Made it to Miami (Feb.21, 2018)

OK here we go.

We landed in Toronto around 5 pm and made it through security and customs no problem again.

So we were sitting in our gate waiting for our flight within 20 minutes of landing.

Not bad.

We were kind of hungry but not fans of these "restaurants' which are basically just tablets that you order on instead of waitresses.

We have used them and they do the trick but it just feels very unfriendly somehow so we just didn't bother today. 

I grabbed a bottle of water and called it good.

We will eat when we get to Miami.

I slept a little better on this flight, still intermittently though.

My Honey didn't seem to have any trouble sleeping at all.

When I started seeing all that tropical teal water it was getting me so excited.

And the sun shining on the wing tip was a beautiful thing to see.

We landed safe and sound and are ready to get out of this plane and let that sunshine and warmth envelope us. 

We landed in Miami around 10:30, grabbed our luggage then headed over to pick up our car rental.

There was this cool wall of colored windows on the way over there.

They let us pick one from a row of vehicles so My Honey got in them to check them out for head room.

We settled on a Jeep, got all of our stuff in it then when we plugged in our GPS we found that there was no power to the cigarette lighter so we had to switch to a different vehicle.

We ended up picking a Ford Escape and it didn't have as much head room so I offered to do the driving.


 Sunshine State - I love how that sounds!

On the road in Miami.

We headed to our hotel first - Real Living Residences - but it was too early to check in so we went and got some lunch.

We saw this place on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives called Cameronera so we decided to go there.

It was also featured on a bunch of other YouTube videos that we watched so we figured it would be good.

IT WAS!

It was big and bright and clean.

Kind of like an open warehouse loft style - I liked it.

This mural was great.

They had an oyster cocktail so I gave it a try.

It was kind of weird, the oysters were all in a cup of watery liquid so they didn't really have that salty seawater taste you expect from raw oysters.

It came with lime and cocktail sauce.

It was ok but I far prefer oysters on the half shell.

I also ordered their calamari.

It was really good, it had the tentacle parts which are my favorite but even the ring parts were nice and tender.

I got a salad too just because it looked so refreshing.

They had a house dressing that was quite vinegary but I just loved it.

My Honey tried their famous fish sandwich - we'd seen it on a couple You Tube shows when we were doing trip research. 

Very basic toppings but it was super good.

My handsome fella.

 They had Tres Leches cake so we just had to try it.

OMG, it was so good.

It was just sopping with milky, creamy goodness.

After breakfast/lunch, we still had loads of time before we could check in so we took a drive over to see the beach.

It was so nice to walk over the a little rise and then see this paradise on the other side.

I had my little travel blanket with me so we found a spot, laid it out then sat to enjoy the view and the sunshine.

There were lots of other folks there but it didn't feel crowded.

In fact it looks pretty deserted.

I was imagining how wonderful it would be to live in one of these places along the beach.

Would you get tired of it?

I don't think so.

My Honey had a bit of a nap.

I went for a bit of a walk on the beach.

Took a selfie with the ocean.

I also just had to put my toes in the water.

People were out there swimming and I would have too had I had my bathing suit on.

After my little walk, I went back and joined My Honey on the blanket.

I couldn't lay down though - I just wanted to take it all in.

The warmth of the sun, the fresh sea air, the sounds of the waves crashing on the beach.

I didn't want to miss a thing.

When it started to get dark, we went for a walk up the street looking for one of the juice bars that Miami seems to be know for.

We found this place and met this fellow Oscar that worked there.

He was so friendly and funny.

We must have talked with him for about an hour.

He came here from Honduras and he is a huge Republican/Trump supporter which we thought was odd but hey, to each their own.

We really enjoyed talking with him.

He made us a fruit salad with their famous fruit sauce and it was so good.

The fruit was perfectly ripe and sweet and the sauce was sweet too with just a little bit of tang too it.

We hoped to get back there on our visit but never did make it.

We were getting kind of hungry for some supper so he recommended a place just up the street called Las Vegas.

It was a Cuban restaurant that had been around for years and was a family run business so we wanted to give it a try.

It was a nice place inside.

They were friendly.

