The Magnificent Seven

Hello faithful travel companions! Our apologies for the lag in posting entries. While our trip is now concluded we thought it would still be a good idea to fill in our notes, post our pictures, and catch everyone up. 


So where did we leave off?? Oh yes, San Antonio...


We woke up this morning with a mind to see the Alamo before heading to New Mexico and Carlsbad Caverns. We really didn't get to see much more than the facade of the mission building -- which in fairness is the most famous part -- because we had the dog with us. I never realized that what we most recognize as the Alamo is not the building where Davey Crockett died; that distinction really belongs to the barracks placed alongside it. Also, I never knew that these buildings are not in their original locations -- they were moved to the present spot so that they would be easier access for tourists. Hmmm. But it's hard to be too critical when we didn't go inside to the museum and learn the whole story.

We then hit the road with a mind to finish the night somewhere near Carlsbad Caverns. The open road! After 10 days of cities and people, we finally (finally!) were free to the wide open spaces of the west. The one stop we had planned was Chuy's Mexican Restaurant in Van Horn, Texas -- part of John Madden's "Haul of Fame" [I don't know why it's spelled 'haul' and not 'hall']. Apparently he stops there when travelling across the country in his bus, which he uses because he refuses to fly. Mark ordered John's favorite and I chose some chicken tacos. They were tasty, but not something I would drive out of my way to eat again. (Mark's note: I would.) Good for them though for capitalizing on a celebrity visit. The dining room was pretty full with more patrons arriving as we left. 

Bellies full, we continued on towards New Mexico. The trip was spectacular! Since we were driving through the Texas range for part of the journey, Mark insisted we download the theme song to the movie "The Magnificent Seven." It was completely appropriate for the setting. He was pleased as punch. He was even more pleased when he realized that we were the only ones on the road for miles around. We decided to play a game: what would we spot first - wildlife or people? Wildlife won. Despite there being a pretty significant barbed wire fence which looked electrified on either side of the road, a coyote had managed to slip through and crossed the road just ahead of us. It was a very long time before we saw either again. 


Just before getting into White's Creek, New Mexico for the night we came upon an oasis in the desert. The Guadalupe Mountains which are part of the National Park of the same name. Obviously not one of the better known National Parks, but worth its distinction all the same. Out of nowhere these beautiful green mountains thrust themselves through the arid desert land. Apparently, these mountains are "the world premier example of a fossil reef from the Permian Era." Who knew? We didn't until I later looked it up, so we missed out on a chance to explore this palentological wonder. Fortunately, it would turn out alright. 

Our plan was to check in to the hotel and spend the rest of the night blogging. Our trip, however, had other plans for us this night. Upon our arrival in White's Creek we did in fact check-in and then walked across the street to the tourist boutique in search of a souvenir. We've taken to purchasing Christmas ornaments wherever we go and have quite the collection started. Looking around and not finding anything we decided to replenish our supply of M&M's -- the official snackfood of the Halling road trip. Herein began the nights adventure. The cashier innocently asks us if we are in to see the bat flight. BAT FLIGHT??? My interest was immediately peaked. "Tell me of this bat flight," I encourage him. It turns out that every night just before sunset the bats that call Carlsbad Caverns home come out from the depths to feed, returning just before sunrise. We were just in time if we headed into the park and to put the icing on the cupcake it was free! HECK YEAH!! I was all about it. Mark took maybe three minutes of begging on my part to be convinced that this was a good idea. 


It was SO worth it! We pulled in and found seats in the auditorium built at the mouth of the natural entrance to the cavern. This auditorium was perfectly placed and built of completely natural [read: rock] materials, simply stunning. A ranger, who looked strikingly like Seth Rogen, was in the middle of giving his talk about the bats and "white nose syndrome" that has been plaguing bats all over the world. It's really unfortunate. He answered audience questions for a while until he was interrupted by what seemed like static in his microphone. Turns out it was the radar that picks up the bats' frequency and was the indicator that the ranger program was over and it was time to sit silently, without electronic devices, and wait for the bats to make their exit. It was STUNNING! You would think that tens of thousands of bats flapping their wings would make some noise, but before we knew it there was a silent swirling vortex of bats before us. We sat there awestruck for 30 minutes trying to process the sheer volume of creatures before us. I really wish we could have taken a photograph, but the electronic mechanism would have interfered with the bats and that wouldn't have been very nice.


We left the bats feeling very glad that I'm such a talkative person who likes to make conversation with everyone. Returning to the Rodeway Inn -- which doubled as a waterpark still open at 9 pm [there were hotel guests playing in the water in the dark] -- we researched the potential trails we could take in the caverns the next day. I'm so excited! They've been on my bucket list for quite a while and since seeing Wind Cave two years ago, Mark has been looking forward to Carlsbad as well. Yay caverns! 

The Heart of Texas

As Mark said before, Day 10 would comprise of a visit with the Webbs before heading out to San Antonio. Realizing that one of the best ways to see a city is to ask the locals, we asked for a recommendation for lunch that would accommodate our traveling with Kahlua. They did not disappoint! We arrived at this funky taco stand with outdoor picnic tables [truthfully the interior was so tiny they were our only option] called TacoDeli. Apparently they won best taco at some point. It was easy to see why -- they were delicious! And they had Coca-Cola in glass bottles -- BONUS!

