Welcome to Miami, Bienvenido a Miami! Miami was a delightful trip, even though I was feeling a bit under the weather. I was supposed to take a redeye to Miami on Thursday night, but the airlines oversold my flight as was looking for volunteers to take a later flight. Having arrived at the airport with a sore throat and having only slept about 3 hours the night before I was in no mood to fly and try to sleep on the plane. I could not have been more delighted by the news that there may be people who had to be rescheduled, especially since I did not need to be in Miami until Saturday morning. I gladly volunteered to take the next flight, especially since they were offering a $300 voucher. As luck would have it, they could not get enough volunteers for $300 so they increased it to $400, but still could not get enough so they increased it again to $500. So I walked away from the redeye with a $500 voucher in my pocket and a confirmed window seat on a flight the following morning; I headed home and straight for my nice comfy bed!
My rescheduled flight to Miami was great. I slept most of the way, there was very little turbulence, and quite a smooth landing. Unfortunately, I still was not feeling great, and at that point I had almost completely lost my voice. But I was in Miami!
I checked into the Hyatt Regency Miami, freshened up a bit, and decided to go for a walk. I checked with the front desk about how far the beach thinking perhaps I would walk down there. I came to find out it was about 7 miles away … no way was I going to walk that far! But, I was in a hotel that was near the port of Miami so I walked just a few street down and was in a plaza that was right on the port. So I watched the boats and small waves, and just enjoyed the sun and the people watching. The people watching was amazing and I wish that 2 of my friend from law school had been present as the commentary would have been endless. I was pretty exhausted, so I ended up eating dinner in the hotel restaurant, the Riverwalk Café (the food was decent, but it was made better by the exceptional service) and then I called it a night.
View from my room
At the Port
I was up early on Saturday and I had the morning shift at the LSAC symposium that morning. I met the Assistant Dean of Admissions for Chapman Law quite by accident in the lobby of the hotel, but we proceeded to the banquet room and set up the table. I met several students who expressed an interest in attending Chapman and I am certain that at least a handful of them will apply for the coming fall. When the table was not busy, I did a little more people watching. It is very interesting to watch how people act, react, and interact. Because the forum was not overly busy, the Dean said that I could take off early and enjoy the sites in Miami. I did just that.
I headed straight to South Beach. I was dropped off on Ocean Avenue and walked the several yards from the street to the white sandy beach. It was drop dead gorgeous sand and water, but it was rather crowded. I had taken off my rainbows and rolled up my pant legs so that I could walk at the edge of the water and allow my feet to get wet. The warm sun on my back and the warm water lapping at me feet felt nothing short of perfect.
After walking the beach for a while I saw my skin getting a bit pink so I headed off the beach onto Ocean Ave where I could duck in and out of the shops for a bit of relief from the sun. The street was mostly lined with little cafes and a handful of souvenir shops with overpriced junk. I must admit I was a bit disappointed. I typically like to purchase an ornament from all of the places I travel, but I was having a terrible time finding one. Finally I found a store where they had ornaments, but I did not particularly like any of them. Then, I saw a small bag of shells and sand with a label that read “beach front property.” The label also said the shells were actually picked up from the local beach as opposed to being ordered from a catalogue etc. I purchased one and decided I will make my own ornament out of it! (See this on an upcoming Fanciful Friday post.)
So after a few hours walking around I decided to head back to the hotel. I was still feeling under the weather and did not want to push it. I ended up eating in the hotel restaurant again that night – it was a paella buffet. The food was good, although I have a friend that makes better paella himself. But the service again was spectacular. The waiter was very attentive and sweet. After dinner I headed up to my room and tried to watch the Rangers/Cardinals Worlds Series game … but sleep overcame me.
On Sunday I woke up around 9 and called the front desk. They quickly accommodated my request for a late check out. I headed downstairs to brunch (the hotel had given me a voucher because my room had not originally been ready when I arrived). Brunch was a buffet of all kinds of food and I was happy to see that my waiter from the night before was back! I tried a bit of everything (well, not EVERYTHING, but I tried a lot) and it was all good. Seeing that I was dining alone, the waiter made an extra effort to keep me entertained, even giving me tips about where to go in the city for the remainder of my day.
Despite the recommendations, I wanted to take it easy the rest of the day. After brunch I spent 2 hours by the pool. Then I went upstairs to my room and gather my belongings to check out of the hotel. When I got downstairs I told the gentleman at the desk that my flight was not for a couple hours and that I would like to stay at the hotel and just hangout. He offered to check my bags with the bellman and even gave me free internet access. I spent the next couple of hours just lounging around, catching up on emails, looking for jobs, and blogging! It was a relaxing way to end my trip.
I decided to leave the hotel a bit early because I was not sure how long it would take me to get to the airport, or how busy the airport would be. I was planning on just taking a taxi since I was unable to arrange for a super shuttle the night before. As luck would have it, when I walked outside to catch a taxi, a super shuttle bus was at the curb and was leaving for Miami International. There was extra room in the van so I got to ride along!
I made it to the airport about 2.5 hours before my flight, but I am glad I was early. Miami International was a madhouse! I waited in long lines both the check my bag and go through security. By the time I got into the terminal I had just enough time to grab some food and eat it before my plane was boarding.
I left Miami with darker skin and lighter hair, and I met some very sweet and hospitable people while I was there. I would say, despite being sick, it was a successful trip!
Traveling under the weather takes gumption!
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