If you come to the blog to see about the boys adventures, I realize those have gotten fewer and further in between. Gone are my days of making slime, earth crust pizzas, and sight word passwords. But, you know, a season for everything, right? It's taken some adjusting. Hayden still needs me some, what with school and guidance and all. But, Calib and Peyton don't really need me for much these days. Sure, they enjoy the fact I still do their laundry, am happy to proof read a paper here or there, or listen to any social woes they have. But, really, things are just... different around here.
At first I did have a hard time adjusting, which I'm sure confirms some whispers about me over the years since I put SO MUCH into them on a day to day basis. But, I think I'm starting to hit my stride (and doing a good job of not smothering Hayden too much since as I like to say 'he's all I have left') You know, I haven't spent much of my 'adult' life on my own. But lately, as everyone goes off to do their own thing, I've been on my own kind of frequently. So I am learning to entertain myself. I'm reading more, which is nice. And I kind of have my own non-kid centered daily routines.
So when Asa said I could come with him to his conference in Miami, I thought it was another good opportunity. First of all, it's good to leave the kids to fend for themselves a couple days (they're pretty good at it), and second of all, I get to go adventuring. (I have recently discovered if you call something 'adventuring' it just starts off being way more fun!)
Anyway, if you're here to see what the kids are up to, you can pretty much blow right by this one. They don't make an appearance at all. This is pretty much just about little old me.
We arrived at our cute little boutique hotel, Circa 39, in Mid-Miami Beach Sunday afternoon.
Asa had an evening reception on Sunday night, at a hotel just down the street from ours, so I was on my own for dinner. I would totally have gone out and about to find some good food- but I was trying to budget this trip pretty carefully. (Fun fact: I also just got back from a trip to Washington D.C., so you have to watch your spending when you do two trips on one paycheck). So, I packed all kinds of food. I also didn't know how much Asa would be fed at his conference, so I tried to make sure I had enough for him. Turns out he was fed a lot, and very well, so I could have as many uncrustables as my little heart desired). Once he headed out, I made myself a little dinner and watched Sunday night football.
Asa showed back up a few hours later with his little free bag of stuff. That water bottle is super nice though, it keeps stuff warm or cold forever.
The next morning Asa has to get up early to go off to mingle and whatever else you do at conferences. But, since he was up so early and the sunrise is getting later and later, I was up before the sun. Our hotel was just a block off the beach, so I walked on over to watch the sunrise.
I figured on Monday I would head out and about. Asa would be busy pretty much all day, so it was just me. When you pay admission for the Everglades it gets you into any of the entrances for 7 consecutive days, so I figured I would go check out another part of the park.
This time I went to the Coe Visitors Center.
The building there was more expansive than the little nothing of Shark Valley, so I walked around there a bit.
I consulted the map and figured I would go out to the Anhinga Trail. It was an easy trail with a boardwalk, so I figured going it alone I wouldn't be in too much danger.
You know, as long as I could avoid the Florida panthers.
The first part of the trail wasn't too far elevated, and I kept hearing lots of rustling and plopping and didn't see another human being, so I was a tad bit nervous.
But eventually you find yourself on a raised boardwalk, so you have a bit of separation from you and any wildlife (ahem, dinosaurs) that might be trying to eat you.
Eventually that boardwalk takes you out to a huge water/swamp area with lily pads as far as the eye can see.
I hadn't spotted any gators, but then I happened upon a family with three little kids who pointed one out to me. I am just not good at spotting them- Asa found them all the day before. So that did help my anxiety that I could happen upon one without even realizing. This one even swallowed a giant gar practically whole, so I was glad to be up on the boardwalk away from it's very sharp teeth.
The trail eventually kind of loops back around and you're back to that area where you could certainly happen upon a gator- there's not really anything keeping them from the trail. In fact, they might enjoy the hot cement on their belly. And again with the rustling and splashing.
But I made it back to the car without anyone actually eating me, so success!
On the way back I passed 'Robert is Here' fruit/milkshake/petting zoo stand. It's a weird mix. And it's an awful lot like Parksdale Farm Market. I wasn't all that impressed even though the Google reviews were good. But, I was passing by so it's not like I went out of my way for it.
When I was a kid and traveled all around the United States (for real, my parents got me to all the lower 48 states by 6th grade without ever stepping foot on a plane)- we always went to zoos. It's something I love doing when I go somewhere new- because of course they all have animals like giraffes and elephants and monkeys. But there is almost always something special. The Toledo Zoo has polar bears, Tampa has manatees, the National Zoo has pandas. There wasn't anything too crazy here- but my zoo pass for ZooTampa got me half off, so for $12 I thought I'd check it out.
