So I trust everyone had an AWESOME holiday season! I must say that my break
was pretty much incredible. It was probably the best road trip I've gone on
so far in my life. Now that's sayin' A LOT. It's almost hard to know where to
begin the whole story. I guess it starts sad because I didn't go home at all
(don't worry, my bro was there for support) but looking back, I have to say
I don't regret that choice. I spent the whole break in Florida. The first part
totally ruled because we flew from Houston to Daytona on a private plane. See,
my good friend here from school, Dave, has a Dad who owns a plane(not a jet,
just a small 6 seater) so he agreed to fly out here and fly us back just for
the heck of it. SO, not only did it cost me nothing (a very important factor
for me as you all are very aware of) but it was a totally incredible experience.
It beats the hell out of flying commercially, I'll tell you that. I mean you
are flying only at about 10,000 feet so you can totally see everything along
the way. Also, it's a very, very smooth ride and you almost feel more "free"
I guess for the lack of a better word. You can see out the windows on all sides
and it's cool. Also you can see all the instruments and stuff and you can hear
all the transmissions that are involved with flying and, I don't know, it was
just so neat. It was like having one of those little mysteries you always wondered
about solved...you know, what the hell are those guys doing up there in the
cockpit? well, now I know. I had the bird's eye view of the world and it was
pretty sweet. The cool part was that here I was, feeling like I was having one
of the best experiences ever, and it was only the first 4 hours of my vacation...so
much more was to come.
Anyway, my buddy Dave is from Daytona and that's why we went there. Well, his
Dad lives in this sort of "airplane community" and that was freakin'
cool. It had it's own private runway in the middle of this subdivision. So you
land, taxi up to your house and open the hanger, which is attached to the house,
and park the plane like you park your car in a garage. Then you get out and
go right inside!!!!! I mean, there was like 2 min. between the time we landed
and the time we were inside the guy's house. That was pretty awesome! In this
subdivision, there was like roads for cars and other roads for planes. Now that's
what I call the good life. You can just go out and get in your plane just like
you're getting in the car and just go anywhere. THAT'S total sweetness.
So at that point, it was the 23rd, 2 days before Xmas. We went out in Daytona
that night and it was a pretty good time. It was particularly cool for me because
it was somewhat of a nostalgic moment for me. Back in June of 1994, I traveled
with 4 other friends to Daytona Beach just after graduating high school. Back
at that time, it was the farthest I had ever been from home. It was and still
is one of the greatest times I've ever had. What was weird was how much I remembered
about Daytona. Dave drove me by the hotel we stayed in back then, the Mayan
Inn. It was cool to see good old room 605 again. Jeff, you will be happy to
know that they had fixed the bar in the elevator:) Anyway, we first went to
eat at this restaurant that a friend of Dave's dad owns. That was a lot of fun.
Then we went to this bar called Razzle's. What's funny is that I had gone to
that exact same bar when we went to Daytona in 94. We had a great night and
I was pretty reminiscent once again. Oh, I should mention something important...I
was also traveling with another friend of mine from school whose name is Mo.
He is also a second year but he's in the genetics department. He's from Jordan
and he's a GREAT guy. That's off the subject a bit, but hey, that's what I do.
Anyway, after Razzle's we went to this other place, who's name I forget...but
what I won't forget is a funny thing that happened while we were there.
Mo and I were standing in this bar and it was pretty packed. We were kinda tired
since we had gotten up early to fly (and I had gone out the night before) so
we really wanted to just sit at the bar and chill. The problem was, there really
wasn't anywhere to sit. So we were just kind of standing there saying that the
day had been so fun already, and how nice it would be if we could just grab
a couple of seats. Well, I had no sooner said that than the two people right
next to us got up off their bar stools, opening up a spot for us at the bar...SWEET.
So then right after that, we are about to order beers and this guy comes up
to us and says he just ordered beers and has to leave and asks us if we want
his two beers. "Man, this is PERFECT", I thought. Then, not 30 seconds
later, as Mo and I are rejoicing in our good fortune...I mention that the only
thing that would be better would be if we had some munchies. Well, we turn and
look behind us, and there is a little dish full of pretzels!! WOW, we were on
a roll...or so I thought. I mean, all these things that I had just asked for
had all come true. So we start munching these pretzels and laughing about all
that had just happened. About a minute in, I start to notice the pretzels taste
a little funny. I then do a closer inspection on the little dish they were in
and it was AN ASHTRAY!!!!! AAAUUUUUUGGGGGHHH. There is a moral to the story
boys and girls...when things seem to being that well, there is always a catch.
Another moral is, never eat pretzels from a small black dish in a bar. Anyway,
we had had such a great day that it really ended up being a great laugh for
us. I ate an ashtray. Hilarious.
So the next day, Dave took Mo and I to Orlando, where another friend of mine,
Lyle (from ND who now lives in Tampa) picked us up and took us back to Tampa.
You might remember Lyle from my road trip out to Floride last Feb...he had the
awesome three story apartment with the jacuzzi and balconies off the bedrooms.
Anyway, we hung out in Tampa for awhile and then went down to Bradenton, which
is where Lyle's parents live (whom I have met several times) a city just 40
min. south of Tampa. So that's where we spent Xmas eve and Xmas. It was fun.
We went to a bunch of Xmas parties with his parents and stuff and just ate and
drank a ton basically for a couple of days. It was great. It was really nice
of them to let Mo and I stay there for the holidays. We had a great Christmas
dinner and Lyle was even cool enough to get Mo and I a couple gifts. You're
the man Lyle!!! One awesome thing we did on Christmas day was flying this stunt
kite that Lyle got for Xmas. We went out to the beach and it was pretty cool.
