Welcome to Miami (Buenvenidos a Miami)

Hello! Finally, here come the pictures from Miami Beach! So, when we reached the hotel sadly it was getting dark already. These few pictures don't quite do it justice, but this is the view from our room door. It's really cool because the hallways all open into a courtyard and the doors are always open because it's the same temperature inside as out!

Our room has a little kitchenette area, and just in case you find that unsightly, it also has beaded curtains! Hahaha. Bethany is modeling them well.

In the front hallway, there is a fish tank. It is neat. It has clown fish (nemo).

Also, as you might expect, there are palm trees EVERYWHERE. This makes me think of my friend, Tara Leigh. All she ever wanted when she was small was for her parents to buy her a palm tree. I wonder if this one's for sale....?

After checking in and getting settled, we headed out down Collins Ave. for some dinner and excitement. We found this cool streetside eatery that seemed to be called "Restaurant Bar Cafe" Apart from its name, it was very trendy and cool... But then again, the best restaurants are the ones with no names, right? Anyways, this is me trying to look cool and relaxed and fit in in South Beach.

Here is another cool picture of the place we ate. It was hard to really capture how beautiful it was... just this slinky, warm light spilling all over the side walks... A-mazing.

Then we went on down to the beach! Woo Hoo! It was so awesome, even in the dark the sand was white and the sea was this luminous turquoise. In Greece, our wonderful guide named Lula kept saying "tur-kwahs" and I think I like that pronunciation better! Either way, it was a beautiful night and we wasted little time getting down to the water! (PS- guess which toes are mine... it shouldn't be too hard if you have ever seen my feet or are aware of my tendency towards unpainted nails...)

Okay, so I don't so much care about fancy cars. I mean, the car I would get if I could have anything is an old IH Scout or an original Ford Bronco. However, I wanted to give you an authentic picture of South Beach. Around 11, all these super expensive cars start turning up all over the place- it's crazy, the traffic is the worse in the middle of the night than in the day! But anyway, this one is a ferrari, I think...

So, since most of the day time I am inside at our lovely booth, I will leave you with a picture of Miami Beach the way I usually see it: dark. However, it is lovely- in day or night- and very romantic at times. Definitely bring your sweetheart here if you get the chance... if you have a sweetheart, that is. If not, bring yourself and some friends! Oh yeah, and that white circle light next to the center light pole is the moon rising over the water, just so you can imagine yourself here! Adios!