They did have flamingos, and a pretty awesome bird house.
The kids area is cute, too. But they only had two goats to pet in the petting zoo. Disappointment.
The elephants were out and about, though. It was nice to be out and about on a weekday again, there were zero crowds to speak of, even when the animals were up close. I think there were a whole three rows of cars in the parking lot.
The Miami Zoo is SUPER spread out though. In fact, it's so spread out they have a monorail you can ride from section to section. But, it costs money, and I'm cheap. They also have surrey bikes, like TONS of them, and you can ride yourself around the zoo which is awesome. But, they don't have any regular bikes, so if you're just one single person, you're kind of out of luck. I sure got my step count in that day, though. I made my way around to see the rhinos, lions and camels. (The lions were super active too- even roar-ing at each other!)
And I can't say I've ever seen a Dhole before. They're pretty neat, basically wild dog/wolf things, and they made whining noises just like Porkchop!
The chimps were having a lazy summer day. I know, I know, it's not summer anymore- but it was hot when I was in Miami. It's still hot here. We're nearing the end of October and we haven't been able to open the French doors yet. Ugh.
And the gorilla found a friend in some giant iguana!
I was walking by the giraffes at feeding time, so I decided to get in on the action.
I also saw the golden elephant, which is a thing, I think.
And before I left I did stop by to see the Australian section. They had a koala...
... and a tree kangaroo! It was even the little one's first birthday and I walked in on the keepers giving her a vegetable birthday cake.
Overall, it's a nice zoo. I'm glad I visited- but I probably wouldn't go it alone again. It's SO spread out, the bikes would make it exponential more entertaining, and for that you really need at least two people.
I made my way back to Miami Beach before "rush hour", but in all honesty, I'm not sure the traffic is that much worse than it is here. Drivers are slightly more crazy, and follow general traffic curtsies even less. But as far as sheer volume, I never ran into anything too terrible. Maybe I just got lucky. (Someone on the interwebs likened it to LA- and I can assure you, as someone who has drive in LA it is nothing like that.)
Once back at the hotel, I spotted some lizard friends. I'm not sure where in Florida they start getting a little more exotic, but we pretty much had boring ones here. However, we also don't have a problem with invasive, digging green iguanas and people shooting them. So, you know, the good with the bad.
Asa was still busy so I took a little walk to get some almond milk for my morning coffee.
And then I finally got some company- at least for a little bit. I told him he should go stick his toes in the Atlantic at least, while we were on this coast.
And then we hit the pool at the hotel.
His conference was at a much fancier hotel down the street, so when he went back for dinner I said I would walk down there with him. They had a cute little bakery with good reviews on google so I thought I'd get something with him and then come back on my own.
They had the cutest little mango flamingo cake!
And then I walked back to the hotel along the boardwalk.
The next morning I wasn't ambitious enough to see the sunrise again. Luckily, the hotel gave us a late check out so I didn't have to load up the car and check out until Asa was done with his morning sessions and lunch. But, I did have a few hours to kill so I decided to head down to South Beach to check it out.
I walked along the beach and the boardwalk for awhile. It was still early so while everyone was getting ready for the beach crowds, it was still pretty empty around there.
And then eventually I got myself a bike share to take me the rest of the way.
I mean, I'm not a huge Miami fan. Every time I go to another big city in Florida, I realize I certainly picked the best one (for me at least). Even though Miami is not my jam, I do appreciate the art deco style of the buildings in South Beach.
I made my way all the way down to the tippy tip of Miami Beach. And, I must say, the views there were pretty nice.
And then I rode my bike all the way back up to 39th street. But like, hey Miami, why are your streets always flooding? It didn't rain at all while I was there, but there were always streams on the side of the road.
I went back to the room, packed up, made myself some lunch and waited for Asa to be ready to head on home.
Oh, and on our way out we stopped at the Hard Rock Stadium. I'd been to Miami a handful of times, but I had never gone out to check this one off my list of visiting all the stadiums in the NFL. We were driving right past it on the way home, so it was a convenient stop.
When we stopped for gas along the way, there might have been a Wawa right next to a horse farm, and I may have pet a horse.
When we got home, the boys had the house all clean and everything I asked them to do, taken care of. They really function pretty well on their own, so I guess that's a good sign.
Up Next: I think I'll do a random October things blog, and then I'll be on to my trip this past week to Washington D.C.
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