Chapter 10: Bal Harbour, Florida, Part IV
Over the next couple of weeks, Danny and Rachel took Harry and Hermione all around the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area, showing them all the places they loved going to.
On the Thursday of the first week, Rachel's father, Ben, accompanied by James, Sirius, Remus, and Paul, took the kids to Parrot Jungle, a wildlife park in the suburban Pinecrest area. The women opted out, as Danny and Rachel's mothers told them this place smelled. This park was particularly special, though, because the parrots could roam free and interact with park visitors. Harry recognized many of the different types of birds here from the menagerie back home.
Wherever you turned, there was a good photo op. Harry and Danny had macaws all over their heads and shoulders. Rachel and Hermione could say the same, but with the added component of cockatoos.
"Here's hoping you don't get crapped on," Sirius shouted.
After a comment like that, the kids released the birds, and they all landed on Sirius, making him look like the Bird Lady from Mary Poppins.
"Hay Padfoot, shall I gather the bird feed to go in your mouth?" James teased.
The next day, the Friday of the first week, it was Christmas Eve, so the Potter and Granger families were busy making some last-minute preparations. Danny and Rachel stuck around to help out, before joining their families for Shabbat dinner. Harry, Hermione, and their families would be joining them for next week's Shabbat dinner.
On Christmas Eve, Danny, Rachel, and their families would usually go to a Chinese restaurant called Christine Lee's for dinner, because nothing else was open on Christmas Eve, and they were Jewish. But since tonight was Shabbat, they ended up ordering dinner in from Christine Lee's.
"Brilliant," Harry stated. "We'll have Christmas turkey, you'll have the Chinese chicken.
While Danny, Rachel, and their families enjoyed a dinner of rice, vegetables, and Chinese chicken in brown sauce, Harry, Hermione, and their families were enjoying their traditional Christmas dinner… or at least, as traditional as Christmas dinners in Florida could get. Not only that, but the Christmas spirit seemed kind of low that evening. In place of snow and cold frosty draughts, there was sand and cool ocean breezes.
"It doesn't feel too much like Christmas," Dora commented.
Part of Harry and Hermione were inclined to agree with her.
"I hope Danny and Rachel are having a better meal than we are," Hermione wished.
But Harry and the three Marauders were determined to lift everyone's spirits. Harry took out his guitar and started playing and singing some Christmas songs. He had the guitar altered to be in a Candy Apple Red finish, to look like a Christmas tree ornament. Soon enough, the apartment forgot about their so-called lack of Christmas spirit, and it was almost in full swing again.
Back in Danny and Rachel's apartment, there came a knock upon the door. They both answered it and found Harry waiting for them with his guitar.
"Come on up," he invited, "We're all singing songs."
"Do you have a piano?" Danny asked. "I can accompany you."
"No," Harry replied, "But I'll see if I can get everyone to come up here."
Harry got his group to come up to the apartment for their new friends to join the celebration, cramming the apartment with a total of seventeen people. Harry plucked his blazing red guitar, as Danny accompanied him on piano. Together, the families engaged in popular songs from the fifties up until the seventies, as well as their Disney favorites. When it came to the Beauty and the Beast songs, Rachel was glad to have a partner in Hermione to give more energy to the songs. When it came to the Aladdin songs, Danny was glad to have a partner in Rachel to sing the duets with. The whole room became so loud, no one bothered to consider whether or not they were disturbing their neighbors.
"Who cares?" Danny asked. "We're on vacation and we can do whatever goddamn the hell we want to."
See what I did there?
The next morning, Harry, Hermione, and their families were all bonding over Christmas presents, while Danny and Rachel enjoyed Saturday morning cartoons. It was a Saturday, which was Shabbat day, so they couldn't leave the apartment grounds any way besides walking. His was how they usually spent Saturday mornings anyway, when they didn't go to shul services.
After having lunch in the building's restaurant, the group headed out to the pool area, eventually decided to have some drinks at the pool bar at the Sheraton hotel next door, which they could get to by walking along the beach. At this hotel, there was a hot tub, tennis courts and a long, and I mean LONG swimming pool with a waterslide, which hotel guests got to by crossing a bridge over a canal with fish swimming in it, surrounded by palm trees and tropical plants.
While the parents and grandparents sipped sport drinks, the kids all had ice cream from the nearby snack bar.
"This place has good ice cream," Harry commented.
"You think you like this ice cream," Rachel exclaimed. "Wait till you try the ice cream in the mall, tomorrow."