Who could have known that flying a kite could be so fun. I guess you had to
be there, but Lyle and Mo will appreciate the memory.
On the 26th, we headed back to Tampa. We went out there a couple of nights and
that was fun. Tampa is a really fun city and there certainly isn't a shortage
of beautiful ladies. We also went to this bar where a bunch of Tampa Bay Buccaneers
were (that's an NFL football team for those of you who don't know) and I saw
a bunch of famous players. I also met and talked to Drew Brees (thanks to Durran),
the Purdue quarterback who was 3rd in Heisman voting this year. It was a hell
of a time. I remember at that point, we felt like we had done so much already,
and the vacation was not even half over...rock on.
From Tampa, we rented a car and drove down to Miami. Let me assure you guys
that everything you hear about Miami is pretty much dead on the money. That
city is AWESOME!!!!! I mean, there is so much life, and culture and activity
and shit happening, it's unbelievable. I stayed there with another friend of
mine from ND (Hugo Rodriguez) who lives on South Beach. The guy lives like a
4 min. walk from the best strip in all of Miami...maybe even in the US. We basically
learned why Will Smith decided to make a song about the place...it is definitely
the city where the heat is on! We went out every night until like 5 or 6 in
the morning. There are TONS of clubs/bars/cafes open pretty late. Needless to
say, I was in total paradise...and (sorry ladies) I haven't even mentioned the
women. I'm telling you that there are nothing but gorgeous latin girls everywhere
you look. As you may or may not have realized, that falls right into my area
of, shall we say, "expertise". It's strange how high the hispanic
population is there. I'd say that 80% of the people there are speaking in Spanish.
Of course, that worked out to my extreme advantage, and pleasure. I mean, you
go into the restaurants and they assume you know spanish rather than it being
the other way around. Miami is was one of those places where you can just walk
down the strip back and forth and be pretty happy just soaking it all in. Tons
of people, great music, the beach right there, perfect weather...the whole nine
yards. It was like 80 degrees at night down there. Rock on. And another line
that Will Smith was pretty accurate on..."hundred thousand dollar cars,
everybody got 'em". We saw Lambourgini's (yes, plural), Ferraris, Rolls
Royces and Bentleys. Man, you wouldn't believe the money down there. I also
saw the Versace house which he got shot on the front stairs of...that was kind
of weird. Anyway, I just couldn't say enough about South Beach, so many people
having such a great time. I'm telling you that the place is just "alive".
If you haven't been there, go and check it out.
Well, of course South Beach was great, but there was more. For New Year's Eve,
we went to Key West. It's the last of the Florida keys and also as I found out,
the most Southern point of the US. Someday i wanna make it to the most northern
point. (this is the part where Jorge says, "I want to see it alllll!")
Anyway, it was about a 3hr. drive from Miami and I was a little peeved (is that
a word?) before we got there but I must say, it would have been worth a 10 hour
drive, even for only staying there one day. The place was packed. It was Mardi
Gras basically...except the steet was wider and there was a bit of room to walk.
There were thousands of people partying in the streets and bars. There were
beads being "exchanged" and everything. Needless to say, I got some
quality footage with the video camera. Anyway, the whole thing was pretty crazy.
We went with a group of about 10 and we all got pretty bombed. At midnight it
was madness...there was Champagne flying all over the place, confetti, tons
of fireworks, the whole shabang. It was such a great time. I don't think I could
describe the whole thing much better. We pretty much partied like it was 1999.
We returned to South Beach in one piece (despite a speeding ticket for Mo.)
and it looks like I will live to tell the tale.
But wait, there was still more to come. We still had 3 whole days left.
Well, the next day we didn't exactly get up early and then another huge point
of the trip came. I went to the Orange bowl game. It was such a good game. Alabama
played Michigan. As you may remember, my friend from ND, Durran, has a brother,
Shaun Alexander, who is the star player for Alabama. Anyway, that was how we
got the tix (once again, free) and it was also cool because I got to see Durran
and a few other boys from ND. Anyway, the game was great even though Bama lost
it on a heartbreaking missed extra point in overtime. My first college bowl
game and it was a great, overtime, BCS bowl game. Rock on. Nothing like throwing
a great college football game into a vacation that was already more than I could
ask for.
So, seeing as it was pretty much 85 to 90 and sunny for the whole break, the
next day it was time to hit the beach. Well, this was the icing on the cake
boys and girls. So here I am, on this great vacation, having the time of my
life. I'm feeling like it just couldn't really get any better and I really don't
deserve it to. We've done so much and seen so many great things. I'm thinking,
nothing could top all this stuff so far and BAM...topless beaches. Pure sweetness.
It was a very surreal moment. I remember walking on the beach and looking over
at Mo at one point and we just kind of looked at each other and give this non
verbal bit of communication that was just like, "this is so sweet, it's
almost not even fair. I just can't believe it."
So the last few days down there were still solid. We hit the wall pretty bad
on the last night out though. We were just so freakin' tired. I mean we were
really putting our bodies through hell and we just hit the wall at the end.
We basically partied our asses off for two weeks straight. I remember that last
night we were just sitting at this little outside cafe having a drink and watching
the crowd and I was like, "Mo, I think you might have to carry me back
home, because I can't walk another step." It really takes a lot out of
you to go so hard for so many days in a row (no pun intended). That night, we
went out until like 3 or so though which was cool but we mostly just sat at
this little cafe on the strip and talked to people and watched people going
by, soaking up our last little bit of Miami and a great vacation.