They brought us garlic bread to start.

It was toasted but still soft and so good.

We ate it all before the food came, they asked if we wanted more but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to eat my supper if I filled up on bread first.

I ordered the Chicken Chicharon which was basically pieces of boneless chicken cooked till crispy with lots of onions and garlic butter.

It was supper tasty.

We tried their empanadas too because you know, when in Rome....

We had two beef and one chicken and they were both really good but the chicken was my fave.

Being silly.

We each ordered sandwiches.

My Honey got the Cuban with fries.

Mine was basically a Cuban Sandwich too but on a softer bread.

I got mine with soup (which I didn't like).

My sandwich was delicious though and I liked it far better than the regular version.

They had Tres Leches too and even though I was too full to eat it right then, I did order a piece to go.

The hotel was actually more of an apartment building.

Our room was modern and sparsley decorated.

The floors were concrete.

Not very pretty but clean (for the most part) and it did the trick.

It did have a really nice kitchen with great appliances.

It had a King size bed with floor to ceiling windows.

It had this great balcony too with a city view.

There were a couple of rocking chairs on the balcony for us to enjoy the view.

Which we most definitely did!

It didn't really cool down any so it was lovely to sit out and just enjoy the view and the weather.

I also enjoyed my take out piece of Tres Leches.

It wasn't as moist as the piece I had earlier today but it was still super good.

We are happy to be here in Miami and looking forward to exploring it in the days to come.

Actually made it over the 10, 000 step mark today!

Until next time, be happy!

Miami, Here We Come. (Feb.20, 2018)

I had a hard time falling back to sleep after I got up to check us in on our flight so I was super tired this morning.

I was up and out of bed pretty quickly though as I am super pumped about heading out on VACATION!

Weigh in day.

I was expecting it to be bad but I was actually down a bit from last week.

I got a lot done at work yesterday so I was feeling like I was in a good spot today but then of course I found lots more to do so it was busy, busy, busy.

At lunch I ran and did a few errands, grabbed some lunch then headed right back to the office.

I picked myself up a turkey dinner at the store to have for my lunch and ate it at my desk while I was working.

When I was paying for it at the store I saw this and being the cheesecake fan that I am, I just had to try it.

It was super good.

I bought one for My Honey too and I almost want to eat it myself (I won't though).

I also printed off all of the documents we are going to need - hotel info, car rental info, flight info etc...

I ended up working a little late but I got everything done so that felt good.

When I got home I packed for our trip.

I really left it to the last minute although I usually do.

My Honey is hoping to get out of work a little early, I hope he does too.

It's a 3 hour drive to the airport and our flight leaves at 12:05 am so I would like to be there by 9:30 pm (we like to be super early).

I don't know what I was thinking when I booked the flight.

If he'd worked to his regular time tonight we never would have made it to the airport in time.

Thank goodness the night guy agreed to come in early.

I ordered a couple of donairs for us for supper so that we could get on the road as soon as My Honey got home.

My Honey got home right around 6 pm.
He packed up and by 6:30 we were on our way.

We made good time and were at the JetSet Parking right before 9 pm.
We were at the airport by 9:05 pm and through security by 9:10 pm.
I think that was some kind of record.


Since we had time, we went to Chili's for some supper.

I had a Caesar - it was so good.


I let My Honey have a taste and he agreed.


We ordered their version of tortilla soup, it was ok.



I also ordered chicken in waffles, two mini ones.
It was good but I only ate one.
I was really full.

Really I think I was just full of excitement!


My Honey had a burger, he said it was good too.

The airport was just loaded with camp guys, I guess it is like that through the week a lot.
Our flight left right on time at 12:05 am.
The lady that was sitting on the aisle seat of our row got upgraded to the plus seating so we had the row to ourselves which was nice.

There was a baby on the flight that cried on and off the WHOLE ENTIRE FLIGHT.
I know it happens sometimes but it made it very difficult to sleep.

Then the plane hit some turbulence and kind of did this big drop which scared the heck out of me.
I was super alert after that so didn't get really any sleep at all.

I'll end this day here and pick back up in Toronto.

Fitbit totals for today.

That is all for today, until next time, be happy.