Miami Beach

In planning a new adventure, a trip to Cuba to visit ous sister church, Iglesia Methodista Floro Perez, I've had to take a drive to Miami from Central Florida to get my passport.

This challenge is a long day, but you're up to it. This is how it begins:

We started at 5am. The tank was 3/4 full. My 21 year old daughter, Emily was the navigator and in charge of the music (Jack Johnson and some Cuban tunes I got at the library). The trip down was quite eventful; a speeding ticket (admittedly well deserved), we ran out of toll money (25 cents short!) after the GPS sent us off I-95 across Florida's turn pike, and we arrived hungry with full bladders, but on time for my 9:30am appointment.

The process only took a couple hours, so Emily and I decided to see some of the city. First, we walked across the street to find an ATM in the hotel that was just beautiful and the back door lead right to the bay area. What a view.

We then headed across the water to South Beach. We really felt like tourist in the cool Deco neighborhood. Emily felt right at home around all the young tatooed people. We stopped for lunch at a little Juice bar and look for Miami Ink. apparently they moved without telling us.

We then walked down to Ocean Drive to see the sights and look for Casa Versace which we fould is now a B&B with no signs of a memorial to Gianni Versace. We couldn't leave without first buying cheap sunglasses and a christmas gift for Lisa.

The day as a whole was nice, mostly becauase of the company. Emily has grown up before my eyes, she so much fun to be with. I almost spewed diet coke out of my nose once when we got to a giggly point in the drive. We made a few stops including the Barnes and Noble for a coffee and a break and we had the standard traveller's fare at Cracker Barrel. The sun went down just as we arrived home at 8:15pm. What an adventure. I can only imagine what Cuba will bring!