When Liz Comes to Town

About two days after my amazing European adventure, my sister came to visit. But that's not where the story starts. The story ACTUALLY begins on my flight back from London, at New York's LaGuardia Airport.

I had just flown over seven hours, I was dirty and tired, and I have three hours to wait until my flight back to MIA. I had just come out of the terminal I deboarded from and into the section of the airport where I'd board my next plane, and I see a guy in a tiny little gift shop wearing a University of Michigan sweatshirt. I was gonna just let it go, but the Michigander in me couldn't let that happen. So I say, loudly, "Go Blue!"

The guy looks up at me, confused, so I repeated myself, "Go Blue." Still confused, I clarified, "Your sweatshirt. Go Blue." Then he says in an Australian accent, "I'm not even from there, I'm from Sydney. I just liked the jumper."

Long story short, Nadim (the U of M "jumper" guy) and his friend Jeff are Aussies who were half way through their 8-week holiday. They'd been all over the U.S. when I met them; they were heading to D.C. and then, fate would have it, Miami. I hung out with the guys until their plane boarded about two hours later. They were really sweet and much better than hanging out by myself for three hours. I gave the guys my number and email, and they gave me a promise to get in touch when they were in town.

Liz arrived on Tuesday afternoon, and the Aussies did the same, just a few hours later. Liz and I chilled for a while and she got settled in, I cooked her dinner, and then we headed to Coconut Grove for drinks and dessert. We went to the French place Tiffany and I have been to before (Le Petite something) and I had this pear tart that wa joy in my mouth. Halfway through, the guys called and we headed out to South Beach to meet them and hang out.

Due to Liz's amazing navagational skills and several panicked phone calls, we found their hostel and parked. We were gonna drive around the island trying to get into mischeif, but the Aussies had rented scooters so we hopped on the back, Liz with Jeff and me with Nadim, and drove around South Beach for a couple of hours. We stopped for a beer on Lincoln rode, then rode around some more. We concluded the night with pool and beer at their hostel. In all honesty, that evening will go down as possibly the best five hours I've had.

Here's a pic of the happy crew, at about 3 am. We still look good, eh?

While I wished we could hang out with the Aussies for another day (their last in Miami), Liz and I had made plans to head to Key West. I made reservations at the Avalon B & B, and was excited to see Key West.

It took us a looooooong time to get there, but we made it in time to check in (thank GOD they had a pet-friendly room available because, apparently, when I said I wanted one the lady taking my reservation didn't comprehend me), sit by the pool for about an hour, and head out to a delicious seafood dinner.

The first thing I discovered about Key West? It's hot. Ungodly, unabashedly, unfairly, hot. The second discovery? There are random roosters, complete with proudly announed "cock-a-doodle-doo", wander all around the place. Here's one:

Our seafood dinner, a Key West Must, was delicious. I had scallops with chimichurri, yellow rice, and vegetables, and Liz had pasta. We walked all the way to the Pier on the opposite side of the island, and, after dinner, we walked around down there, took some pictures, watched the sunset, and drank our way down Duval Street and back to our B & B.

The next day, we had two items on our agenda. One, go to the Butterfly Conservatory and two, go to Hemingway's house. I'm proud to say we accomplished both.

First, though, we had the obligatory "Southermost Point" picture to take. We got there in the morning and no one was there, as opposed to the night before when there was a line. Um, lame. So, here it is, Obligatory Key West Tourist Photo #1.

The Butterfly Conservatory was right across the street from our B & B, so we headed there after breakfast. Aparently the butterflies are more active in the morning. We saw blue morphos (which I also saw in Costa Rica), monarchs, and all sorts of beautiful unnamed butterflies. There were also several birds (pretty, tiny, nice birds, not gross ones) and some turtles and coy. It was this tiny little oasis within an oasis. By far, this was my favorite butterfly... He/She/It was just SO spectacular!

After the butterflies, we headed to Hemingway's house. Now, we all know I'm not a "fan" of Hemingway's work, but c'mon, I'm an English teacher. I HAD to see it! Plus, Liz really wanted to see it as well. Here's us, in front of the fountain in the entrance's courtyard.

I learned a bit about Hemingway on the tour, and go to see the "office" where he wrote. I also got to see his "last red cent" pressed into the concrete of the pool. As the story goes, Papa was off in Spain reporting on the war (or something manly, I'm sure) and when he got back his second wife, Pauline, had installed a pool and spent quite a bit on it. Hemingway jokingly said to her something to the effect of, "Why don't you just take my last red cent?" at which point he pulled a penny out of his pocket, and gave it to Pauline, who stuck it in the cement. She proudly stated that she was the only one of his wives to have taken him for his last cent. The penny is still there today.

We also saw the famous Hemingway House cats, many of them, including Charlie Chaplin, aptly named for his facial markings. Yes, several of the cats had the six toes as well. I tried to avoid touching them (allergies) but I still enjoyed seeing them. Especally the big, fat, orange one who was clearly the ruler of the roost.

A morning of walking all over Key West took a lot out of us (Did I mention it was HOT?!) so we went back to our room, played with Bubba, and relaxed in the A/C for a bit. We did hit the pool, of course, and then got ready and headed out for another night on Duval Street.

The most interesting part of the night was meeting a guy from Dewitt, who had moved down to Key West around the same time I moved down here. How crazy is that?! He was a really nice guy, and he gave us the locals bar tour, rather than the tourist's tour. His dad, Joe, was also pretty cool and may be a contact for me to get a job teaching abroad. Sweet.

The following morning, we left Key West. But before we left, we had one more Obligatory Key West Tourist Photo to take. This one:

After we checked out, we took a little walk to find the zero mile marker sign. It was great because we had to sit in the car for four hours to get back to Miami, so a nice walk before all that sitting was welcome.

The whole time we were in Key West, the weather was beautiful (but hot), and as soon as we got back to Miami, the rain started coming down. Um... nice. The weather here was pretty crappy the whole time Liz was here, so we didn't get a chance to go to the beach or even the pool. Total bummer, I'm sure.

Saturday, Liz and I hung out with my friend Drew, who chose a rodeo for our Saturday fun. It was the International Bullriding Competition between the U.S.A. and Brazil. We drove up to Davie and had a great night watching dudes in chaps ride bulls. I mean, I'm not that into cowboys, but I certianly couldn't do what they were doing on those bulls. Nor would I want to.

Sadlly, the Brazilians put the Americans to shame and rode those bulls like they were born to. None of the Americans seemed able to stay on for more than about three seconds, but the Brazillians? Dang, I think I counted up to ten or eleven seconds for one of them! It was pretty amazing, and a great way to spend a Saturday night.

Here are Liz and I, getting into the rodeo spirit.

Yee haw!

The album of photos from the rest of her visit can be found here.

Overall, it was great to have Liz here. Especially since I had an excuse to see Key West, and someone to see it with! Plus, it's like I only realize once I see them just how much I miss my family. It's almost like I push it aside while I'm away, because it's not something I can deal with. But when I see them? It's the best thing.

Much love.