Weekend in Miami

I think it might have been Wednesday night when Justin and I were sitting on the couch and he casually turned to me and said, "Hey, do you want to go to Miami this weekend?"  I love that man.  Love him, love him, LOVE HIM!  We dropped the kids off at his parents' house Thursday night, left our house at 3am Friday and drove to the St. Louis airport.  Our flight was at 6am.  We got to Miami by noon, and hit the beach!  The temperature was 80 degrees.  Our hotel was fancy and beautiful.  When we pulled up, we were met with valet parking and concierge services.  The guy at the check in counter escorted us up to our room, showing us how to use our room key for the elevator and giving us a personal tour of the minibar.   Ooh la la!

We spent the afternoon lounging in the sun, and took a stroll to an authentic Cuban restaurant that the hotel guy recommended.  That night, we heard loud music and cheering outside our window, so we went downstairs to investigate.  Turns out there was a gay bar right next door to our hotel, and they were putting on a drag show right on the sidewalk!  No sooner had we gotten within view of the queens, it started pouring rain.   I guess we weren't meant to see the show after all.

Miami is a funny place. Lots of tattoo places and smoke shops and Cuban food. I think Cuban food looks and tastes just like I imagine nursing home food would be, which is why I think it's great that Justin loves it so much. He may be the happiest old man in the nursing home someday.  While the food might be a bit bland, the hot chocolate at the Versailles restaurant downtown was absolutely amazing!  It tasted like they heated fresh cream straight out of the cow's udder, then mixed in rich Norwegian chocolate truffles, then added a little sprinkle of cinnamon and splash of amaretto. I would fly to Miami all over again just for a cup of this hot chocolate. Yes, it is that good!

Saturday, Justin was in class learning about dental implants.  I went for a jog to the end of the boardwalk, walked back barefoot in the waves, and then found a local bakery for breakfast.  After that, I literally spent the entire afternoon lying on the beach reading.  It was heavenly.  I read a book about homeschooling, so in a sense, I was in my own CE course, getting re-motivated with new ideas to bring back to the classroom.  It really was a productive day of restful relaxation. 

Saturday night, we again asked the front desk guy at our hotel for recommendations on where to go for our last meal in Miami. He gave us the names of a few places and then proceeded to explain the dress code of some of the nicer restaurants in the area:  Men are expected to wear slacks, dress shoes and collared shirts. "For the women," he said, "the less the better". And he was completely serious.  We ended up going to Meat Market.  It. Was. Incredible.  Contrary to its barbaric sounding name, it was a very classy restaurant.  We were sorely under dressed, but we took a table outside and people-watched while savoring every last morsel of the appetizers, entrees and even dessert.  Heavenly.  

Sunday morning, we headed home.  Our flight was again at 6am.  We flew first class to Charlotte, where our flight to St. Louis was delayed due to ice storms.  Guess our fun in the sun was really over, eh?  I took the delay as an opportunity to attend my first Catholic Mass, held in the atrium of the Charlotte airport.  It was a great bucket-list experience.  I'm glad I took the chance while I had it.  I had to sneak out early to catch my flight, and was glad when we landed that I had hauled my big winter coat all the way to Miami...'cause it was COLD in Missouri!!!  Kinda hard to come back to the winter, but always good to see the kids after being away.  What a wonderful, spontaneous, much appreciated getaway with my favorite person on earth!  I am just so madly in love with my husband!