spring breaaaak
In March, Chris and I went down to Florida for vacation. Miami was still on the bucket list, and we hadn’t had our Dinnyworl fix in a few years. We fled the (actually pretty mild) New England winter for sunny skies.
We flew into Fort Lauderdale and stayed at Hilton Cabana Miami Beach. Our first day in the city, I went for a sweaty run along the Atlantic Way which was full of very beautiful and very tan people. Chris and I explored Wynwood, which I’m sure was cool a few years ago but today feels like a ginormo influencer trap. One legitimately kewl spot was Walt Grace Vintage, a combo guitar/classic car shop.
Chris and I went for a walk around Vizcaya, a former rich people mansion turned into a museum and magical garden estate. For dinner, we had delish Italian food at Call Me Gaby.
In March, I was in the thick of training for the London Marathon. I timed our vacation so it wasn’t a high volume training week, but I still had a long run to get in… which is how I found myself toeing a start line at the crack of dawn in Miami.
I ran the 305 Half Marathon, and added a bonus mile to stick to my training plan. It was incredibly humid and much warmer than I was used to running in. Once the sun came up, it became a real character-builder, especially running east along the MacArthur Causeway. I was so sweaty at the finish line, I had to ask a stranger to open my Gatorade. I was toast for the rest of the day; Chris and I housed some burgers, took it easy at the beach, and did dinner and a movie. [Bodega had yum tacos].
The next day we drove north towards Orlando, with an expensive and dumb stop at the Kennedy Space Center [do not rec]. The rest of our vacation we spent at Dinnyworl, hitting all four parks and Downtown Disney. We had a ton of fun, had a ton of good luck with food, and got a ton of steps in. Hilton Tuscany Villa was a great home base, would stay there again.
Chris had a show back home, so I headed to New Orleans to meet up with Jacki to round out my SPRING BRAAAAAK. It was Jacki’s first extended time in the city, so I brought her to all my favorite spots.
Per usual I insisted on karaoke at Kajun’s; I’ve been working on my “You Oughta Know” act. Afterwards, a dude told me that I could “have a career,” but didn’t specify what kind. As an Alanis impersonator? As an angry, wronged songstress?
It was the week of St. Patrick’s Day, so we got to dodge flying cabbages at the Irish Channel Parade. I spent a volunteer day again with lowernine.org, and had a 5 star po’boy with Bill at Arabi Food Mart [very close to the scene of last year’s tornado].
Some new delicious food spots to add to the NOLA list:
Morrows: almost brought me to tears
Paladar 511: no tears but still very delicious
It was a good vacation! Vitamin D was acquired.
where:
traditional lands of:
miami//Seminole, Taino, Tequesta, Miccosukee, and Mascogo
orlando//Seminole, Miccosukee, and Mascogo
new orleans//Chahta Yakni [Choctaw], Chitimacha
[https://native-land.ca]
when: march and the weather was swell
how: rented a car in FL and walked a lot in NOLA
