Coming Home - Monday, April 12

We had a wonderful trip, the first since January 2021 The trip was uneventful and we had just enough time between flights in Atlanta to hurry to the Delta Sky Lounge and have some food before boarding the plane to Bloomington. Jason and Sharon had brought Becker home and he was excited to see us. Our next vacation is not until October as we have a very busy summer with car events. As you can see in the pictures, we packed light! Then we stopped at a market on the way and bought a Corned Beef sandwich, then on the plane

, eating in the Delta Sky Lounge and Barb leaving with a double-double Kahula!! Life is good!

Spring 2021 - Our last day (until October) in Sunny Isle Beach

 We have slept in today as the weather was very rainy all night and today it is very cloudy so there is no reason to go to the beach or pool.

There is a reason why there are so many luxury cars around us and that is the properties right across from us.

One is the Acqualina Resort and Residences on the Beach.  For next week, the room start at $1,300 a night!

This resort is rated by Tripadvisor as the #1 Luxury Beachfron Resort in the U.S. for 6 consecutive years.

https://www.acqualinaresort.com/

Then next to it are the Estates at Acqualina with the cheapest residence from $4.9 million dollars with the penthouses up to $59 million!!!

http://www.estatesatacqualina.com/

We are flying Delta Airlines and our plane leaves at 3:55pm, flys to Altanda and then we arrive in Bloomington at 8:13pm

This was our first destination vacation withour a cruise and it was a fun week.

See everyone soon.

Hugs from Mon and Ed

                 The Acqualina Hotel on the left and the Estates on the right - one of two towers.

Spring 2021 – Day 7

Today is our last full day to be on the beach so we went there early, around 10 and stayed until 1pm so it was a fun 3 hours in the sun. It was a little windy but it really felt good and of course it was hot.

We snacked on the beach and decided not to eat lunch as were going to have an early dinner.

We then drove west about 45 minutes to the town of Weston, right on the edge of the Everglades to meet friends who have moved here, Eric and Renee Degelau and Pam and Jeff Beir. They drove from their homes in the Ft. Myers area.

We had become friends with both couples through Corvette Adventures. Pam and Jeff are also coming up in June to be drivers for us on a couple of tours.

We met at the Bonefish Grill and had a wonderful meal while sitting around with our friends for a couple of hours just talking and catching up.

We spit a Grouper fish dinner and finished up the dinner with a chocolate warming cake with vanilla ice cream. Sorry – forgot to take a picture!!

We drove the 45 minutes back to the hotel in a driving rain and it finally stopped as we drove into the hotel.

Then it was back to the hotel and an early night.

It has been a wonderful vacation, on the beach every day and eating wonderful food at different ethnic restaurant each day.

Coming home tomorrow.

Going out for the morning at the beach

                                                                        Going to dinner

The group - Jeff & Pam Beier, Eric & Renee Degelau and us

at Bonefish Grill, Weston, FL

                       

 

Spring 2021 - Day 6

 Another absolutely perfect weather day in Sunny Isle Beach with the temperature hitting 81 degrees.

After breakfast, we went to the beach for a few hours of sun.  We both have a couple of burn spots but are using spf 100 to cover them up.  Still, we can only spend 2 – 3 hours on the beach because the sun is so very hot.

After the beach we went to a Patagonia for lunch and had Caprese sandwich which was Proscutto, fresh Mozzarella, Pesto Sauce, lettuce, tomato and extra virgin olive oil.  It was good.

Then back to the hotel to clean up, change and go to a huge mall close by where they were having a weekend arts and crafts show.  The show was terrible so we then headed to Miami and went to one of the most exclusive islands, Palm Island, just off the causeway from Miami-to-Miami Beach.  One of the houses just sold for 35 million dollars!!

Then it was time to meet Reny our representative from Celebrity Cruise Line in the gambling department who we book all our cruises with.

Reny took us to a famous Cuban restaurant in Little Havana called Versailles.  On one of our first trips here we also went to that restaurant.

Dinner was wonderful, good food and seeing the person face-to-face who we talk to over the phone all the time taking care of our cruises.  For dinner we had a tropical ceviche and a shrimp cocktail followed by Dolphin Mahi-Mahi, sauteed with garlic.  The fish was amazing and the sauce was very, very good.

After dinner, we took the expressway back to the hotel and went to the bar on the 9^th floor to have a complimentary drink that they have each night.  Tonight’s drink was a Pina Colada.

