I'm Liking Miami!

Miami's been great so far!

I love the weather. It's a bit windy at times, but right now it's just perfect. Not too hot, and just cool enough so if you're busy walking or doing things, it's comfortable.

The place looks so different...lots of retro architecture...like from the '70's...and culturally so different than the bay area. The bay area has a lot of Asian/Indian influence, but here it's Latin/Cuban and it's definitely got it's own unique atmosphere. I like it. The men...so cute! I'm definitely liking what I've seen! :-P

I have yet to try out some "real" Cuban food, but I'm saving that for tomorrow.

Tonight...gonna head out to one of the many pre-run happy hours and check out some nightlife.

More later...

I Smell Like Bus

Man...today was interesting.

I didn't go to bed until 4AM here, which is only 1AM back home. I woke up around 10AM (7AM back home) and was just out of it...I'm totally still on pacific time, so I could tell it was EARLY. I was having some really funky dreams, too. Just weird...

I was a little paranoid about sleeping in because my roommate hadn't checked in and I didn't want to be in pj's or still sleeping if she arrived early. So I got up despite being all groggy.

First and most importantly today was to get my butt to the Hyatt in downtown where they were having the Marathon Packet Pickup / Health Expo. I had to pick up my bib and runner's packet and such for the run so I didn't have to deal with it tomorrow.

The marathon staffers for SF AIDS sucked. I was told that shuttle buses to the expo would run from noon-8PM from our hotel, but they had failed to tell us it was a misprint and while the expo was from noon-8PM, shuttle buses from our hotel didn't actually start until 3PM. ARGH.

So I talk to the concierge and he said a taxi would run ~$25, 2o mins, or I could take the bus $1.50, about 30/40 mins. Umm...I was feeling adventurous and had nothing really on the agenda so figured I'd take the bus. The bus driver was no help at all, and neither was this lady sitting next to me, so I was sort of guessing where I should get off. I didn't do too bad, 'tho. I was off by about 3 blocks, and given the weird streets and avenues and things labeled NE, SW and every permutation possible with numbers and other compass directions, I found the Hyatt. Whew.

The expo was great! I got two massages, tons of freebies and met some cool people while standing in line. One lady had her arm in a sling from a stress fracture in her shoulder and she was still going to run! Another man was from NY, now living in Miami and travels all over to run in these things multiple times per year. Amazing.

Returning from the expo was another ordeal. There were no shuttle buses at 3PM like I was told. I asked around and even the official ING reps for the marathon (Miami marathon is actually sponsored by ING. SF AIDS Foundation is just a small subset of the runners) had no clue about the shuttle bus. Argh. There was no SF rep around to help answer questions. So what now? I get back on the bus and head back.

Eh.

While on the bus on the way back there was a minor altercation with this lady and man. The man was kind of a jerk and smelled like alcohol, but in those cases, don't you usually leave them alone? This lady didn't seem to bright and engaged in a small tiff with him. He spit on her and hopped off the bus. Ummm... yeah.

I thought I'd be adventurous and get off at a stop along the way to browse around another area of town, but that was a mistake. When I decided to get back on the bus, I didn't realize the bus would take *forever* to come along. While I was waiting at the stop, there was a very animated gentleman who was harassing everyone. He reeked of beer and cigarettes. Then I get back on the bus to continue back to the hotel. For some reason our bus driver rode right past the hotel, despite people who had rang the bell. Yes, it was the correct bus. Unfortunately, the next visible stop was quite aways away. *sigh*. So I get off, and cross the street to wait for my return bus to backtrack to the hotel.

This also took FOREVER, so I stopped a different bus to see if they stopped near my hotel. I found one who said he doesn't, but he'd stop within a block. Ok. Good enough.

I'm back now, safe and sound. I'm tired and I reek of bus. It's kind of gross. I'm gonna shower before getting up the courage to grab dinner and try out the night life here.

My roomie still hasn't checked in...I wonder where she's at?

More later...

Miami

Finally! Getting ready for bed and thought I'd post...

