to keep us occupied on a Saturday morning. This was the Old Naples 10K a popular event in a fairly affluent town on the west coast facing the Gulf of Mexico. Boy was it hot even at 7:30 in the morning and even the locals seemed to be suffering. However a bit of true grit saw me though to the end - I knew the guy in the yellow t-shirt was closing in on me but I just held him off for the V60 prize. I was in with a slow 47:46 and Vicky was well down on her best 10K times with 80:05. (Incidentally the winner of the whole thing was from Ellesmere Port!)

I can swim quicker than him!

Following the race we had a long drive across Florida on Interstate 75 a road known in these parts as Alligator Alley. Of course we had to take a pitstop at some point and by the car park was a waterway. This young lady decided to take some air right by the river bank. You might just spot something in the water on the right of Vicky's neck in the photograph. This turned out to be a seven foot alligator swimming swiftly towards us. "Quick quick get away from there!" "Not until you've taken my photo!"

Has it got a shed though?

Palm Beach is an extraordinary place. There are more billionaires here than anywhere else in the US. Palm Beach itself is an island very close to the Florida coast and we were very lucky thanks to our host the wonderful Sarah, to be provided with a guided tour of some of the astonishing features including this palatial residence which belonged to Henry Flagel, a captain of industry. He built this in 1902 when he was in his early 70's, but this was scene of his death eleven years later when he fell (pushed?) down a flight of stairs. Very suspicious! Who stood to gain? Why his young third wife of course. Today various Rockefellers, Vanderbilts and Trumps all live in various Palm Beach mansions at various times of the year, and guess who has a mansion sandwiched among these guys? Why Rod the Mod Stewart, we drove past his house, he's next door to some chap called Glazer. According to our reliable source Sir Rod enjoys life here and is often seen down at Starbucks chatting people up and signing autographs.

No it's not a masked ball!

Here's Rod and Penny socialising with their mate Donald at the Palm Beach Policeman's Ball at the Mar-a-lago Club which is basically part of Trump's house. At 64,000 square foot it will be relegated to being the second largest mansion in Florida when David Seigel's house is built, this one is called Versailles (a bit if a copy of the French Palace!) and it's taken so long to build that the children's playrooms have been remodelled as 'yoga parlours' now the children have grown up. (Seigel is 83 years old by the way and his house is actually up near Orlando in mid Florida - handy for Disneyland.)

Last night on American soil saw us in Fort Lauderdale, not a particularly distinguished city, but we had to fly out the following morning from the local airport. Now's my chance to post a picture of my all time favourite footballer Georgie Best. Here he is in the colours of Fort Lauderdale Strikers taken when his best days were behind him He played here in 38 games. After leaving United he then became a bit of a journeyman playing for no less than 17 other clubs - the first of which after his departure from Old Trafford (and here's a pub quiz question) was the Jewish Guild Football Club in South Africa!

What a star!