Miami Trip Day 3: The Keys

Jason told Omar about this Honduran Restaurant that is right near our hotel. Omar was so excited. We went for breakfast there our last 2 days. Omar got his baleadas (they are the 2 folded over tortilla things). That is his most favorite food. It is so simple too - just tortilla, refried beans, and this liquid creme. I just got some eggs since I couldn't eat much. I really wanted sopa de res (beef soup), but they don't have it available for breakfast. I love how the simple things make him so happy.

After breakfast, we decided to go to Biscayne Bay National Park to do some snorkeling at one of the keys. We talked about going to Shark Valley, which is the the north end of the Everglades and bike their 15 mile bike path through the Glades. Rentals had to be returned by like 4pm and it was supposed to rain all afternoon so we decided that was probably not the best choice. My friend Ismael Vergara who I knew before Omar and I began dating looked into us going snorkeling in Florida City, but they are closed on Sundays. Yes, we were doing this on a Sunday. He heard the National Park was pretty good and so we went there. It was about a 30 minute drive from Ismael's house in Kendall.

At the park you can rent kayaks, paddle boats, and even do what we did, have a boat take you out to one of the Keys and snorkel. It was $90 for Omar and I. Not too bad for the boat ride - about an hour out, an hour of snorkeling including equipment and a boat ride back. I guess they had a groupon a few months back - too bad we missed it.

When we got to the Park we took the elevator upstairs. I must say that was a huge mistake. We were talking in the elevator waiting for its doors to close (it was so slow) when we realized that it had to be the largest breeding pool for mosquitoes ever. There was probably 30 mosquitoes on each of us - no kidding. We then got stuck inside the elevator getting attacked. Talk about wishing I had left the bug spray in the car.

Before we boarded the boat the Park Ranger did a 20-30 minute talk about safety, reefs, animals, etc. All the while Omar is jumping up and down killing mosquito after mosquito. The Ranger must have been immune because he had about 10 of them around his face and he didn't even flinch.

From the boat you can see Miami in the distance. I wish I could remember which Key the Captain told us we went to. There are so many!

I love snorkeling. The purple fans were gorgeous and I saw a lot of really cool fish. I must say due to my throat I had to come up a lot and spit because it just hurt so much. I was so glad though that we were able to do this.

After this we went to La Perla which is a very well known Peruvian restaurant in Miami. It is actually in Kendall. Of course Ismael is Peruvian and recommended it. It was delicious. We had pretty much all their traditional dishes. We had chilcano (fish soup), Inca Cola (Omar got that, I don't really like it - it is their Peruvian soda), lomo saltado (it is like steak, tomato, onion), papa a la huancaina (eggs, potato, olive with this yellow thick sauce over it),  we had one other dish that I cannot remember what it was. It was super yummy. We also had their traditional ice cream which is imported from Peru. It was small but yummy. It has some special fruit in it that I had never heard of that I guess is really only in Peru. I want to try their ceviche next time, I guess they have really good ceviche - I was just not in the mood. It was so nice to be able to spend time with Ismael. I look forward to being able to go to one of his gigs in Miami next time we visit.

It was a great birthday trip. If you ever want to know what to get me for a gift - I don't care about presents- I like experiences. This was a good experience and memory.

Miami Trip Day 2: Everglades

I got a groupon to go on a boat ride in the Everglades. So basically it was 2 for the price of 1 ($27 each is what we paid). I have always wanted to go to the everglades, but I must say this was sort of disappointing. I could see how this would be exciting and really cool for someone who is not a Florida native and grew up going to Gatorland yearly, but for me it was kind of like being at Gatorland again. Maybe all the everglades look like this, I guess I really don't know. But this seemed more like a tourist spot than a real experience. We still had a good time though.

 We were picked up in South Beach and taken by bus. Our first stop was the dolphin mall (first sign of tourist trap that we dropped off people at a mall and picked people back up after our tour) and then we headed to the South Everglades. There is a long canal on the road and you could see a lot of gator. There was even a dead gator on the side of the road.

We arrived at Gator Park Trading Post and one of the last thing our bus driver mentioned was that the mosquitoes have been really bad here in the Everglades, but they sell bug spray. We left the bug spray in the car accidentally and I didn't want to buy more bug spray. We figured we could handle it. Everyone was buying bug spray like crazy, if we stayed close enough to them no bugs would bite us right? Right! I must say I don't think we even saw a mosquito while we were there. They totally were just trying to get us all to buy their overpriced bug repellent - I am so glad we didn't fall for it.

