Sick, Tired and Back: I spent the holidays in Florida. Five nights in South Beach followed by three more in Naples with a side trip to Key West. I'm probably not going to write about it because there were only two sunny and warm days -- the rest were windy and rainy -- and I did little that I haven’t done before. The beach in Naples is still about perfect. Duvall Street is still fun and sleazy tourist cheese. South Beach is still painfully hipper than thou.

In South Beach I stayed at The Bentley, a good quality small hotel with a pretty nice rooftop pool and sundeck that provided perfect views of the beach. The Bentley is more boutique than luxurious, no restaurant, lounge, business center, gym or anything like that on the property. It did have a certain charm and the staff was attentive and friendly, but not much else going for it. I'm officially off the boutique hotel kick, it's sprawling full service mega-properties for me from now on.

Miss Kate and HRH Miss Anna joined me in Naples at a smashingly good beach resort called LaPlaya from whence we took a New Year's Day ferry to Key West. Sadly, HRH was fighting s horrible cold and/or flu which I have inherited from her. So I spent my final day in Florida and my trip home in alternating chills and fever, basically drenching anything coming in contact with me in cold sweat. Did you know that if you shiver and sweat and give voice to a rasping hack, the people next to you on the plane will take especial notice; I do now. Around Noon today the fever finally broke and I think I should be back to normal in a couple of days.

I feel like I've spent a good part of the last six months sweaty and congested. You're supposed to be less susceptible to colds the older you get but it appears to be working opposite for me. This one was weird too. Colds, for me, follow a pretty set path -- a few days in my head, a few days in my chest, with a bit of sore throat all the way through; almost never a fever. This one was insane -- it was moving back and forth from head to chest every few minutes. Truly strange, there were a couple of moments where I entertained finding a doctor because it was so atypical.

This must be very entertaining for you, reading about my phlegm generating capabilities. I'll shut up and get some sleep. I'll try to get back to posting this weekend.