Dawn and Kevin

Courtney & Ashley came home for spring break on March 13, neither had big plans for the week off, other than Courtney having a job interview on Tuesday. She was feeling a bit down because this would be her last spring break, and her friends were going to Miami, but she was unable to join them due to the interview.  We did some searching online for flights to Miami late Tuesday or early Wednesday, but were unable to find a return flight on Friday, the day that her friends were returning. We could get her on a flight coming home on Saturday, but she would have to find a hotel, and would be in Miami alone for a day, which was not appealing at all.

So, I decided to make the huge sacrifice of accompanying her to Florida:  Ashley and I would find a hotel on the beach and Courtney would stay with her friends through Friday, then join us and stay the extra night in our room. Since these plans were made at the last minute, and most flights were booked solid, we had to leave home at 4a.m. on Wednesday morning for our flight out of Philly, and our return flight wouldn’t leave Miami until nearly 10p.m.  This would give us four full days at the beach which sounded delightful, and it was!

Approaching Miami

Though we took off a few minutes late, we made up a lot of time and touched down about 15 minutes ahead of schedule.  The view from my window was stunning as we made our descent, the water was a gorgeous turquoise color, the sand extended forever.  It had been so long since I’d been on the beach, I couldn’t wait to sink my feet in the sand.  We quickly grabbed a cab and were dropping off Courtney at about 11:00 a.m.  Our hotel was located close to her condo, and we were thrilled to learn that our room was ready! We were checked in and ready to hit the beach before 11:30, but first, we needed to find some sunscreen, and some lunch.

The weather was outstanding, we were in the mid 80’s by noon.  Our hotel in South Beach was just a few blocks from the noise of the spring break revelers, so we made our way a few blocks to the north in search of food and settled on a place on Ocean Ave, enjoying an al fresco lunch.  We then returned to our hotel and made our way to the beach, the water was so warm, the waves were very calm.  We spent many hours floating in the ocean over the next few days.

On Friday, Courtney joined us shortly after noon, and we decided to go to Joe’s Stone Crab for lunch, a place recommended to me by a good friend.  We were not disappointed, the food was wonderful, and we are still raving about the grilled tomatoes. After lunch, it was back to the beach for some more relaxation.

After a pre dinner drink at the hotel bar, where Courtney ran into some friends of hers, we walked up Ocean Ave to find a place for dinner.  We decided on a fun Mexican place (we definitely ate well on this trip!)  It was a Friday night, it was crowded and we were having a blast.

On Saturday, we had the entire day at the beach and weren’t leaving for the airport until after 5p.m. I rented an umbrella for some shelter from the sun and we enjoyed the afternoon in the sand.  It was far more crowded than it had been all week, but that was to be expected since it was a weekend. After a late lunch at the pool bar, we went for another swim in the ocean until it was time for us to start getting ready to leave.  I had already checked out of our room and was having the hotel hold our bags.  We claimed them, and went into the spa to shower and get ready for our trip home.

We tried to get on the 7:30p.m. flight, but it was overbooked, so we settled in and waited until it was time to board our 10:30p.m. flight back to Philly.  The flight was on time, we landed a few minutes early and pulled in to our driveway before 1:15 a.m.

A whirlwind trip for sure, but great fun.