Last week was our second big vacation of the year, this time to Miami. We’re supposed to go to Denver next week but I don’t know if everyone is up to it. The best vacations are the exhausting ones, where you’re just glad to be home in your own bed when they’re done. And I was sick yesterday. Took a COVID test, it’s negative, I’m feeling better today, so that’s good. We kinda went nuts booking vacations in January because it was still so soon after my wife’s boss died, and he was inspirational for all this vacation time and traveling that we’re doing.

Last Saturday we got up around 6AM and took off for the airport at 7AM. As a man, I like to arrive places extremely early, because I don’t like to ask for help. If our car breaks down on the way to the airport I like to have enough time to call AAA to tow or give us a ride. I don’t want to be stressed and put into a position where I have to ask for stranger’s help, for anything really.

We fly into MIA, met Ted there, and got our rental car – a 2022 Voyager van. I got it for a great price with my work discount but it’s no Tesla. I had to use the cursed CarPlay app on my phone which is awful.

We drove to our AirBNB in Westchester, which is in the middle of Miami, west of Little Havana. But first we stopped at Walmart to pick up our curbside order that the wife had placed. Very convenient to do it this way.

Then we drove to the house, which was nice. The pool was big, there was a tiki thatched roof over the outside table, and plenty of pool toys. The inside was good enough for use. Nothing fancy, just one bathroom, but we never stay at the house for long anyway on a vacation.

I had to go back to Walmart to pick up and return a few items we didn’t want (they substituted for us), and I was struck by all the Spanish being spoken. Like, that was the only language I heard. And most everyone “looked like me”, like an Anglo, instead of the darker skinned Latinos that I’m used to in my town. I had to converse with the front desk clerk; an older gentleman who spoke English well enough that there were no problems. But I left feeling embarrassed. For someone like myself, who is proud of knowing so much about languages, I could have at least boned up on my basic conversational Spanish. I think it’s a common courtesy to at least attempt to speak in a language that the other person is more comfortable in. Also I felt out of place with my big ol’ Portland Sea Dogs shirt and Cardinals hat. I must have screamed out that I was Anglo. So when Laina and I went back later to Publix (next to Walmart) I didn’t wear a hat and just wore a basic t-shirt. I don’t like to make a spectacle. It’s like when I was in Quebec, I spoke English with a Canadian accent when I was around all the other Canadian kids, just because I wanted them to pay attention to what I said and not to how I talk.

That night we hung out at the house, at the pool. Then on Monday we headed out earlier to the Bayside Market, I got my basic pina colada, and then we headed to South Beach. It was the best beach I’ve ever been to, honestly. The sand was white and the water was super clear. The water could have been a few degrees cooler but I’d rather have it too hot than too cold. I can’t stand swimming in cold water.

We walked around and saw all the famous Art Deco hotels and ate at some news-themed place. The greeter was a red-headed girl that spoke English with a thick Spanish accent, which was a minor culture shock.

I could not believe the number of Teslas that I saw. Literally, I could not count them all. We would be driving and see 2 or 3 of them in a row. Just lousy with Teslas, this place.

After South Beach we drove to Key Biscayne and went to the beach there by the lighthouse. The water wasn’t as clear as South Beach but there were fewer people and it was just as nice a swim. We went home, got dressed up and ate at Mojitos Calle Ocho, which was a nice Cuban restaurant down from the house. We were greeted in Spanish, and I knew just enough to ask for a table for 7 people. Other times I had to use hand gestures or just grin like an idiot. I feel sorry for the Hispanics in my hometown, when I see them grinning like this. I know that they probably have an amazing life story (like most people do) but when you can’t communicate it is frustrating. Maybe the future for Virtual/Augmented Reality is that you put on the headset, put in the earphones, speak into a mic, and everything you see/hear/say is what you are most comfortable with. There would be no practical reason to learn foreign languages anymore. But I still think learning a foreign language is good for a personal development level, in addition to being good at a sport and playing a music instrument. It’s the original liberal arts education that makes one a well-rounded person and develops a mind that can adapt to many situations. It also fuels creativity, which will be very important for humans in the future as AI starts to eat our collective lunches.

Tuesday was the 4th of July. We headed out to see the Cardinals play the Marlins in an afternoon game. There is always the rush of going to a new ballpark, from parking the car, to going up to the stadium, checking our tickets, and finally that surge when I enter and see the ball field. This is stadium #19 for me. I’ll only get to experience this 11 more times.

We had great seats down the first base side, in the lower bowl. It was awesome (not) to see the Cards give up 15 runs. But hey, at least it was Taco Tuesday. They messed up and gave us a bunch of extra tacos, which was good because they were the most delicious ones I’ve ever tasted.

I did my thing where I go to the team stores and by a t-shirt. Shirts are really the only souvenirs I get anymore, besides a stick for my truck. I am truly blessed/lucky/hard-working (or some combination of the three) that I have everything I need. Shirts are the only souvenirs that I like.

