No matter how many times we visit Miami, there is always something new to discover. You’d be amazed at the entertainment options available if you do your research.
On our last trip, we went to Superblue, which somewhat resembles the Frameless production in London, if you’ve ever been. Beautiful scenes of flowers in a variety of colours are projected across the floor and up the walls, making it a truly immersive art experience. If sitting in museums looking at static paintings doesn’t float your boat, this may be just the thing to get your imagination going.
There are other rooms as well, including the wondrous Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Pulse Topology with lights powered by heartbeats, and the extraordinary mirror maze. It was three of us on that trip – Carol, Lynne and me – and we plumped for the additional Massless Clouds adventure, which involved dressing up in protective gear. Suddenly, we were the scientists in ‘E.T.’. Carol had hurt her knee, so to add insult to injury, she was riding a mobility scooter. The huge, billowing clouds of foam engulfed us as soon as we entered the room, and had Lynne not been clearing the way for Carol, like an intrepid explorer leading an expedition through parts unknown, the scooter would have rammed into one of the pillars keeping the roof aloft. Lynne turned into a human windmill, and I followed behind the two of them.
It was so much fun – a foam party without the alcohol – and although the space was relatively small, it seemed much bigger when we couldn’t see 10 inches in front of our faces. When we were ready to exit, the staff did what they could to get the ‘clouds’ off us, but we still emerged on the other side resembling three snowmen.
We also signed up for the poster printing option, which involved a photo booth in an adjacent building and then a walk into a massive, warehouse-like space, where the full-size printer installed in the ceiling would print our poster before our very eyes. Unfortunately, the booth built for three people wasn’t working, so we had to cram into a two-person space. If you’ve seen ‘Superman II’, remember Zod and his cronies banished to the Phantom Zone? Like they’re squeezed onto the cover of a 33rpm record album? That was us in the finished product. (I love semi-vague references.)
Long story short (too late): If you’re going to Miami for any length of time, Superblue is definitely worth a look.
Anyway, Lynne and I were in Miami last weekend, so I looked for something different for us to do … which led us to booking a session at Lock & Load, where people can fire pistols, historical firearms, and even machine guns.
Let me state up front that neither of us are fans of gun ownership, yet curiosity to learn more about what these things were all about had us signing up for the Special Forces USA package, which featured an HK 416, HK MP5, Glock 18 Submachine Gun, and an M249 SAW(BELT-FED). ‘Big loud guns’ in our parlance.
When we walked in the door, it occurred to me that we could have chosen to wear different outfits. Lynne was in her flowery pants, black top and black cardigan with pearl accents all around the edges. Coco Chanel at the range.
I was in a long-sleeved top with trousers – no real problem there – but with my hair in an almighty bun, so it wouldn’t get in my face whilst handling deadly weapons, I had a bit of a sister-wife thing going on.
Despite the Golden Girls that we appeared to be, the staff couldn’t have been more welcoming and professional. No raised eyebrows, no surreptitious elbowing each other. They recommended the packages based on us being (obvious) beginners, then our expert trainer, Chris, suited us up with ear plugs and the kind of industrial headphones usually worn in a chopper (look at me with the lingo already).
Chris was great. He explained each gun, gave some background, and told us what to expect regarding how they handled and level of kickback. Lynne’s hands were already a sweaty mess from nerves and she hadn’t done anything yet.
It was exactly how we’d seen it in the movies. We each had our own booth and target paper ahead, while Chris taught us how to aim and shoot.
First thing: Those guns are heavy. So much heavier than we anticipated. Maybe it’s years of handling Nerfs, but we just weren’t prepared. You wanted to rest the magazine of bullets on the counter every chance you got.
Lynne went first, and she did really well. Started with single shots, then Chris switched her to automatic. Even with the earplugs and headphones, the noise was remarkable … and that wasn’t the loudest model. I was pretty good with hitting the target too, although the automatic setting makes focused shooting more difficult. At one point I muttered that I was deliberately trying to hit the wall behind it.
Nearly an hour and the four mammoths from our package later, plus both of us trying out pistols (I would have needed bifocals to properly aim, which I wasn’t going to admit), we were done.
Honestly, it was a mix of emotions afterwards. It had been exhilarating, fascinating, educational, eye-opening and sobering. That amount of power that could cause so much damage so quickly – to see it up close and personal like that was something else.
It certainly didn’t change our opinions about gun ownership, but we felt more informed. We left with our target papers, a souvenir coffee mug, a whole new level of understanding about gun responsibility … and our sense of fashion intact.
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