Back from Miami!

Well we made it back home and while I was glad to get back home to my "normal" redneck life, I do miss the incredible weather and the sandy beaches! There's not a lot to say about Miami other than we definitely were not in Kansas anymore. We stood out like sore thumbs...not because we look like hicks (okay, maybe a little) but because we where Caucasian and spoke English. Now I don't think if myself as a biased person, but EVERYWHERE we went we had to ask people to repeat themselves because we couldn't understand them. It was a little bit frustrating and a little bit entertaining at the same time. When we would order a meal we never knew exactly what we would get back from the kitchen. Jeremy had a really hard time translating, so it quickly became my job to interrupt him before he said something to offend anyone.




The game was fun. It was an incredibly loud stadium and a very nice one. OU has nice facilities, but this pro stadium was NICE! We arrived a couple of hours early to take things in and walk around the stadium. We also wanted to make sure that we had a relatively easy time parking, which we did. The first half of the game was very exciting and fun, but those of you who watched it know that the second half pretty much stunk! The OU fans were out numbered about 10:1, so that wasn't so much fun either. And it was amazing how many OU fans had sold their tickets to Gator fans, obviously to make a profit. I think that is WRONG!!! I can understand someone wanting to sell their tickets and make some money, but at least sell them to someone supporting your team! Okay enough ranting and raving.

Friday we slept in and then went to the Miami Seaquarium. The first thing we did there was watch this Dolphin show and I immediately felt guilty for being there without my kids. I knew they would have loved this place. Especially Preston. We spent a couple hours there ( a good portion of it in the gift shop trying to find just the right thing to bring home to the kids....who by the way, have totally ignored them since we so proudly gave them to the kids! ARGH!) Anyways, after that we tried to go to this mansion, but it was closing in 10 minutes, so we ended up doing that on Saturday morning before we left for the airport. That's the other thing about Miami, things open late and close early! So instead we went to the Bayside Martketplace and walked along the shore and got to see dolphins swimming in the ocean. They of course weren't doing the high-flying tricks of their peers at the Seaquarium, but it was cool to see them in their natural element. They are very graceful and magical to watch. After walking for a bit we decided to have an early dinner and chose "The Knife". And while it smelled and looked good, well it was interesting, let's just put it that way. There was a language barrier again and Jeremy swears that he ate brain! It was a buffet style restaurant ( we found out after we were already in and had drinks...argh again!) Anyways, you go back to the grill to get your "meat." Jeremy want first and came back with some interesting looking concoctions. I asked what this strange looking things was and he said they told him it was some sort of bread. I took one look at it and said, "That is not bread." He started pulling it apart and it was very spongy in texture and it really did look like a slice of brain on his plate. I made the comment that it looked like brain and that sealed the deal...that's what it became.

When we went back for a second round that particular thing that he ate was on the grill next to the intestines and blood sausage, which made it even more convincing that it might actually be brain! Jeremy also decided that he was going to try the blood sausage because he had seen the guy on Bizarre Foods do it. Now you have to understand that Jeremy really wants to be a dangerous eater, but when it comes down to it, he is really just a meat and potatoes kind of guy! And if you know me at all you know that I don't do strange foods. I like to stick to things that are familiar and that I know I will like. And I also have a good gag reflex, which Jeremy seemed to think was funny. He kept talking about the blood sausage and describing how it looked when he put his fork in it (just typing this is making me gag). Okay enough.....you will have to ask him for the rest of the story! The kids thought that was the best story from our trip and wanted to know why I didn't take a picture of it!

The other interesting part of our trip occurred later while we were strolling through the marketplace after dinner. While I was in a store browsing a man approached Jeremy and told him that he had just gotten here from Georgia and was starting a new job and 4 black guys had jumped him yesterday and took $400 from him. He couldn't understand a word anybody down there was saying and could Jeremy spare a few dollars so he could get a meal? Jeremy of course told him we had just spent the last of ours on our own dinner. What makes this so interesting is that we then followed the guy around and watched him try this with other people. Okay, Jeremy watched and I took in the interesting ware of Miami. When the evening was over, he had managed to get money from one man....probably just to get him to leave. Jeremy even wanted to track him down and ask him how well that really worked for him. I think Jeremy was seriously considering quitting his bank job and becoming a bum if it paid better!

Okay, enough boring stories....here are some pictures .

bird at the Seaquarium
Dolphin Show

Ballgame


cool bike in South Beach ( I almost missed the bus admiring this!)

The SharkHunter in the Bay outside our hotel

really dark picture at Vizcaya (the mansion)
Vizcaya

lots of interesting architecture