Welcome to Miami!

Taylor & I were given the opportunity to visit the Sunshine State: Florida. He had to present at a newly formed group of Dentists & Dental Labs, about a more organic way of dentistry. He did a fantastic job & I even got to sit in during his speech. We met some really nice people, Dentists, as well as their wives & Taylor was able to do some networking which is usually one of the main reasons why people attend conferences. I was able to participate/work, but also see some of the sites that Hollywood Beach had to offer.  Hollywood Beach is just outside of Miami & seemed to be more of where retired folks resided. It was filled with a cute boardwalk, white sand beaches, horse race tracks, shopping & great little restaurants.

The kiddos helped me pack. I think they could have hidden in my suit case?! :)

This was the view that I woke up to every morning. Just beautiful!

Right across from the hotel was a draw bridge. It was really neat to see it go up for boats that passed by. This reminded me of our many vacations we would take back East to Boston and going over draw bridges & waiting for boats. It's quite the site to see!

Hollywood Beach Boardwalk

The Disney House.

This was the public access path to the beach.

 Miami Heat vs Lakers Basketball Game
We decided the seize the opportunity & take advantage of the local attractions such as the Miami Heat. Taylor's favorite team is the Lakers, who happened to be in town while we were there. Unfortunately Kobe Bryant was injured so we didn't get to see him play, but we did get to see him. We also got to see Dwayne Wade (not too shabby in a suite!), Ray Allen (I didn't think I'd have to watch him play in a Heat uniform….I'm still bitter about him leaving the Celtics….), and of course King James (LeBron). Yeah I'm still not a fan of the King but it was very cool to see him play in person & even make a slam dunk!

                                     

LeBron's dunk.

The boys from That Awkward Moment

Who goes to the Heat/Lakers game to see Lebron & Kobe? I go to see the celebrities :)

Hollywood Beach (right across the street from my hotel).

We ate fresh fish every single day! Oh how I  love fish, but fresh fish is even better! YUM!!

This was the pool at our hotel. I only sat out here for lunch. Why go to the pool when the beach is across the street??

This was the Water Taxi that would arrive outside our hotel.

I was able to watch a wind surfer one day while I was at the beach. This reminded me of while I lived in Hawaii & every morning I would see wind surfers ride the waves on Hukilau Beach in Laie, Hawaii.

                                        

We found these babies at the local 7-11 right by our hotel.  Such a weird, random thing to find in a convenient store, but we did end up buying it! Haha! The kids thought it was cool, the grandparents not so much.

Here is Taylor in action. I was able to slip in & watch him present. He was the last speaker to go & he did great!

Out on the town.

The Aurum booth at the conference.

On Friday I decided to take a drive around the town & see what there was to offer. I came across the Gulf Stream Casino which features horse races. This isn't the best picture, but I got to see the jockey warm up before the races that day for a moment before I was told by security to go else where…

Outside the casino was a Town Square Shopping Center. While I was there, nothing was opened yet so I took a stroll around. Who doesn't open before 10am?? I finally found the only store open, Charming Charlie, and bought Lilianna a little surprise. 

Tow Mater was there! Ellis would have loved to have seen him :)

That Saturday night we went out on the town. We rode the little trolley down to the Boardwalk & ate at a seafood restaurant that over looked the Gulf Stream.

Sunday, before we left we strolled up & down the board walk again to take in the scenery & eat lunch. While we were walking back, we came across this iguana hanging out. It was shocking to see, but very cool at the same time! We saw a lot of neat animals while we were there: sandpipers, cranes, pelicans, & the iguana.

Farewell Miami until we meet again!