Florida Trip 1/29-2/9 Day 3 and 4

Day 3:

We didn't quite get up as early and in the car as soon as we had anticipated on this Sunday morning. We woke up to cloudy skies and the weather would stay that way and rain at times all the way to Miami. It was the day of the Pro Bowl and we drove the roughly 150 miles from Fort Myers to Miami to see it in person. The game started at 7:30 pm so we had plenty of time to get there and explore a little. We drove through the Everglades on the freeway known as Alligator Alley. On the way there, I thought I saw 1 alligator in the water on the side of the road but I'm not positive. I've never had a huge desire to spend much time in Miami but I was definitely curious about the city and seeing South Beach. The only thing is I always envisioned it to be hot and sunny, not cloudy and rainy.

The hotel we stayed at, The Chesterfield, was in South Beach just on the other side of the block from the famous Ocean Drive. Even if you never have been to South Beach, you've seen a lot of the Art Deco district, hotels and surroundings in movies and on TV. Immediately, the area was so busy and it was difficult to drive a car down the Ocean Drive past all the hotels. We soon discovered that none of the hotels have parking lots and that valet parking was $30. Our hotel room was very small but all of them are like this in South Beach.

M and I slept in separate beds because we're not married yet. Ha ha.

See the bed in the bottom of the picture? That's an indication of how small the room was.

The bathroom. It was so weird because the whole floor was the shower floor. There was just a drain in the shower area with no tub or area you step in to. (Yes, I know my pants are unbuttoned and unzipped. I was about to take a shower and wanted a picture first.)

As soon as we left our hotel decked out in our Vikings jerseys for the 20 or so minute drive to Sun Life Stadium aka Dolphins Stadium, it began to rain even harder but I was hoping that we would not be sitting in the rain watching the game. We stopped on our way to get some ponchos just in case. When we bought our tickets to the game, it included a parking pass so we were able to park in the stadium parking lot but not without a huge traffic jam. The traffic was crazy and I just imagined how it would be just a week from that day for the Super Bowl.

It was fun to see all the different jerseys for all the NFL teams. We saw a good amount of Vikings jerseys while there and it was the day when all of us football fans are friends and there are no rivalries. Ok, I did crinkle my nose a little every time I saw a Packers jersey. The majority of the jerseys were Miami Dolphins.

We had one bad start before even getting into the gate. We had to have security check us and my purse and they would not let anyone bring their camera case in so I had to throw it away along with hundreds of other camera cases. This was the same camera case that M just bought me for Christmas as a replacement as the one I had before I lost while at a lighthouse in Door County on Lake Michigan on Halloween.

Once in the stadium, our seats were fantastic. We were on the lower level, row 18, around the 35 yard line on the NFC side. We had a good view of the NFC players and their bench. There was supposed to be lots of Vikings players to play in the game but with injuries and cancellations, Adrian Peterson, Steve Hutchinson, Jared Allen and Heath Farwell would be the only Vikings we would see. The game itself was fun but there really is no meaning to it therefore lessening the excitement of actually playing for something. It was just fun to be there and see the interaction of all the players with each other. The AFC won 41-34 but the score would go back and forth which I believe is done on purpose to keep interest in the game. The rain held off for most of the game. I covered up with my poncho at times.

Outside of the rainy stadium

In the fan area outside the stadium

The band Honor Society played before the game and sang the National Anthem. Never heard of them.



Jared Allen and Heath Farwell being announced

Adrian Peterson



Peyton Manning and Drew Brees with Chris Berman before going on the air on ESPN.


The half time show


Me with my poncho over my head


My future last name



Once we got back to South Beach, we went out and walked around the area. We stopped to eat at a place called Jerry's Famous Deli. They had the most items I've ever seen on a menu. They offered over 600 items. Now M and I know what Jerry's is famous for...ripping you off. I got a chef salad that cost over $17. This chef salad was nothing special and I could have had better quality food at a grocery store salad bar.

Jerry's





Hotels on Ocean Drive--The one side of the street is hotels and the beach is on the other side.

There were different football trophies on display on the street

If you watched any Super Bowl coverage, you probably saw this neon arch that was up specifically for the Super Bowl.


This car was crazy. It had two wheels up front and one in the back and it didn't have any doors.











