Welcome to Miami

We wrapped up an awesome time in PCB with Lauren's Grandparents on Sunday. We pretty much just lived the good life the whole time--walking the beach, laying out, eating, drinking. To offset all that eating and drinking, we managed to hit the gym every morning and then walk the beach afterward. That was definitely the first time I ever did that on vacation. But it was pretty great managing to pull that off then just relaxing on the beach the rest of the day.



Another unexpected highlight was going to the Hofbrauhaus in PCB. I, as the complete travel cynic, didn't have very high hopes for the place to be anything more than pure tourist chotchke. But my love for Hofbrau Dunkles gave me hope. It turned out to be pretty amazing and we stayed there for about 5 hours drinking and dancing. They had the craziest accordian player and tapped a keg of free beer at 6p. It was just free for everyone, and whoever got the last pint (not one of us...sad face) got to drink free the rest of the night. Ahh...Spring Break.



Miami has been awesome so far except for the drive in. The drive through Florida was actually pretty great, especially the 70 mile drive across the Everglades. Its a really amazing and bizzare landscape. In some places, as far as you can see it is perfectly flat marsh grasslands. Driving across landscapes like that often make me reflect about how it must have been to travel through that landscape a hundred years ago. Canoeing through water with grass over your head for as far as you could travel without any landmarks or any indication of travelling any distance at all. It really makes you appreciate travelling 80 mph. Then you hit Miami traffic and continue for the rest of your trip at 5-10mph. Please, if you're from Miami, take offense. In all my travelling I've never seen worse drivers in my life. And the billboards and radio ads for accident lawyers were endless, so it's not just me.

But we eventually made it here, and since getting into South Beach, we've just been amazed by the city. Its really one of those unique places that just seems vibrant and living. A random Tuesday night and there are people out everywhere--exercising, shopping, eating, partying. There's shops and restaurants in the middle of neighborhoods of unique 1940s and 1950s art decoy and bauhaus apartment buildings, some understated and some over the top. All that and theres a brewery 4 blocks up the road from us with some solid brews. We can't wait to for the rest of our time here. Its just going to be sun and sand and Cuban food, beer and sangria for the next 4 days for me. Mmmm...Cuban food...