In Miami and feeling fine

Ahhh... I am in my hotel room in Miami - finally! - and feeling fine. Actually, a bit snockered would be more accurate. :-) Once the cross-country exodus completed, I realized how hungry I was and set out in search of dinner. The shuttle van driver pointed out a few local choices as we approached the hotel, and I settled on Olivos, a Argentinian/Chilean/Spanish/Italian restaurant, primarily because my sister married an Olivo! They had a take out menu at the door but I needed to enlist the bartender's help on interpretting it - no habla espanol. I settled on a tuna salad nicoise and while I was waiting for the tuna to be prepared, I agreed to a glass of white wine from Argentina. After all - I'm on vacation!!! It was quite good, but all I have eaten all day was a bowl of cereal on my first flight and a Wendy's cheeseburger during my layover. So I drank my wine, gathered my bag and headed out back to the hotel - making a pit stop at CVS. We don't have CVS in Seattle and for some reason, I get all excited when I am out East and see one. It's not like our pharmacies don't have the exact same stuff! I crossed some major intersections with a goofy grin on my face, making it safely each time which would be an accomplishment at any time. What's with the no crossing signals, Miami??

I don't think I have ever been to Miami before. While I am not exactly on South Beach right now, it seems like it would be difficult to live here without a good handle on Spanish. (Knowing "Un cerveza mas" and "Donde es el bano?" isn't enough.) And does anyone here own full-length pants?? It's 70 degrees and almost 10 PM - I was a bit out of place in my jeans, although I did switch from my sneakers to flip flops.

By the way - my salad is fantastic and I am feeling a bit better now.

Flights here were uneventful, although full. I never really made it to bed last night and did sleep a little on the plane, but I think I am beyond exhausted. Saw a funny site in Houston during my layover - a woman who must have been in her 60's sitting cross legged on the floor with a laptop in front of her and a headset on, talking - or more accurately, I think, skyping - over the internet. And my ear tells me her accent was Dutch. It's pretty amazing what we can do with technology nowadays.

Saw several bands at the Miami airport that I am pretty sure will be on the cruise as well. Definitely saw Carbon Leaf lugging their gear around looking for a ride to their hotel. (Thanks for putting your name on your guitars, guys!) Saw another band with a chick who had dreadlocks. Her gear had a name I don't see on my schedule, so maybe they're not on the cruise - I'll let you know. Was envious that all they had to check was one guitar case and a suitcase. Travelling with Bells of the Sound is so not like that!!!

Had a bit of a nightmare with the hotel shuttle from the airport - Let's just say it took 2 hours to get here and leave it at that. But I did befriend a family on my shuttle who is also taking a cruise tomorrow and we coordinated a shuttle van ride to the dock together, which will save us all some money.

OK - I think that is all I have to say for now. Going to finish dinner, check email and go to sleep. I've got a BIG day tomorrow! Kim should get to the hotel around 8 AM or so, and we'll head to the dock at 11 AM.