I loved the look of this alley

Our hotel


Day 4:

We checked out of our hotel just before 11 am and it was still cloudy outside with a few drops of rain but it was extremely humid, even though it was around 70 degrees. We bummed around Ocean Drive again, this time in the day light and went on to the beach. I never envisioned South Beach dead. There wasn't anyone on the beach except for the workers that were constructing things for the Super Bowl. All of the media tents and stages had taken over the beach and that is where the Super Bowl coverage for the week was going to take place. Even with a heavy overcast, I could still tell the waters were clear and had some aqua color to it.


Burger King


Just how I envisioned South Beach to look! :(

A huge stage set up for Super Bowl activities






The hotels in the day.


Humphrey Bogart in a car parked outside one of the hotels





Getting ready to leave Miami. The city is in the background. On the left is where all the huge cruise ships were in the port.


It's hard to tell in this picture but this is an island that had incredibly expensive houses on it. We tried to go in but it was a gated community. I saw there is one house that is being listed for $29 million. There are 3 islands that have incredible houses...Hibiscus, Pine and Star Island. The houses and yachts that you can see are crazy!


As soon as we got out of Miami onto the freeway, it poured so hard that it was very difficult to drive. Our time in Miami was spent under clouds and rain. I over heard someone say that it was the first time it had rained in Miami for over a month. Of course it had to happen the days we were there. We stopped and ate lunch at a place called Azteca's and then got back on Alligator Alley back to Fort Myers. Remember how I thought I saw 1 alligator on the way to Miami? This time M and I stopped counting the alligators once we reached 100! There were everywhere! They are on the side of the road in the swamp areas. There is a fence that separates the swamps from the freeway, but sometimes they come up on the road.

To end our evening, we ate at Applebee's and went and saw Avatar in 3D. What amazing effects!

Florida Trip 1/29-2/9 Day 1 and 2

Day 1:

We arrived in Fort Myers, Florida not too long before midnight on Friday, 1/29. We picked up our rental car, got something to eat and went to M's parent's house to crash for the evening. It was very nice to see palm trees and not have to wear a jacket.

Day 2:

We drove out to Captiva Island on Saturday. It was M's dad's 72nd birthday and spent the afternoon with M's sister Kim, BIL Greg and brother Ray. We spent some time on the beach but it wasn't very warm and it was windy but it was fun to watch the pelicans dive for fish in the water. The water was extremely cold but I had to get my feet wet a little bit. We went to the Green Flash for drinks and lunch. On the way back to mainland through Sanibel Island, we stopped at Trader's for a drink and some window shopping before getting ready and going out to a Fort Myers local bar called the Comeback Inn that M's dad, aunt and uncle frequent. M's cousin's Jim and Lorrie were flying in the evening and they met us at the bar. It was basically M's family at the bar and a couple others but it was a perfect birthday celebration for M's dad being surrounded by much of his family on his special day. P.S. A round of drinks for 10 people cost $21.75!

Captiva Beach

Shells on the beach

At the bar in the evening. M with his dad, Uncle Joe and Auntie Carol.

Random Schmandom

I got sick while on the plane coming home from Florida. I was horribly nauseous and dizzy. We got home a week ago around noon and I went right to bed. I spent the next 20 of 24 hours sleeping. I had body aches and I think a fever and I felt like I wasn't going to make it to the next day. I did make it and slowly through the day, I got better and stronger. By Thursday, I was completely back to normal and energized, just enough to start my new position at work. I was a Commercial Insurance Specialist and now I am a Commercial Mortgage Specialist. I interviewed for the job back in the first half of January very late in the day and was offered the position the very next morning. I am very excited about my promotion and was very eager to start something new. One of my job duties is to analyze financial statements. It's financials season at work and we have a deadline of June 30th to complete thousands of them between roughly 27 people. It's going to be a busy several months but I'm up for the challenge and very excited about it.

But now, I'm sick again. This time I started out with a sore throat yesterday and I've progressively gotten worse. I can feel it in my head now and my nose is either stuffed up or running. I haven't been sick for almost a year with a cold so I guess I am due. I hope it doesn't get much worse than it already is.

Do any of you play fantasy sports? I play both fantasy baseball and football. I made it to the finals for football only to lose. I still ended up with a $150 prize. (There was a $75 entry fee) I then participated in my first fantasy playoff pools. I entered two of them and lost the one ($20 entry fee) and came in 3rd place out of 36 people on the other one, which paid me $120. ($30 entry fee) And I just got my email invite for fantasy baseball today. Baseball's right around the corner! I've won the World Series for baseball (2007-$275) and won the Super Bowl for football (2007-$500) since my fantasy sports career started in 2004 for money leagues. I have 8 other virtual trophies for leagues that weren't for money, ranging from 3rd place to champion.

