A Trip For Family...

As I lay here on a Monday night, sunburned from a great trip, I present to you, in list form, of course, my weekend getaway to Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and Weston. It was all good, folks. Here are the highlights:

-Before I even leave Dunedin, I find out that the payroll check I put in to my new Wachovia account on Tuesday was not ready by Friday evening, as the receipt they showed me from the deposit said it would be available on Saturday. Now, I had $35 on me. I needed to get gas for the trip, still. Then, the teller tells me (heh, I just realized what I wrote) that the money might not be ready until late on Saturday. Truly...that set me off. I calmly left, and told my cousin Jessica that money would be tight for me this weekend. I even considered not going. She reassured me that if money indeed got tight, that her and the rest of our family wouldn't let me be stranded down there. So, with that, I gassed up and got going.

-The drive down was long because A) It was the first time I ever did it and B) It was at night. It was 275 miles approximately to Miami, and I needed to get out to South Beach, where Jessica's apartment is. I left Dunedin around 5:30 p.m. I wouldn't get there until 10. I was able to park the car with the valet after some confusion and then Jess and I kinda sat down and caught up for a bit, noting the surreal nature of me sitting on her couch. It was only the beginning, too! She drove me around South Beach and showed me Ocean St., which is where all the ritzy, expensive clubs and hotels are. It was neat at night, but I was also tired from getting down there, and we were getting hungry. So we went to this place called Big Pink and got some food. I ordered the Pizza Burger and a Red Stripe (awesome) while Jess got a chicken sandwich with buffalo sauce and a glass of red wine. I should preface that by saying that Jess' sandwich was literally as big as her head. By the time she was finished eating of it what she could, she had cut it up like she was attacking it from 20,000 different angles. I told her she was a schizophrenic eater. It was pretty funny to watch. After that, we headed back to her apartment and got ready to sleep. She took the couch because she needed to get up and do some lawyering, so I slept in her bed.

-At about 2 a.m., I heard a voice, but it was what I didn't hear (or feel) that was the funniest. I would be told the next morning by Jessica's roommate Andrew and his girlfriend Marianne that Marianne came into Jessica's room and had patted me to wake me up...but thought I was Jessica. It was only after she realized how big my head was that she figured out I wasn't her, which was hilarious for obvious reasons. Meanwhile, Andrew had a rough night and was pretty wasted, and saw that when Jess was on the couch, that he knew "she would get cold tonight." So he tried his damndest to take a comforter that he had just bought out of the plastic packaging to cover Jess up with it. Needless to say, I wish I could have seen this in all its glory. It would have been phenomenal. I didn't even feel Marianne nudge me, though, so who knows what I would have found out if I went out in the living room. I could have made the night that much more legendary!

-When I woke up that morning (at 7:30, no less, as my internal clock has basically told me, "Tim, you will wake up every morning at this time) I chilled in bed and watched TV for a bit, but as I got up to go to the bathroom, Jess noticed me through the crack in her bedroom door. So I got a shower and we hung out for a little bit before going down to this bagel shop and getting some breakfast. After that, we came back and saw Andrew come out, where he told of the events from the night before. Suffice to say, he was still hurting, and got himself a nice greasy breakfast to get him going again. After that, Jess and I got ready for me to find out if I would have money this weekend, and where I'd get to see the thrill of the entire trip.

-Wachovia was right down the street, basically, so I went in and looked to withdraw money. 80 bucks. Thankfully, the check cleared and I was ready to enjoy myself! When we headed to downtown Miami to Jess' offices at the Four Seasons, we were about to make a turn when I looked over and saw these kids jumping stairs on their skateboards. There were these two guys watching in their basketball gear. Who were they? Well, a double take from me led me to realize it was none other than defending NBA Slam Dunk Champion Dwight Howard (who led all All-Stars in votes this year) and his point guard, Jameer Nelson. I forgot that the Magic were in town! That was pretty awesome right there, folks. We were in the middle of an intersection, though, so I couldn't say anything to them, sadly.