After a relaxing Christmas Day, the families headed over to the Aventura Mall, the following day (the Sunday of the second week). Harry and Hermione had to admit, it was almost like a dream, going down the palm tree-lined streets of Miami Beach under the sunny sky, in comparison to the red bus-lined streets of Britain underneath a cloudy and/or rainy sky.
Anyways, this mall was a favorite place for Danny and Rachel for one particular store… and I think you know what that was.
(Ugh… yes, the Disney Store).
Anyways, when they got there, Rachel and Hermione made a beeline for the Beauty and the Beast section. This was something the Disney Store did whenever a new movie was out, and was still a popular choice. Danny headed for the Aladdin section, and Harry followed only gradually.
"You come back here all the time and they've got nothing new since yesterday," Danny muttered, looking around at the Aladdin merchandise.
Most of what he saw was stuff he already had, including Mattel's Aladdin action figures, Aladdin Electronic Power Sword, the How to Draw Aladdin book, and so on and so forth. Eventually, he noticed the plush dolls with plastic heads made by Applause and found one that he didn't have yet; Aladdin dressed in his Prince Ali garb. He grabbed this doll and noticed another Jasmine doll next to it, dressed in purple. He plucked this one and made a beeline for a section of candy-store-like bins nearby. In these bins were different plastic Aladdin figures, all about $1.00 each.
This may or may not be true, but honestly, I don't care. I'm just trying to make it so they come out of the store with whatever the hell they want, even if they get it in boatloads.
These included figures of the Magic Carpet on wheels, with different characters riding it, like Aladdin and Abu, Jasmine, and the Genie. Danny took one of each, but noticed Harry was wondering what to get. He took some more, before grabbing one more thing; an electronic magic carpet toy that glided across smooth surfaces with the help of an inflatable cushion at the bottom, made by JusToys.
"My treat," Danny offered, as he presented Harry with the extra Magic Carpet toys he'd picked out.
Harry gladly took them, as he noticed Rachel and Hermione running back from the Beauty and the Beast section with the things they'd picked out. Rachel had taken a collectible Belle doll made by Applause, as well as some plastic figures of the Beast holding the Magic Mirror, Belle in her blue cloak, and Belle and the Beast in their ballroom attire, all made by Applause for $1.00 each.
Hermione, Rachel noticed, didn't have much Beauty and the Beast stuff of her own, so she decided to help her start her own collection. Hermione came out with a few extra things; a miniature poster which showed the scene on the VHS cover, a book titled, Disney's Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast (Rachel already had a copy and Danny already had the updated Aladdin edition), Tiger Electronics' Beauty and the Beast handheld game, a cassette copy of the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack with a Beauty and the Beast Walkman to go with it, and the same Applause plastic figures, along with some of the other characters, and one of Belle walking through the town with her books.
If you thought someone like Hermione would never go overboard on collecting things or even spending money, try and guess how many books she has. Besides, if you know what I do, you can expect me to write it so no one complains about how much money they're spending.
Afterwards, the group headed to another part of the mall to get some Häagen-Dasz Ice Cream. This ice cream was Rachel's favorite, and her mother Sam's favorite, as well as Myrna's favorite. Hermione had to agree with her that this ice cream was incredible, as she wasn't eating her favorite; vanilla with chocolate sprinkles.
"This is amazing!" Hermione cried, as her eyes popped open in amazement.
"You like this ice cream," Danny exclaimed. "Wait till you see where we're going for dinner, Thursday night. It's the best ice cream in town."
"Is not!" Rachel insisted.
"Is too!" Danny retorted.
"Is not!" Rachel insisted again. "Come on, Danny."
"You come on, Rache," Danny retorted. "I see how you get every time we go. Your eyes light up like a five year old in a candy store."
Anyways, the next day (Monday), the group headed over to the Miami MetroZoo, which, naturally, got Harry excited. He'd missed the menagerie he had back home and jumped at the chance to see some lions. Even if they weren't up close, they were the next best thing. It also gave him the chance to see some monkeys and apes, along with a station to see some giraffes up close, as well as a tiger enclosure that looked like something out of The Jungle Book.
"Fred and George would love this," Harry commented.
"So would Bill and Charlie," Hermione added.
"Who?" Rachel asked.
"Some friends of ours back home," Hermione explained. "Some wild friends."
The day after (Tuesday), Herb had tickets to a Miami Dolphins game for himself, Danny and Rachel, Ben (Rachel's father), and Myrna, but the latter two opted out, so they invited Harry and Hermione to go with them. I think you could have guessed that Harry wasn't quite as familiar with American football, so all he could do was sit back and enjoy… or at least, try to enjoy.