I weighed in again for the 5th week of The Biggest Loser contest at work. After 2 weeks of recording no weight lost since I was on vacation, I am in 3rd place. I very close to 2nd place and very distant to 1st place but all you need is one good or bad week for anyone for things to change. I didn't gain any weight while in Florida, which can be hard sometimes while on vacation. I stuck to my diet completely which kind of frustrates me since I thought I would have been able to weigh in at home and have lost something. I weighed in today at work and finally had a 1.2 lb loss since coming back a week ago. Slowly, but hopefully surely. 4 weeks left of the contest.

I haven't had any time to sit and write about my Florida trip. That would be due to the fact that I've been glued to the TV since the Olympics started. Are any of you watching? My favorite so far was the men's moguls and short track but I am looking forward to the snowboarding competitions coming up tomorrow, which probably means that I won't write about Florida for another day.

Finally, M and I celebrated Valentine's Day last Friday evening. My honey took me to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, which I think has surpassed Kincaid's as my favorite steakhouse. As usual, I had the Filet Mignon but mixed things up a bit getting it Oscar style, with a crab cake, asparagus and Bearnaise sauce on it. It was delicious. Then M and I went to see the movie Dear John. If you've read the Nicholas Sparks book as I have, I don't recommend it. It varied too much from the book for me to fully enjoy the movie but I did love the fact that I was able to go to a chick flick with M...it was even his idea! On Saturday, I spent the day running some errands and I made some chocolate, like last year, for my family. The one thing M and I didn't do this year is go to White Castle. I've taken M there for V-Day for the last few years and it's kind of our cheesy joke together but with us being in Florida and not being able to make reservations and both of us watching our diets, it was out this year. Maybe again next year.

This turned into a really lost post so I'm going to stop and hopefully I'll be back on the next two days to give you an update of my first few days in Florida, including the Pro Bowl.

Until then...

Friday's Fun Facts

• Excessive caffeine consumption is the second leading cause of heart disease behind smoking.
• India exports more human hair, in total and per capita, than any other country. The color of 99.502 percent is classified as "black" or "ebony".
• The Estonian language has 32 different words for "hat."
• On average, a gym member who signs a 12 month contract will visit their gym eight times.

I'm Back

Hi Everyone,

I'm back from vacation and believe it or not, I am happy I'm back in Minnesota, even with the dumping of snow that we received while I was gone. I returned from my trip to Florida yesterday and was supposed to go back to work today but did not as I have been hit with some type of bug. I got home yesterday at noon and I went right to bed, after feeling very naseaus and dizzy on the plane. I didn't get out of bed until late this morning after most of the aches and hot/cold flashes subsided. After lounging around all day, I am feeling better, enough to finally get back to work again tomorrow and I'll begin blogging about my Florida adventures very soon.

Friday's Fun Facts

Here are some Super Bowl facts for this weekend.

• The longest Super Bowl winning streak has only been two in a row
• Mike Ditka, Tom Flores, and Tony Dungy have all won a Super Bowl both as a player and a coach
• In 2000, St. Louis quarterback Kurt Warner set a record with 414 yards passing
• Pittsburgh has won the most Super Bowls at 6 times

Friday's Fun Facts

I will be on hiatus for a couple of weeks as I am going on vacation starting today. You will still get Friday's Fun Facts though. Be good until I get back.

• If all the diamonds stored by major diamond companies were released, a perfect two-carat diamond would be worth about three dollars.
• Within the industry, rubber band manufacturers refer to the elasticity of their products "Stretchy", "Extra Stretchy" and "Super Stretchy". At the last trade show the hot rumor was that "Super Extra Stretchy" was about to be introduced by one of the companies.
• In mid-August 2003, the world's largest collection of arctic ice core samples, stored at the State University of New York at Buffalo, completely melted due to the prolonged power outage affecting Eastern North America.
• Starting with elementary school and going all the way through a four year college program, the average student will carry five times their adult weight in class related books on their back.

Can I talk about IT yet?

