Back to reality… Part 2! March 19, 2009

And our week continues with Theresa’s 21st birthday…

The girls at the Everglades!

 

 

 

Day 5, Wednesday: Cara and I awoke to a sleepy group of girls, so we decided to head down to the pool and let them sleep in. The sun was in and out due to clouds and we found ourselves burning hot at times and then freezing just seconds later. A littler miserable, to say the least. We were down there for about an hour when we see Theresa emerge from the shadows… she survived! About 20 minutes later, Emily joined us by the side of the pool. Theresa ordered her first drink EVER from the Tiki Bar at the pool and we all sipped and soaked for a few hours. At times, it ended up being so cold that we all covered up with towels and tried to take naps… how pathetic. Haha. Before Theresa got her drink, Cara and I had to go back up to the room to get money, and on the way back down, we got on the elevator with a man who greeted us with a “WHOA!” and proceeded to get off on our floor (the second floor) instead of the ground level and got reeeeally lost. All the while we were watching him from the ground floor and laughing. (Later that day, that same man decided to “flirt” with Jen and I by creating tidal wave like waves around us in the process of retrieving a volleyball… yea, cool.) During that time, the rest of the girls went to the Everglades in hopes of seeing a real, live alligator! They took a tour on an air boat, saw an alligator, got dangerously close to it, held a baby alligator and saw an assortment of other animals at the small “zoo” located at the… tour place? Loss for words right now. Haha. They reunited with us later in the day. We went through the usual routine of showering and taking turns blow drying and straightening our hair and then we made our way to the Sea Watch restaurant for Theresa’s birthday. It was a very cute restaurant located on the beach with an amazing view… not only of the water, but of the drunken, elderly people dancing outside the restaurant for the Full Moon Watch. Very entertaining, if I do say so! While the restaurant was extemely appealing to the eye, it wasn’t so appealing to the wallet! On average, a meal cost $25, when we had been told $15. Now, those prices would have been okay if the shrimp hadn’t been overcooked and if we hadn’t been jipped on food (we got a free dessert out of it at least!). They even gave Theresa the WRONG martini… we couldn’t even figure out what flavor it was supposed to be. Nevertheless, it was a good experience overall… those dancing couples definitely made it better After dinner, we prepared ourselves to go out

Hard to see, but that's Emily and I in the center on the bar!

with Theresa’s sister, her friends, her boyfriend and some of his friends in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. About 20 minuntes into getting ready to leave, Tiffany came in and announced to me that the 20-year-olds would be joining us! It took me a minute to grasp what she was saying, but veryyyyy exciting! Apparently, Theresa’s sister’s boyfriend’s friend (if you followed that AT ALL) said he would get ALL of us into the club; specifically, he said he would “make it happen.” So, we go to Theresa’s sister’s boyfriend’s friend’s house and we hang out for about and hour when we finally start making our way to the club. I rode in a car full of muscular guys, which didn’t make for a very comfortable trip, and when we got there I mentioned the fact that Theresa’s sister’s boyfriend’s friend said he was going to “make it happen” and he denied it! Imagine my panic when I realized there was no way we were ALL getting in! Well, Theresa’s sister’s boyfriend’s friend walked up to the bouncer, mentioned his connection and the fact that we had a birthday girl with us and BAM, front of the line! Theresa’s ID was checked just to make sure it was her birthday and then I got in without being carded, so again, I had hope that we would ALL make it into the club! Well, I turn around and see Tiffany talking to the bouncer and I see her say “Are you kidding me? It’s one of my best friend’s birthdays.” Figuring it couldn’t make anything worse, I went to the bouncer, swore to him they wouldn’t drink… and was still denied Tiff and Jodi had to make their way back home while the rest of us got in without any problem… except for Cara that is. The bouncer apparently was incompetent in math and thought Cara wasn’t 21. Ugh. But anyway, we all finally made it into the most awesome outdoor club/bar I had ever seen! PLUS, ladies got drinks FREE all night! Simply amazing. We danced on bars, ate hot dogs, got videotaped dancing by some creepy guys, and met some pretty cool soccer players from Mercer (in Georgia). Overall, it was an amazing night and a great way to celebrate Theresa finallyyyy turning 21!

 

Day 6, Thursday: We all got a late start on the day and decided to forego the beach and just lay by the pool. We didn’t last too long, and half the group decided to go BACK to the mall to spend some more money and hopefully make it through the other half of the huge place, while Cara, Jodi and I decided to visit our Mercer soccer boy friends in Ft. Lauderdale. We were there for about 2 hours and in that time Jodi provided the margaritas and Cara

Before South Beach!

was pushed into the pool by a very attractive Miami-resident I sat on the sidelines as the DD and watched (we are responsible adults!). We got back to the hotel just in time for a new, emotional episode of Grey’s Anatomy and pizza. The 21-year-olds got dolled up for a night out in South Beach with Theresa’s sister and her friends. We finally left around 11:15 p.m., drove 45 minutes, passed Miami Ink (ahhhhh!) on our way to find parking, and drove around the city for about 20 minutes before we found a rather empty parking deck about 6 blocks from the club we were going to. Now, I’ve never been to Miami before, but the nightlife was wayyy crazier than I had ever imagined. While walking down the strip, we were grabbed by the arms, told to attend various night clubs, told we could drink for free all night, stared at every steph of the way… it was a little scary. We did, however, pass either Real or Chance from “The Real Chance at Love” reality show on vh1. Kinda cool, right? Well, when we were about a block away from Mansion, the nightclub we were going to which was frequently visited by celebs, we found a man giving out VIP wristbands. Well, of course we got them and when we reached Mansion, we were escorted to the very front of the line

