*clickety clack* *clickety clack*
Her fingers moved like lightning at 4am. Our airline lady pressed enter and rolled her eyes as she very un-enthusiastically looked up at us.
“Are you aware of the delay on the flight?”
“Umm… no. We just got here.”
“Due to bad weather in Arizona, you will miss your connection in Ft. Lauderdale. I can get you on the next flight out to Guatemala City.”
“Awesome. Lets do that.”
“…in two days.”
My stomach dropped. SERIOUSLY? We had just recovered from our WORST flight ever 5 days prior and now we were being handed a 2 day layover? What is up with our travel luck lately?!
But we took the flight to Ft. Lauderdale anyway. As we were stuck in Dallas, we had no choice but to go forward. Not to mention, we had our guardian angels… Kenin and Lauren of The Constant Rambler. I had made plans a month prior and, as a contingency plan, they had volunteered to pick us up from the airport in an event like this. Either I was psychic or my Type A personality had gone into overload.
I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason. The next few days were spent with our new friends as we got to know each other – and often we would all burst out laughing when it came to how creepily similar Lauren and I are… down to her cute stuffed penguin backpack that I was drooling over.
We made the best of our impromptu visit. We had never been to this part of the country before and I was fascinated by the culture. We had beers, ate pizza, and made it a point to visit the almighty Miami Beach. What I didn’t realize was the Ft. Lauderdale was next to one of the most iconic beaches in the US of A. After stuffing our faces with fried Cuban food, we set out on a touristy foray into Little Havana and into South beach.
I was a photo snapping queen.
There was a man in loose, white, flowy clothing rollerblading by.
There were sunburnt bodies wearing cheap tourist shirts stating, “I’m in Miami B*TCH!”.
There were $30 fishbowl margaritas.
There were waaaaay too tan Paris Hilton look-alikes that I wanted to hand a hamburger to.
There was a Veyron sitting outside a club, out “statusing” the Aston Martin DB9 next to it.
The heels… OH THE HEELS.
Neon. Glass bricks. Bad DJs. Pit Bull. Fountains.
There were people taking pictures of… Shaun.
There was even a drag show setting up and getting ready to show off its fabulousness.
I was half looking around expecting to find Horatio making a bad pun, especially after we saw a CSI van outside of a hotel.
Without even realizing it, we had spent almost 5 hours wandering around South Beach and Miami Beach just taking it all in. We had a blast being a tourist for a day and I can’t thank Lauren and Kenin enough for opening their home to us and showing us a fab time.
…now if I can only follow my own advice and go with the flow more often. I hate to think how many opportunities we’ve missed out on.
Have you found yourself somewhere you didn’t expect and had a fantastic time?
Yes, San Diego! We had some unfortunate communication breakdowns with the Greyhound bus staff while trying to cross the border into Tijuana and after hours of stuffing around, decided to get a bed in San Diego and start again in the morning. Best night of our trip to the USA/Mexico and we ended up spending all morning and half the afternoon exploring San Diego before redoing the border later in the day.
It was so great to have you two stay with us! We had such a good time hanging out and getting to know the both of you. I really love the photos you took, they capture the essence of the area really well. Looking forward to our paths crossing again sooner rather than later.
Great shots of one of my most favorite cities in the world!!! I hate flying these days, absolutely hate it!
LOL, I totally said the other B word when I saw that title.. Gah I still can’t believe I still haven’t been here.
I have to say I love this report. I can just feel you guys had fun! Would love to just wander around Miami for a day. Take in what must be a special kind of ambience
South Beach is probably my favorite vacation spot. I wouldn’t wanna live there full time, but visiting is a blast. Especially in winter!
Now that wasn’t such a bad 2 day layover after all. 😉 And great pics, by the way!
I met Andi in Miami! These photos made me so happy. I went to college in Miami and love it so, so much!! Your photos are gorgeous!
Miami is one of the US cities that I am most dying to visit! These photos definitely contribute to the wanderlust…
I so need to make it to Miami one of these days.
Wow I had no idea here was this side of Miami, love the photos. I may need to make it a layover stop at some point.
Blast from the past huh? Great shots and that mirrored car… I’d never be happy – I can’t even keep my keyboard free of finger smudges. *laugh*
Cool photos. I love all the neon on South Beach. Oddly enough, my most memorable moment from South Beach was burning my thumb on a penis lighter – true story
Those are some unreal photos!
I’ve only been once but I totally could see myself vacationing there. I want to go again!
I’m not complaining there! We made out like bandits!
Awww! That would explain your comments on my pictures lately! I’m a fan of this area. I wish we could spend more time there.
It wasn’t on my bucket list at all and I feel like I totally missed out! I’m glad we went.
YES. YES YOU DO. I would love to read your impressions.
Yeah… I can’t either. Shaun would go OCD insane.
I laughed a little too loudly at this one and caught Shaun off guard! That is definitely a memory that sticks around!
It was an inspiring place to be!
I’ve never been particularly interested in going to Miami, but these photos make it look amazing! I love the architecture, and that beach is gorgeous.
The unexpected turns are sometimes the best trips. We don’t sweat anything anymore, just roll with what life presents us, no sense dreading on it.
I remember cruising this strip years ago in a Dodge rental. I had no worries of my peasant car getting broken into compared to all the other glittery machines that were there. Great photos.
Haven’t been to Miami yet… need to get down there!! Great photos 🙂
I TOTALLY love the art deco.
I think I started to freak out because I knew I had a nice warm bed at home with new clothes and REAL towels. 😛 Creature comforts!
Thanks Juno! It is super expensive but super awesome looking.
Florida has never been high on my let of must see places, but hot damn if I haven’t been hearing so many things about it lately that I actually want to make it a destination! GREAT photos, I *almost* feel like I was there!
I never really wanted to add it on my list but somehow I found myself there twice this year. It is odd – but I love it. There are so many different faces to that state.
Smashing photos. I’ve never been to Miami before, although I was meant to visit it when I was in Orlando a few years ago.
Looks amazing.
It took me by surprise! I had no clue it looked like this or I would have made it a point to visit earlier.