Winter Break - The Sunshine State (Dec 20-27)

Santa looks on at Tara and Rob during our Christmas Day kayaking trip

The Florida segment of my trip got off to a bad start the following Tuesday morning (December 20) when for only the second time in my life I missed my flight.  I arrived at the airport around 55 minutes before takeoff, which would have been plenty of time to go through security, but unfortunately I missed the cutoff to get my checked bag to the plane by 5 minutes.  (Sidenote: A little research later uncovered that JFK airport in NY is the only domestic airport where you have to arrive 60 minutes before the flight with checked luggage.  Some have a 45 minute restriction, all others are 30 minutes.  Therefore, I would have made my flight if I was in any other airport in the entire country).  The next flight to Miami that day was already full, but luckily I was able to find a spot on the next one after that.   I was also able to switch to a seat in an exit row with infinite amount of leg room next to a friendly Aussie who kept feeding me Gummy Worms. Another bonus was Tara was also able to get out of work early to pick me up at the airport.  So although it was a very frustrating start to the day (especially considering my 5:45 am wake up time to catch the first flight), it wasn't such a terrible experience and ultimately only amounted to a four hour delay. 

South Beach in December

Since Mom and Dad would not arrive until later in the week and Tara had to work during the day, my transportation options were a bit limited.  I decided to get up early enough (7ish) on Wednesday to accompany her to her office in Miami, and then take her car for the rest of the day.  At the recommendation of her roomie Randy, I headed to the Lincoln Road Mall down in South Beach.  Not surprisingly, the outdoor mall area was pretty dead when I first arrived in the morning since most stores were closed, so I headed to the beach for a few hours to enjoy the 80 degree December weather.  Around 1 pm, I had sufficiently burned myself at the beach so I went off to find lunch for my first Shake Shack experience.  Super tasty, but a little overpriced for a tiny burger is my opinion.  I wandered around the area a little bit longer since it was starting to get more lively, before heading out and running a few more errands and then finally returning to Tara's office to return the car.  Later in the evening I met up with Jay who lived only 5 minutes from Tara's condo to check out his new apartment and to go out for dinner and drinks with him and some of his friends.  

I opted against stealing Tara's car again on Thursday, so I got to sleep in and then met Jay for lunch at Laspada's Original Hoagies for what is now definitely one of my all-time favorite subs.  My Hero has nothing on this place.  I met up with Jay again at his apartment a little later that afternoon after he got out of work early.  When I got back, it was just in time to join Tara on a trip to the Ft Lauderdale airport to pick up Mom and Dad.  Two more guests meant the condo was starting to get a little tight with four Schaafs, Randy, and his girlfriend there for most of the evening.  The next day was spent mostly running errands or hanging out around the condo and the community pool. 

Rest stop during the kayak trip

On Saturday we headed to Aunt Diane and Uncle Wayne's house around 1.5 hours north in Stuart, Florida, to celebrate Christmas weekend with them and Marisa and Rob. As expected, it was a delightful two days and I'd list it as the highlight of the trip up to this point.  A Christmas Day kayaking trek around the surrounding neighborhoods was the most unique activity.  Of course, we still covered the more traditional holiday pastimes of massive amounts of delicious food, sports on TV, church services, driving around looking at Christmas lights, opening presents, and a game of Apples To Apples.  We also indulged ourselves in a Family Feud marathon that more than filled our quota for 2011.  I will forever remember the Sloan family after every high ten or chest bump I give anyone in the future.

Merry Christmas from the Schaaf kids

We left the Turner household Monday afternoon (Dec 26) to head back down to Tara's condo for a day and a half of poolside relaxation, errands, and the occasional French restaurant.  By the time Wednesday morning had rolled around, another week of my vacation was in the books, and I was off to the airport again.  The American portion of my Winter Break was nice and mostly relaxing.  It was especially great seeing Tara for the first time in a full year, and also the rest of the family that I hadn't seen since July.  But, alas, it was time for new adventures, in new cities, in new countries.

Next stop (after more than a full day of travel and a couple layovers).... Taiwan.