Jen on Tiff's shoulders!

and got in with no wait at all. VIP status, baby! The cover was $20 (ridiculous!) and drinks were $12 on average… an expensive night. The atmosphere was unlike any other though. The club was separated into three different rooms, all with different music and lighting. It was pretty awesome. Emily and I danced on the bar until our feet hurt and we found a few guys to dance with for about an hour. We had a little trouble along the way though. Cara tried to use her Visa Gift Card and when we went to close the tab, the bartended told us in a panic that they didn’t accept them because there was no name listed. So, Cara gave all her cash and I footed the rest of the bill. Not a problem, but it was $78 total! By the time we left, which was 3:30 a.m., our feet hurt so bad we were waddling through people on the sidewalk. We even hailed a cab to take us the 6 blocks back to the car. Overall, it was a pretty cool experience, but I wouldn’t say it was any better than the clubs in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. So, while we were at the club, the 20-year-olds went on an adventure to retrieve coconuts! Tiffany had wanted to do that since we got there! They got dressed in dark colors, put on jeans and tennis shoes, packed a knife and went to the beach front. Once there, they made their way through some bushes to the shortest palm tree with coconuts they could find. While on Tiffany’s shoulders, Jen cut down their first coconut! Success! They sent us all a picture of their achievement and went back for another! Overall, a very successul night!

Day 7, Friday: Our last day in Florida We spent the day in Miami! On the way, we stopped at the National Hurricane Center for our weather buff, Cara. It was pretty cool! Small building with a ton of satellites on the roof, located on the campus of Florida International University. That is where Cara and I decided we are moving to Miami together so she can work there and I can get a job! Haha. When we got to South Beach, we first ate at Big Pink, which was an entirely pink building with pink Volkswagen delivery Bugs sitting out front. It was designed similar to a cafeteria inside,

Big Pink!

but with a beachy feel. Their menu included anything and everything you could possibly want at any time of the day! Three of us settled on burgers, three on sandwiches and one on a quesadilla. The food! The food was more massive than anything I had ever seen. You could hardly get your mouth around the burgers and they all came with a BUCKET full of fries, while the sandwiches came with a BUCKET full of chips. We didn’t  even come close to eating it all, but it was so amazing. We left there and made our way to MIAMI INK, my one request for the trip! On the way there, we passed the Love Hate Lounge, which is owned by the same owners of Miami Ink (the real tattoo parlor is now named Love Hate Tattoo). I have always said that if I were to ever go to Miami that I would get a tattoo at Miami Ink… well, much to my

 

MIAMI INK!!

disappointment, the lowest price they charge for a tattoo is $200! So, I nixed that idea really quick. Nevertheless, it was so cool seeing where the show was filmed! After that, we made our way to Ocean Avenue and popped into a small shop for T-shirts and the usual tourist necessities. From there, we went to the beach and boardwalk and proceeded to take a bazillion pictures with palm trees in senior picture-like poses. Good thing I love my new camera and like taking pictures The water was so blue and the lifeguard houses were beyond cute! We walked the rest of the way to the car on the boardwalk, stopping from time to time for me to take pictures of peoples’ luxury sports cars (and one scooter). I became a creeper at some points, taking pictures while the driver was actually in the car, but I didn’t care and I’m sure the driver didn’t mind the boost in ego! Miami was definitely a different place compared to the rest of Florida, but it was SO cool. Oh, and after all the trouble Tiff went through to get a coconut, she found one just lying on the ground below a tree. Haha. After Miami, a few of us went to the Harley Davidson store- Tiff’s one request. It was an old school designed building and it was very cool. She bought a shirt and helmet sticker for her dad and we took a few picutres- the trip was well worth it! After that, we all went to Emily’s sister’s family’s house for a home-cooked meal! It was fabulous! They served wine, martinis, burgers (for three of us, it was the second one in a day!), corn on the cob, macaroni salad, potatoe

Back end of a FERRARI... yes, please!

salad, salad, and for dessert, tiramisu and Ghiradelli brownies! And yes, it was as much food as it sounds like! And I couldn’t stop eating it! There was a lizard debacle that included the stove, gloves, a broom, Jodi, Jen, and Claudia, but it was finally solved! We relaxed in a screened-in patio in the amazing weather, reminiscing about our trip and feeling sad about the fact that we had to leave in a matter of hours. It was then that we realized how amazing our spring break had been and how badly we didn’t want to return to the nasty, up and down weather or Virginia.

 

But all good things must come to an end…

 

 

Day 8, Saturday: At 12 a.m., almost to the minute, we left the Wyndham resort and started the 14 hour trip back home…

Now, as I sit here writing this post, I realize that last week may have been one of the best weeks of my life and possibly the best spring break ever. I couldn’t have asked for better people to spend it with or a better location. I can only hope that next year, our SENIOR year, we all have the same week off and have another amazing time… because who knows when we will be able to do it again after that

Love my girls! Thanks for a fabulous break!

 

-CS