Playing a little catch up

Back from Miami all, and I'm peeling like a potato.  I don't think I have ever peeled this much in my life. The sun was so intense and lovely down there that you feel as if you could lay in the sun forever.  When you're cavorting in the waves you don't feel it at all.  We stayed in one of the old art deco hotels right on Ocean Drive.  I did alot of searching beforehand for the right hotel and price.  I found this place, for four nights, and paid a song.  The only thing we didn't expect was the valet parking.  They charge you up front for four days of storage.  It was worth it though, because we only took the car out once to cruise through downtown Miami.  The rest of the time we spent walking to the beach, down Ocean Dr., Collins Ave., and Espaniola Way.  After the first day the walking became habit.  My figure benefited from this and I unknowingly lost some weight!  I'm continuing this trend by walking out at our high school track three times a week -- might as well keep going!  None of the hotels on Ocean Dr. have continental breakfast.  Instead,  you head out and snake your way through each hotel's restaurant.  They are all outside and everyday we had beautiful breakfasts with the palm trees and ocean crashing right in front of us.  The nice thing about eating at these restaurants is that they are all in competition with each other.  Everyday, we paid $4.25 for the best food ever.  All the competition drives the prices down, so we ate gourmet food for next to nothing.  My favorite breakfast was the spinach and mushroom omelette with hollandaise sauce, red potatoes with herbs, and cuban coffee.  Delectable.  It was an awesome vacation.  Careful planning and a little saving in advance will do you wonders on vacation.  We have never had money to throw around, but have always taken vacations to various places.  Good research and no plastic is what keeps us under control.  For the past ten years, any travel we have done has been without credit cards.  Mexico, New Jersey, Florida and various places have been traveled to with cash or debit.  It's so freeing knowing you won't have a bill to look forward to when you get home. 

We're now settled back in.  Laundry is finally finished and this is the first time I've been able to set down and share a few thoughts.  Belle is adjusting to being back home and we're are glad to have her.  We just this week bought a router so she can use her laptop at home.  It's a connection to her friends back in college, just like my computer is a pathway to the world.  Traveling can leave you exhausted, but all richer for having experienced it.