If Sirius were here, he'd spend the whole time complaining about how "he doesn't understand this", or "he doesn't understand that", you know.
"I thought he'd learned not to complain about long car rides," Harry stated.
True… very true.
That screening of Aladdin might have did him good, so it's nothing that some violent sports couldn't do either… Insert Quidditch joke here.
The following day (Wednesday), the group headed over to the Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, to watch the horse races. This was nothing new to Harry's universe, if you read about Fred and George betting on the Irish team at the '94 Quidditch World Cup in the other timeline. For that reason alone, Harry opted out of placing bets.
Danny, on the other hand, was good at placing bets… well for starters, anyway. He'd pick horses for Herb to bet on, but only the first horse he'd pick would ever win. Harry seriously doubted this would deter Sirius away from his determination.
The following day, (Thursday) it was finally time to head for dinner at that restaurant Danny mentioned at the mall; Jaxson's Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlour in Dania Beach. They could already see a whole mass of kids and their parents lining up to get ice cream, but that wasn't the crazy part. There were some unusually small kiddie rides outside, next to a wooden cutout of a Kitchen Sink serving of ice cream, where you stuck your face in to get a picture, but that wasn't the crazy part. When they walked in, they found themselves in a small shop surrounded by various small toys and candies on every shelf, filled with little kids begging their parents to buy for them…
But that wasn't the crazy part.
No.
The crazy part was that whenever someone had a birthday, or ordered the Kitchen Sink serving, they usually played that celebratory siren sound and served the ice cream with sparklers.
"Fred and George have got nothing on this," Harry remarked to Hermione.
Soon enough, Harry had to agree with Danny that this ice cream was the best, and yet Hermione still sided with Rachel. Harry thought that soon enough, Hermione was going to be Rachel's second best friend, and that things weren't going to be easy for some of her friends back at Hogwarts.
By the way, I don't mean to sound like George Lucas, but these are all real places I'm writing about. Try heading to Bal Harbour and you'll see what I mean.
Anyways, it was finally Friday and time for the Potters and Grangers to attend Shabbat dinner at Danny and Rachel's apartment. They usually begun with the prayers and Danny had to explain what they were for. I won't tell you Harry and Hermione's reaction to that, I wasn't in the mood to write it.
Anyways, as soon as dinner was over, the kids were trying to settle on a Disney movie to watch on VHS tape. Eventually, they decided on Aladdin, but before he put the tape in, Harry grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Danny, how can Aladdin already be out on videocassette?" He asked. "It's still in the cinemas."
"What are you talking about, Harry?" Danny replied. "It was in theaters last year."
"I mean that I just saw it at the cinema the night before I came down here," he replied. "And cinema is the correct term, isn't it?"
"Oh, I forgot. You guys are from England," Danny realized. "The release dates must be different for every country."
Danny popped the tape into the player and the previews begun… after having to sit through the FBI warnings on the green background, that is.
Harry didn't know it, but he was in for a big surprise from the first preview. They heard the familiar voice of the Disney voice-over guy speak,
"Over the years, Walt Disney Studios has taken us on unforgettable journeys. From under the sea in The Little Mermaid, to an enchanted castle in Beauty and the Beast, and into a whole new world with Aladdin…"
Harry then saw the opening to the intro of the one film he'd been so longing to see. When Danny was his reaction, he knew what he had to do. He'd seen Rachel and Hermione bond over Beauty and the Beast and this kind of reaction was nothing new to him.
Harry was dismayed to find that in the United States, The Lion King was to be released in the summer, not the Autumn and thus, Danny and Rachel would see it first. Lily and James decided that the only thing to do would be to visit their new friends the next summer and then go out to see it.
The following day, (Saturday), the adults packed, while the kids spent one last day together before heading off to the airport to go home. Harry, Hermione, and their families were headed back to Heatthrow, while Danny, Rachel, and their families were headed for JFK.
"So, we'll see you again in the summer, huh?" Danny asked as they headed for the gates.
"Yeah," Harry replied.
Harry and Hermione embraced and bid farewell to their new friends and eagerly awaited the next summer, as they headed home for New Year's. Yes, life was good for Harry, and Danny, but in the next chapter, it would get even more interesting.
And that brings Harry and Hermione's Floridian Vacation to and end. Tune in next time, where they visit Danny and Rachel's house and get an even bigger surprise along they way…