Has enough time passed to talk about what happened on Sunday? If you're not from Minnesota, a lot of us from here have been down and depressed about what happened to The Minnesota Vikings last Sunday. The Vikings lost in heart breaking fashion, 31-28 in overtime against the New Orleans Saints. The Vikings beat themselves with five fumbles and 2 interceptions. Every time a Vikings player carried the ball, I was just praying that they wouldn't fumble, especially Adrian Peterson as he fumbled three times throughout the game. Besides the fumbles, we had the lead the majority of the game and was obviously still tied at 28 going into overtime. First, I've never liked the Saints. I don't have valid reasons really but I just don't like them and I don't like Sean Payton, their coach. I thought the Saints played dirty and did multiple things throughout the game that weren't necessary, such as beating up on Favre as much as they did. I avoided all media regarding the game for the first two days but as more and more reports come out during the week, it was the Saints intention all along to basically hurt Favre. It's out, they've admitted it and they have the same intention to do it to Manning in the Super Bowl. Darren Sharper, safety for the Saints (former Vikings and Packers player as well as friend of Brett Favre) had this to say about their mission against Favre: "Cut off his head and his body will die"

I HATE that they are playing with this mentality. Maybe it's the girl in me that makes me think like this but I think it's completely wrong to go about trying to win a game like that. That's playing dirty. It doesn't matter anymore though. The Vikings have lost 4 Super Bowls, all in the 1970's. The Vikings have not been in the Super Bowl since before I was born. The last Super Bowl they were in I was still cooking in my mom's oven and would be born 11 days later. (Remember, I just turned 33 last week) We've been to the Championship game (like Sunday's) 5 times that we've lost....1978, 1988, 1998, 2000 and 2009 football seasons. So we've been to 9 championship games and made it to the Super Bowl 4 times with no rings. That's the history of the Vikings for you in a nutshell.

I'm not bitter....anymore. I'm not sad....anymore, but I think it is foolish when people say, Oh well, better luck next year. There will be no next year like this year. This was it. The dynamic and chemistry of this football team will be no longer. This was our chance and we blew it.

As for the Super Bowl, I am a complete Indianapolis Colts fan and I hope that Peyton Manning gets another ring.

In the meantime, we've got the Pro Bowl coming up on Sunday. Who cares you say? Yeah, most people don't care about it but it will be fun to watch a game after what's happened knowing that it means nothing and it's just for fun. Oh yeah, it might a little more fun watching it IN PERSON. Yep, M and I are going to the Pro Bowl in Miami. We leave tomorrow so I'll be gone for quite some time from blogging. See you in a couple weeks!

Still a Vikings fan and proud of MY team,

Dana Leigh

My Birthday

Despite one MAJOR disappointment this weekend, I have had a fantastic birthday celebration since Thursday, which was my real birthday. I turned 33 years old and woke up with a super nice massage from M and a card. I spent my day at work and had a birthday celebration with people at work and then came home to another card and a couple of presents. M got me a very nice gift card to IKEA and an electric toothbrush. (Yes, I wanted both of these items.) We went out to Red Lobster for dinner and I ate as healthy as possible since I'm on the Biggest Loser contest at work again. (I never mentioned that after week 1, I was in 1st place!) We then came home and watched the remainder of a documentary. On Friday night, we watched a movie and we both stayed up until after 4 am. That is not typical for us. On Saturday, I went by myself to see "It's Complicated" at the movie theatre. I love all the actors in that movie so I really enjoyed it. Later in the evening, I went to my parents house for a birthday celebration of food and games. We all made some sort of appetizers that we picked on all evening and played games. I got a nice bracelet and some much needed moola from my parents and a perfume set and another IKEA gift card from my sister and brother in law. Again, M and I stayed up until after 3 am.

It was a perfect few days and I am so lucky to have my family and M in my life. I appreciate and love you all! And thanks to all of you that gave me birthday wishes by card, texts, email, Facebook, my blog, phone and by every other way you did! I felt very special on my day.

Me with cucumbers in my mouth

Jamie, I know you didn't want this picture posted before I even took it but you guys look so hot that I had to.

Friday's Fun Facts

Have a great weekend!

• People with more than ten toes are eight times more likely to be left-handed.
• The game of foosball was invented in mid-16th-century Germany, predating soccer (football) by nearly 200 years. (That one's for you, Kristi)
• If the average American driver were to aggressively invest the money currently used for gasoline, they would have over $118,000 in that investment after 10 years.
• Since Franklin D. Roosevelt's election in 1933, the incumbent presidential candidate has won if it rains on election day in Washington, D.C.