Florida wedding

We got back from our Florida holiday on Wednesday. Vancouver greeted us with grey skies and rain - so good to be back :) Still, I mustn't grumble, as this weekend has been lovely and sunny!

We left last Wednesday after work. We caught the 6pm Amtrak train from just outside our office which took us to Seattle in four and a half hours. It was a very pleasant journey; the train is really comfortable and the scenery is interesting, especially when the train travels right along the edge of the coast. Even the customs formalities were a breeze - you can stay on the train while the immigration officers get on - awesome. We got to Seattle about 10pm and took a taxi straight to our little hotel on the airport, and promptly went to sleep - we had to get up early to fly at 8am the next morning.

Apart from a small hiccup (the airport shuttle left without us and had to come back), catching the flight went super-smooth. We stopped in Atlanta after about four and a half hours flying, and then had another two hours flight to Fort Myers in Florida. We arrived at our hotel (Casa Playa) around 9pm. It was more a block of apartments than a hotel - there were no real hotel services and no bar / restaurant etc. but the rooms were lovely and we were very happy. We popped out for food before sleep, and stumbled on a very rowdy bar full of arguing people. Quite a shock from the quiet reservation of Vancouverites!

Friday we woke to find we had an amazing view from our balcony which was pretty sweet. It was hot and sunny so we hit the beach in the morning for a while, and then went to a pre-wedding BBQ. Our Florida trip was mainly because Steph's friend Holly was getting married to a nice fellow called Pat and we'd been invited (and in fact Steph was a bridesmaid). We got to meet some of their friends and family, and there were lots of burgers and hot dogs so I was happy :)

In the afternoon, there was a rehearsal dinner for the wedding. Steph was involved but I had nothing specific to do so I propped up the hotel bar with some new friends I had made from the wedding party - Steve and Vic (you'll spot them in the photos). Later Steph and I went out for dinner to finish off the day.

On the Saturday, some cloud moved in. We spent a little while on the beach in the morning and both had a swim in the sea which was cool but pleasant (yes, I am swimming a little now - trying to improve my confidence). The wedding didn't start until 5.30pm, and by that time it was distinctly overcast and somewhat windy, and there had even been brief showers earlier. Luckily though the rain held off until after the ceremony, and everything went very smoothly. The wedding was really lovely actually - congratulations to Holly and Pat again! You can see our photos from the wedding here.

On Sunday we said our goodbyes and left Fort Myers. We had to get to the airport to pick up a hire car, but public transport isn't so great in the US and after an hour or so of getting largely nowhere we had to give up and pay for a taxi. The drive to Miami took around 3 hours, and was pleasant although not too exciting, at least until we reached Miami Beach where the traffic got really crazy. Stressful to say the least! Our hotel wasn't quite what we had hoped - it was a little bit faded in its grandeur and our "jacuzzi" turned out to be a jetted bath - we'd hoped for something more :) But it was perfectly good enough. Our favourite was "Grumpy Hour" between 7 and 8pm where a surly waitress served free drinks in the lobby, and yet expected huge tips :) We generally found that service in Florida was not as good as Vancouver - people just weren't as friendly. We'll try to appreciate service here a little more from now on!

On Monday we still had the car so we took a drive down to the Florida Keys. The Keys run for a round 120 miles and the road is not too fast, so we didn't make it all the way to Key West at the very end - we turned around at a place called Marathon. It was a great drive though, and we saw some cool places on our stops. Sadly it was on this trip that I lost my new sunglasses in a petrol station toilet :)

Tuesday was our last day in Miami. We did some walking around the beach, the art deco district and Ocean Drive in the morning and the weather was scorching. There are lots of cool looking hotels. After lunch we went on a combined city tour and boat tour to see some more of Miami. We had a completely mental coach driver who called himself "Manny Miami" and talked like a boxing announcer. He was truly a bizarre guy. The tour was good though, as otherwise we would have seen very little of the area in our short stay. We particularly enjoyed the boat ride as we got lots of fresh air. That night we had the best food of the holiday too (at least eating out) - some really simple cuban food that tasted wholesome and really good. A nice way to end!

The journey back on Wednesday was uneventful, and surprisingly long. We got up at 5am ET, and got home about 6pm PT, so that was 16 hours in total - eek. The bus trip back from Seattle wasn't so much fun as the train down either - not too comfortable and lots of waiting at the border. Train good, bus bad :/

In summary, we enjoyed the holiday for sure - especially Fort Myers and the wedding which was great. Miami was nice to visit but a bit too crazy for us. I think we'd go back to Florida because the weather is so nice, but maybe to somewhere a little more relaxing than Miami.

Our photos (not including the wedding - see link above) can be found here.