Miami Getaway

Mike started traveling to Florida for work right before the holidays, so we thought it would be fun for me to fly out and meet him there to celebrate his birthday weekend.

We spent the majority of our weekend in Miami, and I was happy for the beautiful, warm weather, especially because it seems like we’ve had an extra cold winter in Texas.  It was an odd feeling to be walking in our bathing suits on the beach in the middle of January.  I had no idea Miami Beach would be so beautiful, and I was shocked to see how clean it’s kept.  We stayed at the Conrad in downtown Miami, which had an awesome view of the ocean.  It was amazing to look out and see all the lights from the different Florida Keys and see the giant cruise ships docked in the harbor.  I’ve never been on a cruise or seen a ship close up – they are pretty impressive.

On Sunday we drove to Key Biscayne and spent the day relaxing on the beach.  I can honestly say that walking on the beach is one of my favorite things to do in life. Combine that with being with my favorite person in the world; it was pretty much the best day of my life.  When we were walking, we realized there were giant sand bars about 50 to 100 feet out in the water.  You didn’t have to wade too deep to reach them and once you’re on them, it looks like you’re walking on water.  Mike and I agreed this particular experience was probably our favorite memory from the weekend.

The culinary scene is Miami is also quite impressive; we ate so many wonderful meals.  I made a point of ordering things that I can’t usually get in Dallas.  I love seafood, so Miami is a great place to go for seafood dishes.  My favorite dish was a mushroom-crusted grouper on top of a mushroom (I also LOVE mushrooms)turnip purée. . . I think I’m still dreaming about that meal.

My mom made our getaway weekend possible by flying out to watch the kids.  It worked out that my dad was able to fly out on Saturday and stay until I got back on Monday to help out.  Watching three little kids is not the easiest job in the world, but from the photos she sent me, I could tell they were really enjoying their time with their nana and papa.  I was happy to get back early enough on Monday to spend some time with my dad before his flight back.