15 Year Anniversary Trip to Florida

Lucky. That is what we are. So lucky. So blessed. Dana and I celebrated 15 years this past April. I told him that I wanted to get away for a few days with just him. We had not done that since we were married, minus a night away here and there. But to really get away. We have this little savings account that each month we put some into- it usually is withdrawn in December to offset Christmas costs, but for 2 years we had not done that, so we had a little to burn! I did not want to drive anywhere, so I had to find a place (a beach!!) that we could fly to for about $600 or less. Then we needed a place to stay while we were there, and money, of course! Well, we found our destination very easily. We could fly into Ft.Lauderdale, stay at a Marriott (Brand new) in Pompano Beach, then tour Miami with our good friend, Pablo all under our budget. It could not have been better- and it all worked out perfectly. Here is our story, written by Dana on our flight home.

Miami 2013

Aug 3-7        We paid $ 575.00 tickets and $ 510.00 for the resort and then spent $500.00 on food, travel and gifts.

Sat - arrived at Ft.Lauderdale and Pablo Diaz picked us up (he got a flat on the way and was late).

Arrived at our Pompano Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, which had just opened. We were the first guests in our room.

Sat night we went with Pablo & his friend Edna (Colombiana) to Chipotle for dinner and then to the club Bongos, located next the Miami Arena.
It was fun. We  tried to salsa and danced until way late. Some of the dancing was a little loco but we had a good time. First time I have ever been patted down upon entering a club. We got lost on the way home and arrived back at the hotel late around 3:30 a.m.

Sunday- we slept in late and had an awesome breakfast/brunch at the resort. 

We went to the beach for a few hours and then to the pool and afterwards back to our room or a nice nap. 

We had a nice dinner by the pool (Kelly had a delicious salad and I had a grilled chicken sandwich on a pretzel bun). Muy Rica!

We relaxed the rest of the night and walked the beach together before falling asleep watching Megalodon on Shark week. I also got to flip back and forth and see my Braves beat the Phillies on Sunday night baseball.

Monday- we had the breakfast Buffett again but due to some confusion (we were told one price the previous day and another on Sunday night) and we ended up paying 19.99 plus 20 % tax plus tip! 

Luckily they did not charge us or Sunday amidst the confusion. 
We went to the beach and pool again and had an awesome time. It rained a little but we stayed out under an umbrella by the pool. 

We stopped by the budget inn across the street and bought some salt & vinegar Pringles and ice cream and that was our lunch for the day. 

That night we followed the beach down the road to the nearest strip of stores/ restaurants. We walked the pier and saw some men fishing right near some swimmers and got to see a big sting ray swim by. 

Kelly got a pedicure for $22.00 and we ate dinner at a nice new restaurant next to the canal. Sunset catch - I had a lobster BLT and she had chicken Marsala with mushrooms in linguini pasta. Our server was excellent and we tipped him well.

We walked back to the hotel and shared an Oreo ice cream from the budget inn for dessert. We saw a ton of geckos that night. I guess they are all over Florida.  
More walking the beach and shark week and bed.
Tuesday- kinda a crazy day. We woke up early anticipating Pablo picking us up early after getting off of work. He works the overnight shift at another Marriott hotel in Miami. But he had an emergency and was unable to get us until after 12 pm. We did get to visit the beach one more time and visit our favorite budget inn for breakfast (pop tarts) and the rest of the day more than made up for our slow morning.

We went to lunch at Pamela's restaurante Chileana. The food was great and brought back a bunch of great memories.

We started out with some pan and empanadas de queso y de pino.

Kelly had Lomito, a pork sandwich with avocados, tomatoes and mayo.

Pablo and I both had el pastel de choclo- corn, chicken shephards pie type dish.

And if that wasn't enough we shared two desserts with lucuma and manjar.

We did not eat again on Tuesday. Shocker!
We went with Pablo to one of his favorite beaches near south beach and we relaxed and swam in the ocean. 
From there we traveled to the South Beach strip and walked up and down Collins street and did a little shopping as well. 

We also had some Italian gelato or ice cream for dessert to keep us going. Before calling it a night we walked famous south beach and took a few pictures for posterity.

We arrived back at Pablo's late and his brother Esteban was generous enough to let us stay in his room and we crashed for the night. 
Wednesday - we had breakfast Chilean style with the whole family. 
Who by the way are amazingly sweet people.
We talked about plans for a joint trip to Chile someday among other things and wished them all goodbye with hugs and kisses before heading off with Pablo.
Before we left his house Pablo gave me two gifts (an autographed Florida Marlins hat for Alex and a Marlins shirt for me). He had noticed that I was looking at them in a store the night before so in Chilean fashion he gave me one of his prized possessions for my son and his brand new shirt. 

It is hard to express my love for the Chilean people and how blessed I feel to still have opportunities to spend time with a family like the Diaz family.
Kelly fell in love with Pablo's little sister, also named Kelly and we bought her a my little pony doll from build-a-bear and we gave it to Pablo at the airport when he dropped us off.
So back to our final day in Miami. We visited another beach ( imagine that ) this time one located across a bay from Enrique Iglesias house. I made sure to get a few pictures.

We then went to a local mall (The Falls) and had our last meal with Pablo at a the corner street cafe (a Panera type place) and did a little shopping.

He dropped us off at the airport and we thanked him for everything and as he drove off we found out our flight was delayed for 2 hrs. Wonderful!
I took a little nap in the airport and we checked our email an stuff on the iPad and began to miss our babies while we waited.

We made it back safe and sound. We are so grateful for my mom who watched my kids and took care of our home while we were gone. Also, my sweet aunt Lori who took Celeste to Conneaut to visit my Grandma and then took a day off of work to watch the girls. They love her so. My parents do so much and I am forever grateful for all her love and thoughtfulness. She is amazing. 
I hope we don't wait another 15 years before going away again- we really needed it and had the time of our lives. So in love with this guy. So in love with our life.