-Jessica's office was nice. It was cluttered (c'mon, it's a law firm) but still nice. She had an office that overlooked downtown and had all her law stuff up on the wall. I was very proud! Sadly, the work she was trying to do turned into a mess. She couldn't print out these cases she needed to study, and they came out in some type of symbolized jargon that wasn't what she needed, without a doubt. So we finally got that taken care of after about 30 minutes more than either of us needed. We then found this little bistro just outside of downtown that had some good food. Bread with oil and vinegar, I had spaghetti and meatballs (Yum...except for when the sauce got on my white shirt...bleh) and Jess had the linguine with marinara. We had copious amounts of water with lemon.

-From there, we headed to Biscayne Bay and the Baywalk, which is a little bit like Pier 39 in San Francisco, but it's more expansive. We walked a bit before sitting on the dock by the bay...you know, wasting time. We then headed back to a bar and had a mojito. An AWESOME mojito. When we headed back to the car, we saw this guy who was giving away kittens, but unfortunately, I couldn't take one with me. Stupid living arrangement. From there, we went to Jessica's apartment and packed up our stuff because after we talked with Andrew and Marianne about the night before a bit, we were heading to Weston outside of Ft. Lauderdale to have a good ol' fashioned family dinner!

-Weston is this neat little suburb that is about 15-20 minutes outside of Miami and literally right next to the western side of Ft. Lauderdale. When we got there, it was just really a good experience to walk into the house for me. I had never been to Al and Rose's house ever. Rose was so happy to see me, and when I walked into the living room, I also saw my Uncle Jim and my little cousin Nate. It was then that I walked out onto the patio and saw Al there, cigar in hand and scotch in glass. It wasn't Sonoma, but I was sure as hell feeling like I was home.

-I caught up with everybody and the one thing that went through all of our heads was just how great and how surreal it was for me to be in Florida visiting them, with me right up I-75. Martina came up and gave me a hug, and I swear to God I didn't know it was her until after the hug. She had changed so much since the last time I saw her! She looked a lot like Jessica, now. We all got ready for dinner, but before that, Jess and Nate had to go on a covert operation. Donning sunglasses, they went to different places around the house with a light, looking for places to hide pieces of lettuce. Nate was especially sneaky, making sure that he put them in places where nobody would find them...like the kitchen table. For a 6-year-old, he certainly had a way of entertaining us all.

-At dinner, I had been telling Rose about my cross-country trip (that particular blog entry is right below this one...go read it if you haven't already) and all of a sudden, Nate farts. Now, it's not uncommon to hear a 6-year-old fart, but it was the reaction of Jess and Uncle Jay breaking into near uncontrollable laughter that made us all take notice. Well, that, and what Nate said after he farted. He turned to his dad and told him, "Dad, I tooted!" Jessica nearly fell out of her chair, and I just busted up laughing. Even after finishing my story, I felt like I couldn't follow up that particular little piece of comedy.

-I had developed a cold a day or two before, so I was hurting a bit, sneezing and coughing and generally looking tired, but I was happy to have a Hot Toddy as a dessert drink with Jess and Al after Uncle Jay took Nate home for the night. It cleared up my sinuses and tasted damn good, too. Jess needed to wake up and work early in the morning again, and Aunt Rose had already headed to bed, but Al and I weren't ready. No, sir! So he then declares that we watch...FAMILY GUY. Needless to say, I was ready for some Griffin family action. After the third episode, Al had basically fallen asleep and I was fading fast, so I just got up and went to bed soon after.

-The next morning, I wake up looking at the printer in Al's office where I was sleeping, and saw that it was 9:30. That was good for me, sleeping over nine hours. Except that it was an hour ahead. Oh, well. Went downstairs to humor Jess during her work, and Aunt Rose was up as well, preparing coffee and tea for us both. Jess and I were heading for the Chili Cook-Off, a country music concert put on by KISS 99.9 FM. Some of her friends were going to meet up with us at the house and we would caravan over to the concert. Rose made us a bagel and then we got all showered up and ready to go.