We saw gators and some birds on the air boat tour. The air boat was of course fun when it started going fast. There was definitely a specific area they were supposed to stay within and it I think due to the drought they were hindered in going out to far due to the potential of getting stuck.

One thing that the air boat guide mentioned was about the grasshopper, and just how they eat crops and all this stuff. People were freaking out on the boat that the grasshopper might hurt them. It is pretty sad how the grasshopper was kind of one of the items most discussed in the everglades.

After the boat ride we were herded over to this viewing area for a gator wrestling show as well as they showed us a few other animals like a skunk and baby gators, etc. It reminded me a little of Gatorland again. After the show we could pay to hold and take a picture with a real 3 foot gator. It seemed like the bus would never come. This was a long trip for really a very short tour.

Later that night we went back to South Beach for dinner. We were going to go to Joes Stone Crab restaurant but it was crowded and we didn't feel like spending that kind of money. It was nice because we were able to meet up with Jason Cisneros, Omar's cousin. I haven't seen him since high school. He seems to be doing well. For some reason I didn't take any pictures while were were out. I think I was really not feeling too well. We ate at this restaurant on Oceanway that had a little of everything. The food was really good too. I got a pesto pasta, I tried to find whatever would be the easiest to swallow. I hadn't really been eating/drinking much. Omar got this fish that was amazing and Jason got a steak.

Miami Trip Day 1: South Beach

After Calle 8 we went to South Beach. We drove along Oceanway a little while and looked around until we found a parking garage on 13th Street. I must say that was the parking place we ended up using the whole weekend. It was about a block from the beach and you can pay by the hour - it was only a buck an hour. We did learn the hard way that on Saturday/Sunday nights (weekends) after 9pm even if you are there for like 45 minutes it is a flat rate of $15. You can't find parking for cheaper than $15 on weekend evenings on South Beach. A lot of people later told us that it is better to take a taxi to Southbeach because they are pretty reasonably priced and you don't have to worry about parking and driving around there. I think it worked out very nicely for us to drive ourselves though.

South Beach

The water was just incredible - not hot not cold, perfect! I don't think I have felt such amazing beach water before

Relaxing on South Beach



The other side of South Beach

 We spent time relaxing at South Beach and playing the water. We were there when the hottest part of the day was gone so I wasn't as worried about getting burned. After that we rinsed off at the public shower outside. There were so many people waiting for it. We rinsed really quickly. This lady that her kids were playing in the water when we got there took it after us and started literally washing her kids hair and bodies like it was their shower. All the people in line were getting so mad that the lady and the crowd started fighting. It was pretty crazy. After we put our beach stuff in the car and put some regular clothes over our swimsuits we went walking around Oceanway to find a place to eat.

We think this was a gay bar and that this might have been a transvestite. There are all sorts of people in South Beach. This guy (?) did a split like I have never seen was crazy!

There are people walking everywhere and you can see that most people stopped to watch the show

This was probably my favorite meal of the weekend. So delicious. It was before I ended up getting sick too. I had this mahi mahi fish with a pineapple sauce, sweet plantains and asparagus.

Our view was of the street so we could people watch

The moon was incredible at South Beach

It was probably about 11pm when we headed back to the hotel, we had walked miles. We went to the pool which was still crowded and then went to bed. That night I got sick. I have never had something like this before. My temperature must have been so high. I had shivers that shook my body all night and I chattered my teeth all night, but was sweating like crazy. I would wake up about every 30 minutes, and basically didn't sleep all night. In the morning my lymph nodes on the side of my neck were so huge it hurt to swallow my own saliva. My legs were achy and I felt horrible. But alas, we had only been in Miami one day and I wasn't about to let this sickness keep my from enjoying it.

Miami Trip: Day 1 Calle Ocho

We drove from Orlando to Miami to celebrate my birthday. It took about 3 hours. We were both so hungry and decided we wanted to eat first. We put in the address for La Moon which is a Dominican restaurant that was featured in Man Vs. Food television show. Little did we know that we put the wrong side of Calle 8 to go to. We ended up getting lost and realized we were not far from the hotel. So we checked in at the hotel first and then decided what to do from there.

