Stop 1: Miami

All in all, we were lucky to reach Miami... We somehow lost track of time and sprinted to our 'closed' boarding gate to negotiate with some fairly irate airline staff...

After convincing them that we'd fallen asleep and yes, we really were THAT stupid, we boarded our plane by the skin of our teeth...

We quickly settled into our beautiful South Beach apartment overlooking Star Island only to discover an unexpected lodger threatening our beauty sleep... Chuck the cockroach.

We barricaded the beast in a cupboard using flannels and cushions, and settled down for some much needed sleep only to be awoken at 5am by Chuck cosying up to Helen's arm in bed... After much shrieking, retching, flapping, brandishing of kitchen utensils and general hysteria, Chuck eventually met his end via bleach spray and a kitchen ladle. RIP Chuck.

The next five days in brief: yoga; a LOT of cycling around South Beach, Miami Beach, Design District and Little Havana; Whole Food supermarket sprees; much needed sleep; one run-in with Helen's old friend Patron; more-exciting-than-usual runs around Star Island (home to the likes of Lenny Kravitz and P Diddy) as part of Nat's bid to #KeepMurrayHappy, and generally beginning to unwind before the real exploring begins.

Next stop: New Orleans - home of jazz, Cajun and Creole tasty delights, French architecture and life after Hurricane Katrina.