-Jessica's boyfriend Justin had sent down matching cowgirl hats for her and Martina, but the crown jewel of all of it was the redneckwear that Jessica could have worn, but then decided against. I guess the happy couple were on a road trip when they stopped at a gas station in Alabama and got these shirts and hats that were lovingly adorned with the Confederate flag. I really wished she could have worn it, but I was later happy to see that her friend Junilla wore a shirt just like it. So after we all got ready to go, we were off to the Chili Cook-Off. Beer, rednecks, country music...oh, it was on.

-The concert was fun. We showed up and met up with some other people who were just drinking and drinking...of course, I joined in. I had to! Then, we took the long walk around the lake to get inside, and once we got there, we had to figure out where we'd hunker down for the concert. Jessica wanted to watch Jason Aldean, and we got there in the middle of his set. So after that was over with, it was time for Jessica Simpson. That was when we all decided we need food. That wasn't even the funniest part of the set. During her last song, all the audio went out. That's how her set ended. We all got a nice little laugh about it, but still, it was kinda sad.

-While I basically just hung out where the blanket was, Jess and the girls went out and explored a bit. Junilla was a huge Alan Jackson fan, so they went up and got closer. Jessica forgot about the fact that I left my phone at her mom's house, which rendered her texts to come find them useless. They came back near the end and found me, and we enjoyed the rest of the set. I guess while they were walking around, they met some interesting people. Of course, they got to meet all the cool folks.

-We eventually got out of there and headed home after some drunk people harassment...which is always the best kind. Let's just say this. It's AFTER concerts that can get you in positions you don't want to be in. Thankfully, we were able to get to the car and not get into trouble. Some people are just crazy...I drove the girls home, with Jessica's friend Rebecca getting a little sleep in the car on the way back to the house. When we got back, we all kinda unwound a bit and decided to get food, but it took a while for us to actually get going. We went to Flannigan's, a chain restaurant that reminded me of a really nice Chili's or T.G.I. Friday's-type spot. We all got appetizers and kinda pigged out a bit. Rebecca ordered these nachos that were roughly the size of the table itself, piled on with sour cream and guacamole and all kinds of good stuff.

-When we came back, I started to feel sick and had to go make sure I would be okay for the big drive home, and the girls left before I got a chance to say good-bye, sadly. After that, I packed my things and sat down with Jess and Al for a little bit. Then, I had to get on the road. Rose was at the office preparing some stuff, but I got a chance to talk to her on the phone before I left. She insisted that they show me where the nearest Starbucks was (I had been trying to get there all weekend to use my gift card) so I had something for the way home. So I followed Jess and Al to the Weston Town Center. One last stop...

-So I got my Venti Java Chip Frapp, which I always get, but while we were waiting for the drinks, we were looking at the traveler's mugs and noticed how they were able to be clipped onto a hiker's backpack...but the water bottles weren't. Al then asked if I had a mug, and I told him I didn't. So he took the time to check every one of those mugs to make sure I got the right one. So finally, he actually picked the "generic" one, which was the plastic mug with the Starbucks logo on it. He bought me it, and then after I got my "tumbler," they led me back to the main drag and let me go forward while they headed home. The last thing I heard was Jess saying good-bye to me and saying she loved me, and then Al saying good-bye and saying, "You have family here!" It was a great capper to a great weekend.

The drive home was a lot faster, and from there, I was heading back home from a great trip of family, fun, country music and sunburns. I'll say this much: For all the times I felt homesick, it's something else to think that I'm literally three and a half hours away from family. I'll be making more trips, without a doubt, but the first trip, the one that solidified my family in Florida, is one I'll remember for a while, and it's one that will make my transition into being in Florida a lot easier.