Tomorrow is our last full day so good night for now.

                                          Ed's breakfast plus an English muffin back in the room

                                                    Going out for the afternoon/evening

                                        A mulit-million home under construction on Palm Island

                                The most expensive home on the island - just sold for $35 million!

                                            Yes, it is on the water by the cruise port

                                               A typical older house on Palm Island

                                            Tropical Ceviche and shrimp cocktail for an appetizer

                                                    Dolphin Mahi-Mahi, sauteed with a garlic sauce

                                                    Probably the bet fish dish we have had on the trip

                                                    Reny from Celebrity Cruise line and Barb

                                                    Our very late night drink- a Pina Colada

Spring 2021 – Day 5

We again go up late, but still made it out of the room by 11:00am.

The weather is unbelievably perfect. Virtually no clouds and very hot sun.

We stayed on the beach until about 2pm and then went to a Columbian restaurant where we have shrimp in a wonderful garlic sauce with a salad and rice combination.

After the late lunch we rode around with the top down looking at the fabulous homes in this area.

Then we came back to the hotel to freshen up and heading to an area in Surfside which has 10 neat restaurants in a 2-block area.

We choose a Greek restaurant and had a Greek salad and Sea Bass on rice. We usually split an entrée for dinner and this was a huge portion – but we finished it all.

After dinner, we came back to the hotel and had one of their complimentary drinks and then it was time to go to bed.

Tomorrow will be fun as we are meeting our contact in the Celebrity gambling area for dinner at a Cuban restaurant in Little Havana.

Night from beautiful Sunny Isle Beach

                                                        Going out for the day

                                                              The sky was perfect!!  

                                                        Lunch - Shrimp in a garlic sauce,

                                                            rice and salad

                                                             Greek Sea Bason rice

                                                                        Dinner

                                                     On drink on Marriott before bedtime

Spring 2021 – Day four

When we woke up, we decided that we had too much sun in a couple of sensitive areas so we did not go to the beach.

Instead, we first went to lunch at a Cuban restaurant and we had a favorite sandwich of the Cuban people, a Cubano.

Then we came back to the hotel and laid out on the pool deck for a few hours.

We then came in and cleaned up and drove around a couple of islands looking at some amazing houses.

After that, it was time for dinner. We wend south to the town of Surfside and ate tuna sushi and a choclate warming cake with ice cream at a popular kosher restaurant.

We then went to the Hard Rock Casino and first watched the light show on the main hotel building, which is shaped like a huge guitar. Hard Rock has completed a major expansion and the place is huge with a 140,000 sq ft casino and it was jammed.

Next was the casino where Barb didn’t play and Ed lost a little.

That’s all from Thursday.

                                                                What we left of lunch

                                                               The pool deck

                                                                         !!

                                                                    Outside for dinner

                                                                        Dinner was excellent

                                                        Going out for the evening

                                                        Outside the Hard Rock Hotel

                                                                        The Hard Rock Hotel

                                                    The light show at the Hard Rock Casino

Spring 2021 - Day three - April 2021

The sky is mostly clear and it is going to be a beautiful day in Florida.

As is normal, Ed got up and went to breakfast and Barb got ready to go.

We then headed to the beach a little earlier today (11am) for a few hours in the sun as Barb almost burned her forehead yesterday.

After the beach, we headed south and stopped in the main restaurant area of Sunny Isle Beach to a restaurant we had eaten next to last year.

We ordered the Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna and it was very good.

One of the unique places in lower Florida that Barb has never been to was to Key Biscayne so we headed there after lunch.

Key Biscayne is a wonderful island, just south of Miami and is a former coconut plantation.

Ed used to go there with his roommate in college to, believe it or not, pick coconuts and swim in the ocean!!

It’s one additional claim to fame is that former President Nixon had a summer White House on the island, since bulldozed down.

A lifetime ago, there were only coconut palms and a great beach on the island. Today there are no coconut palms and 12,000 people on the island which is only 5 miles long by 1.5 miles wide. There are lots and lots of condominium and a few houses.

After Key Biscayne, we hoped on the interstate for a 45-mile trip to Sunny Isle. Coming out of Miami, I-95 is 5 lanes wide plus two express lanes – what a drive at 7:00pm as there were still lots and lots of cars coming out of the city.

We returned to a wonderful locally owned Peruvian restaurant and had a wonderful .

