These Florida oranges are so sweet and juicy – a perfect way to start the day.

Followed by some granola

which I had with Oiko’s, a 0% fat yogurt a blog I regularly read raves about.  I am not a fan of the Oiko’s but the granola was good.

We planned to spend today at the beach but it was so windy we had to abandon the beach.  The lifeguards were flying the red warning flag meaning we couldn’t swim as the waves were too rough (plus there was high risk of rip currents). After about 10 minutes paddling we tried to relax on the sun loungers.  But it was so windy, the sand was whipped at you with such speed it was actually painful.  So we left the beach and walked about and admired the wonderful architecture instead.

We wandered past the Versace mansion, which isn’t called that but you know where I mean.

There were vintage cars

and cop cars, so something for everyone to admire.

For lunch we returned to our apartment at the Ocean Reef Suites.

This apartment is very basic but it is superbly located in the heart of the Art Deco district in South Beach.

We had a simple lunch of bread with red pepper hummus, tomatoes and broccoli sprouts.

I also had a Swiss cheese, rocket, tomato and broccoli sprouts sandwich and another slice with peanut butter on.  That sounds like a lot but the loaf is small and the tomato has been sliced from a plum tomato which perhaps makes it look as if the bread is a standard sized loaf, which it wasn’t.

I enjoyed my lunch with a Margarita and we then wandered around a little more.  We found an ice-cream parlour

and all had an ice-cream.  A very large ice-cream!

Look how deserted this beach is?  Normally South Beach is packed full of people but by late afternoon the only person on this beach was the lifeguard.

During the afternoon the weather became progressively worse.  We were so thankful we hadn’t gone to Cuba, which was my first choice of destination for this holiday and we didn’t go there because of concern about a hurricane.  Our thoughts are with all the people in Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba who are contending with Hurricane Sandy.  In Florida we feel the outlying winds which became stronger as the day turned to night but still seemingly nothing to worry about here.

Everyone continued shopping, eating, drinking and partying.

We had dinner in Jerry’s Deli which was just a few blocks up our street.

Although it was called a “Deli”, it was like a New York diner, even down to the faux red leather seats and the booths.

I had a strawberry Daquiri which was served with whipped cream on top which was unusual!

Remembering the huge ice-cream I had in the afternoon I stuck to a salad for supper; Chicken Caesar.  It was good.  I also had a few of Harvey’s fries but no starter or dessert or anything else to drink even apart from water.

I might have a Margarita night cap though :-).  Here’s hoping Hurricane Sandy moves away from the Islands and causes no more damage.  I particularly hope the flights all land safely as I am waiting, anxiously, for the most precious of cargo to arrive here at about 1 am :-).