Miami, FL (USA)

It was already exciting enough to be able to attend a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway, but Nicky's luck continued. She got a call a few days after that race - from the same radio station - where she was informed she had won an all-expenses paid trip to Miami for the last race of the season! Our family has never gotten ANYTHING like that before... We departed this morning from DFW - very early (!) - after some construction delays on the north side of the airport (when will I learn?!). Our flight (on American) took us through Tampa. Hadn't been there for awhile - views on arrival were tremendous. We had a two hour layover, so we had a nice lunch at Chili's in the airport (margarita included...). On our way around 1400L, very short flight to Miami. Things had sure changed since my last visit (see MAR 2007)! The rental car center had moved out pretty far from the terminal - in addition to the walk, we had to ride a train to get there. Problem with our rental reservation, but we got an upgrade (Dodge Avenger) and soon departed (1600L). There was even more construction on the way to our hotel - ended up using surface streets and got into the Cuban vibe... Our resort accomodations were in the town of Miami Lakes (northwest side of the city) - at Shula's Hotel and Golf Club! It was pretty fancy, nestled in a small shop/dine area of town. Our tour coordinator (from Premiere Sports Travel) met us in the lobby and gave us some cool souvenirs as we checked into our room. After seeing the place, I actually regretted getting a rental car - we could have walked around the property and eaten meals nearby... Still, we had our "muscle car" and Nicky had never been to Miami, so I drove her downtown around 1700L. It was just getting dark, so the skyline was pretty. I tried to take her to Miami Beach (and/or South Beach), but the traffic jam on this Saturday night was horrendous. After realizing how hard it would be to get there, Nicky begrudgingly allowed me to drive her to pretty Key Biscayne - a place I'd explored before. We looked for a bit for a good Cuban restaurant, but didn't find a good one out there. Instead, we settled for a seafood meal with a view of the city on the Causeway - at the Rickenbacker Fish Company. They had recently built an outdoor Tiki Bar, and we had a great time in the pleasant weather. Our meal included a few appetizers (buffalo shrimp, locally smoked wahoo) and a shared entree of pistachio crusted Mahi. Nicky tried an interesting drink called the Golden Coconut. Topped off the evening with a great piece of Key Lime Pie. We were there for a few hours before we headed back to our room. With the time change, it didn't seem too late - but we knew we'd need our sleep. Bed early...