The area we are staying in is one of the wealthiest areas in the Miami – Ft. Lauderdale area. The condominium across the street from the hotel is staid to have the highest square footage price of any condominium in the area.

This means that the cars are amazing. Mercedes and Ranger Rovers are the common place automobile. We have seen so many Rolls Royce, Bentleys, Maserati’s and cars like that it is truly amazing. In this one area tonight by dinner, which is in a strip mall, we saw them all plus most of these brands have SUV’s and there are here also. We saw two Alfa Romeos today. I don’t think I have ever seen one in Illinois!! It’s just hard to describe the luxury that surrounds this area.

Ed then wanted a pastry and Barb wanted some Kahlua so we bought them back and went back to the room – tired from all the fun we had.

Tomorrow is forecast to be warmer and clear so we will be back to the beach and then??

Night-night.

                                                        Ready to go for the day

                                                      The entrance to Halover Beach

                                                            Dinner at a Kosher restaurant

                                                    Sesane Crusted Ahi Tuna

                                                   The lighthouse at the end of Key Biscayne

                                                       Dinner - Ceviche - fish and shrimp

                                                        Ed's Cherry Strudel

Spring 2021 - Day two - April 2021

Since we stayed up late watching the NCAA championship game, we slept in. Ed had breakfast while Barb got ready and we headed to the beach at 11:30am – what a relaxing start to the day.

The weather was perfect for our first day on the beach – partly cloudy and hot!!

After a few hours on the beach, we drove down to the University of Miami store to buy some items.

It was fun being on campus again and of course it has changed a lot in the last 60 years ago; but, the bones and a lot of the original buildings were still there.

We had decided to go to a Crate & Barrel to look for new glasses as ours have worn out. There was a store close to the campus so we went there and bought 4 tall and 8 short glasses for everyday use. They should be home by the time we get there.

As it was almost 6pm, we went to a deli down by the University for dinner and it was pretty good.

We stopped at a Walmart on the way back to get some bananas for Ed for breakfast.

After returning to the room, Ed went next door to a McDonalds and had an ice cream for a late-night snack.

Tomorrow back to the beach and then??

Night from Sunny Isle Beach

   Early mornng view from our room

                                                                Bay view from our room

                                                          Ready to go to the beach

                                                                Style of glasses we bought

                                               Ed at the University of Miami with a new cap

                                               Barb in the Camaro outside the Deli for dinner

                                            Dinner - a Pastrami sandwich and Shrimp Cocktail

Spring 2021 - Day 1

Spring - 2021 - Day 1

We had a wonderful flight to Atlanta and went immediately to the Delta sky lounge. It was totally open and had a great breakfast buffet running when we go there.

We had 4 1/2 hours before our plane so this was a perfect place to relax.

Most of the people were sitting around without masks and we found a very comfortable place by the window overlooking one of the boarding areas with lots of people and planes coming and going.

The lounge was on the second floor – what a great place to relax waiting for a plane.

At the 11:00am they brought out lunch and so we ate lunch, had some drinks and waiting until it was time to leave for our plane.

Our plane ride was uneventful and we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale right on time, retrieved our one bag and took the shuttle to the rental car center.

Barb was surprised with a Camaro convertible after Ed convince the rental agent to give us one!

When we arrived at the Residence Inn in Sunny Isle Beach, the lobby was a madhouse because people coming and going for spring breaks; however, Tyler at the front desk did a wonderful job taking care of us and upgraded us to a corner room on the 16th floor with a view of the Atlantic Ocean and Ocean Drive below us.

According to the newspaper, the buildings across from us are the most expensive in all of Florida in which to purchase a residence.

As you can see by the picture, we had a wall of windows on two sides including the bathroom which was as entire wall of one window.

After organizing everything we went out for dinner and ate a salmon baguette at a Russian restaurant that was very good.

After dinner we relaxed watching the NCAA tournament on a 55-inch TV that was in our room.

All in all, a great start for our first day with a perfect flight, the Delta Sky Lounge experience, an upgraded room, an upgraded car and good restaurant.

Tomorrow we are looking forward to our first day on the beach. It has been soooo long since we have had a vacation!!

In the Delta Sky Lounge

                                                          Our breakfast snack 

           Dinner - Golden Salmon Baguette pan-stirred  

       with green peppers, red onion, garlic and middle eastern spices.

                                                             The view from the "Throne"

 

                                                                    The view from bed

                              Our room at the Residence Inn, Sunny Isle Beach, Florida- 1601