We stayed at the Downtown Hilton. It was really a nice hotel. I guess it used to be part of a mall, so the entrance is really funky. This was the view from our room.

We got an amazing rate on the hotel since Omar's dad works for Hilton. I think we ended up paying about as much a night as we did for parking. Parking was $28/day! Unbelievable. We decided to get ready for the beach. We ate food at Calle 8 for lunch and then went over to South Beach for the rest of the day.

La Moon - where we ate lunch

This is the food I ended up eating. It was an arepa with like 3 different kinds of meat in it with cheese. It was good

This is the Supermoon Perro that was part of Man Vs Food Challenge. It is basically a hotdog with all this crazy stuff on it.

 I could only handle one bite - this is considered street food in DR (Dominican Republic) but it was quite disgusting for me. There were like 5 different sauces and mayo was the base...vomit! I just wanted to try it for the sense of adventure

Yes that is a quail egg on top. You can see Omar's food - it had one of the largest pieces of chicharrones I have ever seen

We walked around Calle 8 area - I saw this building and just thought the trees were so cool

Bathroom Adventure

About a month ago when Omar and I were heading down to Orlando we decided to stop at the St. Augustine Premium Outlets because of an awesome deal my sister told me about for shorts at Eddie Bauer. The shorts were all $15 each and I got an additional 10% off! You can't beat that, and it is so hard to find long shorts. So we bought a bunch.

Before we started the rest of the drive down to Orlando I decided I should go to the bathroom. Omar pointed to the bathroom and went to the car to wait for me. I ran into the bathroom and thought it was odd that the toilet seat was up. I cleaned the stall and did the squat routine. After I was done I walked out and went over to the sinks to wash my hands when I in horror made eye contact with a man at a urinal. I was shocked. How on earth did I miss that I went into the guys bathroom. I continued to the sink near the urinal and began to wash my hands, still in shock. I just kept saying out loud, "I am so embarrassed...I didn't see anything." I walked over to the air blowing machines to dry my hands. Meanwhile, the guy at the urinal is just laughing. He is laughing and more guys start to come into the restroom. I suddenly start thinking, what am I doing? Washing my hands? I need to get out of here. I ran for the exit and the car. Yeah lets just say Omar and I both got a kick out of it. I can't believe I actually took time to dry my hands.

Visiting Sister Hill

My last mission companion was Shannon Hill. She is now Shannon Day. We served in the New Braunfels area. I was her step-mom. That means that she had only one companion in the field before me who was her trainer (mom), so that made me her second companion or step-mom. We had a lot of fun together. She came in town to Orlando for a convention with her family. It worked out perfectly. I was able to drive down to see her and eat dinner with her the night before we left for Miami. It was fun to meet her parents and husband. We went and ate dinner and talked. I hope to one day go out and visit her in Bakersfield, CA.

My 28th Birthday

My co-workers wife makes cake pops - they are so delicious!

Melissa and Allison

Meghan is a little baker and just finished throwing up the pizza

I can't believe I am 28 years old! My real birthday was this past Wednesday. I must say it was the saddest birthday ever because it was the height of my illness. I was to work a 10 hour day, but was going to have a good attitude about it by getting a bunch of freebies for my birthday. A lot of places give you free food and ice cream and I thought why not? I had the hardest time waking up that morning and went to work feeling so exhausted that I didn't think I was in my body. I made it through my scheduled appointments and about 2 pm (half way into it) I decided that I had to go home, I felt so horrible. I went and got a free sub and went home and forced myself to eat it. Everything was so painful. I slept for 4 hours woke up for an hour and a half and then went back to sleep for the night. I had plenty of birthday wishes but it was sad to be so sick. I think the illness from Miami was just catching up to me.

So I planned a little birthday get together with some girlfriends that live here in my ward last night (Saturday). I wanted it to be low key and small. We made our own pizzas and I asked everyone to bring their favorite topping. We had artichoke hearts, olives, bacon, onion, pepporoni, chicken, and some other yummies. We made 3 pizzas and had tons of leftovers. We also had watermelon, chips and dip, and of course cake pops and ice cream. I had a really nice time talking and playing Rockband. It was the first time a few of the girls had ever played it. I was so glad I didn't cancel it. Friday I found out that I didn't have mono like the doctor expected, which was a relief. I just didn't want to get anyone else sick. Here is to another year getting older.