We got off to a rough start for vacation. Joseph and I stayed up to almost 5 AM talking and watching TV on Saturday night and we were wanting to leave for airport by 10:30 AM at the latest. Well imagine my surprise when I was awakened a little after 9 AM to someone knocking on my front door. No one knocks on my front door. Well it was Mammie coming to pick up Mollie and give me an earful of why we were not up and moving yet. This started the rush to the airport. We didn’t pull out of driveway until 11 AM. We were on an earlier flight than Joseph and Andrea so they had some time. We almost had to pull the OJ running in the airport scene to catch our flight. We arrived at gate five minutes before they began boarding. So all out of breath we settled in for our flight to Ft. Lauderdale.

We had booked the Ft. Lauderdale flight because at the time it was quite a bit cheaper than flying to Miami. I struggled a bit before I found a reasonably priced shuttle service. I ended up booking with QLS Transportation. I learned from my last trip to Miami that cab fare was high, especially if you are not going airport to port. It cost $55 for us to be taken to our hotel in Downtown Miami. I also booked with them to take all 4 of us back from port to Ft. Lauderdale airport after the cruise, so we could pick up a rental car. That cost $55 for all four of us.

When we arrived our driver called us on phone and arranged to pick us up outside of baggage claim. The driver, John, was very nice and we chatted the whole way to Miami, mostly about cruising. We actually had John pick us up after the cruise too.

So Laila and I checked in to the Hyatt Regency in Miami and waited for Joseph to arrive later. We were not checked in to the handicap room this time, and had a much better view.

After their arrival we decided to grab a bite to eat and ended up at Gordon Biersch’s. I was wearing an Iowa Cubs shirt and our waiter immediately picked up on it as he was a Chicago native. So Walt and I had a nice extended conversation about the Cubs, pizza and all things Chicago.  We started off with an appetizer sampler which the highlight of was the Kobe Sliders.  Joseph and I also had the Lobster Bisque as an appetizer. This gave us our first real catch phrase of the trip. No matter what it was you just asked someone “You know what would make this better?” and the answer was always Lobster Bisque. Laila had the Seafood Paella and I had the Ropa Vieja. I don’t remember exactly what the kids (this is how I know I’m old when I refer to a 26 and 23 year old as the kids) had for their main course, but I’m sure it was good. My favorite meal of the trip.

I also improved my vocabulary at this meal as I learned what a ramekin is.  I was already the proud owner of multiple ramekin and did not even know it

We then hopped in a cab for the five minute drive back. What made the cab ride memorable was the guy’s driving style and choice of reading material. He drove like his ass was on fire and pedestrians were having to scramble out of crosswalks as he made his way back to the hotel. Now I hopped in the front seat and he had to move his Playboy magazines to between the seats to accommodate me. We did arrive safely back so I have to give that to him.