First Class
For those who did not know... I just got back from Miami. Orlando, one of my fraternity Brothers, is getting married and I can not make it to the wedding so I told him I would visit. Then Rudy, another chapter Brother just moved there, so I made plans and went down there. Heather was able to get some time off as well and her sorority sister Valerie just moved there so we made it a trip.

It started on Saturday morning. We went to Detroit Metro and we were connecting through Ohare airport. At Ohare they made the announcement that the flight was over booked... we would get $400 if we went on a flight 2 hours later. Figuring the money was worth it... we signed up. A few minutes before the flight they called us up... said they did not need us to switch flights, but since we were so nice and offered the switch... they bumped us to FIRST CLASS! It was my first time in first class... PIMP... let me tell you, free wine, hot towels, and lunch on a no food flight... very cool. I was pumped!

We arrived in Miami and went to Orlando's house. We stayed there for two days. That night we went out, Orlando was at a wedding so it was Rudy, me, Heather and Valerie. We went to Mango's in South Beach. It was great, they had models dancing, dance lessons, a live band, a Tango performance, everything! We danced all night and then got some fries and cheese cake to end the night. It was awesome because Rudy has a nice little condo he is renting three blocks from the Ocean in South Beach! Way to go Bro!

Sunday Heather and I ventured around the city on our own. Rudy had to work and Orlando was not back yet from the wedding. We figured out the local metro bus and rail system. We made it to Bed Bath and Beyond to get Orlando and his fiance their wedding present. Then we found a little place to eat and watch the World Cup game... boo that France lost, and the Zidane had to go out on such a bad note (he head butted a player and was red carded). That night Orlando and Cristina took us to a cool Cuban placed called La Carreta. His mom who I love! and his Brother Chris who is also a Beta met up with us. It was great to see all of them, plus I love plantains, yucca and spanish spices on food!

Monday Orlando and Rudy of course had to work and Heather and I ventured again out on the metro. Orlando was amazed we got around so well on the metro. It was really easy, and the for the most part we found Miami folks really nice and willing to help explain to us how things worked. So for a buck fifty we road downtown and walked all over. I was amazed at how much it looked like Bolivia with the little interior malls, internet cafe's and lunch buffets. With the exception of the Starbucks on each corner it was very Latin looking. We found a Brazilian place to eat and I had some Churrasco (Brazilian BBQ) and it was awesome! After a day hanging out downtown we went and checked into our hotel. We booked a hotel room for the last night by the airport in order get a shuttle back for our flight on Tuesday.

That night we went to Coconut Grove with Orlando and Cristina. The four of us at a cool Tapas place called Tu Tu Tango. The place had artists all around painting stuff, and then lots of their stuff hung up that you could buy. It was also Martini Monday so we tried a lot of their specialty martini's out as well. I love tapas (small plates served family style) cause we all shared different items and just caught up and talked. As we were leaving Valerie finally made it... she had been lost... at that point Orlando and Cristina needed to head back.

Valerie took us back to our hotel. On the way we stopped and she drove us around Miami's campus where she just started work. Beautiful campus, not sure how students can make it to class was so many great distractions around them. At the Hilton we got some drinks and went up to our room to hangout... now let me tell you about our room. I am a Hilton VIP now they upgraded us. Our room had two floors! It had a winding staircase between the floors. One floor was a full bath, big TV couch, bar and chairs and the office area, the upstairs had the master bath and a huge bedroom and TV. the far wall was lofted and had a window that spanned both floors! Man it was awesome... we ooggled over the room a bit and chatted with Valerie.

Tuesday it was off to the famous Miami beach. You can't go four days in Miami without hitting the beach... well I could, but Heather for sure couldn't. So once again we caught the bus for $1.50 and made our way to the beach. It was nice... the heat was a bit much, but we had a little light sprinkle of rain that kept us cool and we relaxed and read some magazines. Rudy picked us up from the beach and we went for a late lunch. We ate a nice little Cuban place and I had the best pork fricase I have ever had in the states... not as good as in Bolivia, but it was good. We ate and then Rudy dropped us off at the Hilton. We caught the shuttle to airport... our time in Miami was done.

So we thought we were on our way home. Our VIP vacation flying first class and staying in a pimp hotel room... then came to a bad end. We were grounded in Miami... we sat on our delayed flight for over an hour... then they took us off the plane not sure how long the delay would be... then they boarded us again... and we sat on the plane still stopped... so we finally arrive in Ohare to find out we missed the last flight to Detroit. So guess what... we get to stay in the airport! They were not providing hotel rooms since it was weather not the airline that caused the problem, they had cots set up in a terminal for us. What? Heather and I needed some rest (I had a long day at work the next day) so we ventured over to the Hilton in the airport. We left the terminal and walked over there to find out they were sold out... as well as all the hotels in the nearby area! Oh no... well back to the cots. But then we learned that the security check points stop working! We could not get back to the terminal to even sleep on cots! So we slept on chairs in the American Airlines baggage claim area... freezing cold... wrapped in our sandy towels from Miami beach. Sad end to a great vacation...

Our luck ran out... and ran out bad! We made it back to Detroit finally at 10am on Wednesday (12 hours later then planned). It was bad for me because Wednesday night I needed to be at an event for Albion in Troy, MI. I still needed to get back to my office to print out somethings for the event... needless to say my day was rough. I drove back to Albion printed my stuff (Jen from my office helped a ton) and then repacked and hit the road to Troy. I barely made it in time to iron my clothes and head to my reception that I was in charge of and needed to speak at... all this with no sleep the night before cause of those highly uncomfortable chairs. The event thankfully went very well!

Well today I woke up not feeling well, I had my wrap up meeting with our reception site (Hilton in Troy) and came to work. Today is nearly over... meetings back to back this afternoon... the stress from yesterdays event is over... now heading home to rest and unpack from my Miami and Troy trips... and prepare for my trip to Chicago this weekend and then Vegas next week. Maybe I will get a first class ticket again... Ciao.