After the game we went home, swam, relaxed, then got ready to drive downtown for the fireworks at Bayside Park. Trying to find the parking garage was a nightmare, as was the spiraling drive up to our spot. But after that is was fine. We found a nice spot on the lawn to set our blankets and waited. There was a live band singing “I Will Always Love You” when we arrived, then they started playing Spanish/Latino music. I wasn’t sure how patriotic this event would be, given that it was a majority Spanish attendance. But there was a huge American flag hanging from the bucket of a firetruck, plus plenty of other little American flags all over the place. There were even some people wearing flagged-themed clothing.

It was all Spanish music up until the countdown (in English) for the fireworks. Then the show started. The band sang the national anthem, which was nice. Then they played “God Bless America”, and then Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to Be an American”. So I pleased to see so much patriotic goodwill for our country. I knew that Miami was mostly of Cuban descent, populated after Fidel Castro took over Cuba and implemented Communism, which stole many of the people’s farm ground. So I was surrounded by a conservative people who despised Communism/Socialism. This must help give Florida its conservative leaning. But I wonder why conservatives are so against immigration from our southern border. Most of the people coming in are God-fearing, religious types that love their families. They seem like the type of people that we should be letting in with ease.

Wednesday was another day at the beach (literally) as we checked out North Beach. It was just as nice as South Beach but with less people. I shot some good footage with the GoPro that I’d bought for this trip. Before the beach we had visited the Deering Mansion and got some good pictures there.

That night was the harbor boat cruise. So what is our list of must-do for every trip? 1. Harbor cruises 2. Ball games 3. Mansion (wife)/Architectural (me) tours 4. Beach/swimming, if possible 5. Brewery tours 6. Buying local pottery 7. one or two nice meals where we dress up.

This cruise was very nice. The sun had set, it was cooler out, and we saw the beautiful Miami skyline. We cruised by all the lakefront mansions, which I did not know was on the itinerary. Some of these places are jaw-dropping exercises in opulence and flagrant wealth. Shaq, Shakira, Rick Matin, Antonio Banderas, J-Lo’s mom’s; all extravagant places.

Thursday was our all-day trip out to the Keys. We left at 7 in the morning, ate at Mojo Donuts, and headed out on the 3.5 hour drive to Key West. Along the way we stopped for souvenirs and swam at the beach at Bahia Honda State Park. We pulled into Key West, parked, and walked down Duval Street to see the big buoy for the southernmost point in the contiguous US. We had to stand in line for about a half-hour, in 108 degree (heat index) direct sunlight, to wait for our spot to take a picture. I don’t believe I’ve sweated so much in my life.

After the picture we high-tailed it back to the car to get our swim gear and then headed to the boat for our dolphin cruise and snorkeling combo tour. We saw plenty of free-range chickens and iguanas on the way to the boat. Once on the boat we went out a few miles from the shore and stopped when we saw dolphins. There were about 3 or 4 pods swimming around. We were so close. You could hear them expel the water from their blowhole when the emerged.

Then we went out a few more miles to the coral reef area. That’s when we got on snorkels and fins and the trepidation started to set in. I’ve never been snorkeling before, not even in a pool. I got the GoPro ready even though the crappy Amazon handle broke, it was still usable. We walked down the stairs into the water and it was great! It took me a while to trust that the snorkel wasn’t going to fill up with water when I was looking down at the coral. Slow and steady breaths, folks. But my mask kept filling up slowly with water, probably because my beard kept it from getting a watertight seal.

I really enjoyed watching our family have a great time though. Jack had on a buoyancy vest that was controlled by how much air you blew into it. So we was able to dive down deep with the fins on. Emma even had a good time, hanging onto Mom the whole time.

On the way back to land we got to see the sun slink slowly into the horizon. The boat stopped at one point and turned toward the sunset. We got to watch the sun dip down slowly, then fast, until it was gone. This site was a definite bucket list item for me – getting to see a sunset at Key West! How friggin awesome! And it was everything I hoped it would be!

Friday morning we slept in, swam a little, at breakfast, then got ready to leave the house. We went shopping at the Dolphin Mall to kill time until our plane left. I was really anxious when it came time to board our plane and no one was lined up, no one was barking out instructions on the intercom. Then about 20 minutes after the boarding time they announced that they were waiting for the pilot and flight attendant to arrive. I was sweating it because we had to fly into Atlanta for our connecting flight to St Louis. I really really really did not want to stay the night in Atlanta and wait for the next flight out. I also dreaded the thought of having to land at Atlanta and run through the concourses to catch our next flight, which is what the wife and I had to do when we got married in Las Vegas.

The pilot and flight attendant showed up, we left, and we actually landed in ATL the same time that we were scheduled to land. We landed in C9 and our flight left from C13 so we weren’t that far. We had plenty of time to spare on the layover.

We got into STL, waited while the crew looked for Elsa’s phone that she left on the plane (it was in the bottom of mom’s bag) and got into the lovely Tesla for the trip home. When we parked Sunday the battery was at 82%. I shut off Sentry and Cabin Overheat Protection, and hid the app on my phone so I wouldn’t accidentally keep checking on the car. We arrived Friday night and the batter was 81%. You can’t beat that! We didn’t have to charge on the way home which was great.

So Miami was fun, it’s checked of the list. But we wouldn’t go back. Key West however, we would like to spend some more time there.