Made it into Fort Lauderdale around midnight, but didn't get to the hotel/Miami until closer to 1:30AM. Didn't actually get my room until 2:15ish. It's now nearly 3:15AM. I'm still operating on California time, so I don't feel too tired yet.

I love the connectivity here. I don't know how people existed before hotels had wireless or internet access.

I tell you...the atmosphere on my flight from SF to Denver was SO different than my flight from Denver to Fort Lauderdale.

SF to Denver folks were all stuffy businessy types...dressed mostly in suits and all carried their Wall Street Journal or Financial Times paper with them. I guess their business attire wouldn't be complete without one of those tucked under their arm, huh? On the plane they would finish reading their paper and then pull out their laptops or blackberries and proceed to do whatever businessy stuff they had to do. The guy next to me made me laugh when he asked for milk from the beverage cart. I dunno why that was funny...it just was.

The folks on my Denver to Fort Lauderdale were young, rowdy types. A bunch of them had gone to Denver for skiing/snowboarding and were all rehashing stories from their vacation. Another group of gals were chattering about dorm life and boys. They were hilarious!

In Denver I had to change planes and during my layover I made a pit stop. I ended up using the toilet bowl from HELL. I don't know about you, but I really hate those motion-censored toilet bowls that automatically flush when you get up. In my case, this darn bowl kept flushing on me while I was doing my thing. It was so annoying and so freaky. Seriously...it must've flushed about 4 or 5 times in a row while I was sitting on it!

Some of those toilets are on a timer mode, so if you take too long it flushes on you. Umm...that wasn't my case. Others are pressure censored, so when you stand up it knows you're done and then flushes. Umm...that wasn't my case either. The folks at Oakland airport have wised up and even though all bathrooms are wired to be motion-censored there, they've turned off that mode and allow you to flush the old fashioned way - when you're done and darn ready for a flush! Hmmph!

Anyway, so I get into the Fort Lauderdale, and I swear...they packed us into the airport shuttle van like sardines. I don't know if it was legal what they did, but I guess they were trying to maximize (or minimize) the number of trips into Miami (about a 40 min drive). There's nothing worse than being packed into a car full of strangers like that. Is it just me or do those shuttle rides feel obscenely uncomfortable? No one knows each other, so no one really attempts to make small talk, and I don't like shouting out my address so everyone around me can hear it.

Thank goodness I was the 2nd person out of that van.

I get to the hotel and try to check in and the guy can't find my name on the reservation list. Uh...what? You're kidding me? So he asks the manager to check and the manager also can't find my name. He said if I wanted a room I'd have to pay. Umm....NO. I pulled out my paperwork and showed him I was confirmed by the running group, but the paper didn't have a hotel confirmation number, nor did it have my roomie's name on it since the room may be in her name instead.

Ooook...so I try to be reasonable. I said...Since I have the paperwork and you know I'm part of this group, and since most of the group is coming in tomorrow, just put me in an empty room and I'll come down first thing in the morning when the team rep and rest of the group arrive and we can figure out which room and which person I'm assigned with then. He didn't get it. He just kept saying I wasn't reserved. Or maybe I "got" his point, but didn't care? I don't know. I was just tired and starting to get pissy at that point.

Argh...after about 10 minutes of this back and forth, I was pretty sure we were at a stalemate. Then out of the blue he checked another screen and there I was. Whew. I dunno what happened, or why they didn't look there earlier, but at that point I didn't care. I was tired and hungry and just wanted to get settled in.

Finally I got into my room. I was starving (don't get me started on the 'no food served' policy on the airlines these days) so I ordered a delivery from some place...the only place according to the front desk that had "real" food and that would deliver. Nothing w/n walking distance was opened. *sigh*

I got buffalo wings served with sides of mayo. Who the heck serves it with sides of mayo?? Eeeww!! I want my ranch! It was so wrong. I also got a Greek salad. The salad was the only redeeming part of the meal. I also got a $2.00 lemonade that could have been bought at the store for $0.50. Sheesh.

My room is freezing, the heat doesn't work.

I'm not complaining, mind you. Just retelling the day's event as is.

But you know what? It's all ok. Tomorrow's another day, and I'm in Miami!!!

Yay!

More later...