It’s kind of hard to believe, but despite having visited the vast majority of states in the U.S. by 2008, I had never been to Florida. So I was particularly pleased to finally get to visit the Sunshine State when my buddy Dan got married there. I was also pleased to find out that Florida has more than hurricanes, bad drivers, old people, flat land, and humidity when I got there. On the contrary, the two places I visited (Fort Lauderdale and Miami) were really nice! In fact, Miami is now my favorite large city outside of Paris.
I don’t know about you, but when I used to hear the word “Miami,” an image would pop into my head of a guy named Don Johnson wearing a cheesy white suit hopping into a Ferrari Testarossa kit car to hunt down criminals and prostitutes. Other times I might have thought about of a tropical storm battering skyscrapers with rivers of water while palm trees swayed to the side at 45 degree angles. Or, if it was football season, I might have recalled how Dan Marino was able to throw for so many touchdowns but could never get back to the Super Bowl after losing to the San Francisco 49ers in his rookie year.
Clearly, then, I had never actually been to Miami. Until now. That is, when I flew down there to be a groomsman at my buddy Dan’s wedding. Continue reading »
When Dan asked me to be a groomsman at his wedding in Miami, Florida, I was excited for a number of reasons: 1) my buddy Dan was getting married to a wonderful woman, Susan; 2) I’d get to see Dan and Susan for the first time in over a year; and 3) for the first time in my life, I’d be visiting the Sunshine State. So in June 2008, I pushed aside my preconceptions about what I heard about Florida (e.g., hurricanes, humidity, flat land, old people, bad drivers) and hopped on a jet to Fort Lauderdale. Continue reading »