Following lunch the Webbs suggested we take a hike on the Austin Greenbelt. We were in search of an oasis where we could dip our feet and let Kahlua splash around. Unfortunately, due to the current drought overtaking the state of Texas [at least where we were] our oasis turned into what amounted to a little pond maybe 30 yards across, but it was deep enough for Kahlua to swim around like an otter. He laid down in the shallow end and then swam the length to the other side and back. We didn't have the camera with us, but take my word for it he was adorable! Even though we didn't reach our destination [although many people passed us carrying coolers and the like] it was an enjoyable hike with wonderful conversation and even better company! Bad news was that Kahlua was so filthy we had to give him a bath in the hotel shower after dinner.

Bidding farewell to our gracious hosts it was time to get back on the road to San Antonio. A short drive allowed us to grab a quick shower and dress up before taking a walk to track down the infamous San Antonio Riverwalk. With a little effort we were able to find it -- and every human being in the town of San Antonio. To say it was packed is an understatement. I'm really surprised there weren't people falling into the river given that we were shoulder to shoulder and there were sections of the walk that had no railings. 

I think we also expected to see more shops, aside from the CVS and occasional [read: really non-existent] trinket store it was restaurant after restaurant. To make it worse most of them were touristy chain restaurants. Most of them had half an hour to one hour waits. We did manage to find a barbeque restaurant in one of the hotels that was less populated and was actually pretty tasty. The fresh-made guacamole prepared tableside was delicious. They also had one of the best restaurant tres-leches I've ever had. Doesn't compare to my cousin Evelyn's tres leches, but it was a close approximation. 


Our plan tomorrow is to stop by the Alamo for a few pictures and then set out for our first national park of the trip, Carlsbad Caverns. I'm very excited for it!

The Juice Box

It's odd on a trip like this how even spending two nights in a city feels like a week. Everything is about relentlessly moving on to the next destination -- been nice to soak up New Orleans a bit. But it is time to move on, so we started the day with another trip to Cafe Beignet. Learned from our experience yesterday and got a crawfish omlette and fruit to go along with our one order of beignets. Still delicious. Kahlua enjoyed his final walk down Bourbon St.

Day 9 was a bit of a travel day, with us needing to get from New Orleans to Houston in time for that night's Astros game. The only other place to visit on the whole drive (literally the only other place) is Baton Rouge about an hour west of New Orleans. I joked with Cristy that it's starting to feel like we're elite high school football players being recruited -- trip to Florida, trip to LSU, planned trip to Texas.


The campus was nice, although a bit eclectic. Every building has a differnet architectural style -- made the whole thing seem a bit random. We were able to sneak in an entrance to see the inside of Tiger Stadium. It very much has that 'valley' feel like Neyland Stadium in Knoxville; completly enclosed and very vertical. This now puts me at 11 SEC stadiums (9 games and the 2 visited on this trip) leaving only Jordan-Hare in Auburn. Well, and Texas A&M and Missouri. Football stadiums aren't as evocative as baseball ones, but it is nice to have the context and 'feel' for the stadiums I see on TV so frequently.

The highlight of our stop, though, was visiting Mike the Tiger. Mike has an enclosure (with a pool!) between the football and basketball stadiums and you can walk right up and say hello. And when we walked up he was right there in front to greet us.

We left Kahlua a little further back -- hate to provoke a bengal tiger. Very cool experience; one big tiger. The rest of the drive to Houston was only marked by our stop at what must have been the slowest Burger King in Louisiana. Maybe it was my fault for ordering a chicken sandwich (a 'tendergrill' in their language) -- no wait for a Whopper.


We were doing well until a little traffic in Houston put us behind schedule. Checked in to the La Quinta, dropped the dog, and got to Minute Maid Park at 6pm. Ordinarily that would not be a problem, but Friday's game was bobblehead day and in Houston an hour before is insufficient to guarantee a bobblehead. Disapointed, we settled into our seats trying to avoid all the taunting glances from the bobblehead carrying peers around us.


Lucky for us, the 'juice box' offered plenty of distractions. The stadium was great -- 98 degrees outside but with the roof closed in the 70s inside. With the large bank of windows and sun streaming in, it did not feel like a warehouse at all. Very different than Tropicana Field's concrete cylander. The concourse is a little narrow, there are ads on every visible surface, and some things like the train in left are a little goofy, but all in all it is a very nice stadium. Cristy liked it better than Marlins Park; I liked it better than Miller Park. Means it's probably the nicest retractable roof stadium around.

The game was relatively uneventful; the Indians scored a run in their second AB and held on for a quiet 2-0 win. Other than a bases loaded situation, there wasn't even much of a threat from the Astros. After the game they opened the roof up for fireworks night. Must be some sort of height restriction in  Houston, though, as the fireworks stayed pretty close to the ground. We have better shows in Arkansas.

Tomorrow should be a fun day. We're not lingering in Houston -- hitting the road to visit Jonathan and Cassie Webb in Austin before finishing the day with dinner in San Antonio. Deep in the heart of Texas!

The Big Easy

Laissez le bonne temps roulez! This morning found us with a serious hankering for beignets. Made famous by Cafe du Monde [which is pretty much overrun by tourists] we needed to find a better source. Our fondness for the Food Network did not disappoint as we heeded the advice of our favorite foodie -- Alton Brown -- and headed to Cafe Beignet. This cafe has three locations throughout the French Quarter, but we chose the one on Bourbon Street as it was pretty darn close to the hotel. After finding out that it was located in a pet-friendly courtyard, we decided Kahlua couldn't miss out on this experience. 

Arriving at Cafe Beignet we discovered a hidden [or maybe not so hidden since it's easy enough to walk by] gem of the French Quarter. Entering a wrought-iron archway you come into a brick courtyard with a stage to your right and several tables with umbrellas and misters to keep patrons cool. I ordered our beignets, but not having looked at the other patrons before sidling up to the counter, didn't realize they were ginormous! I definitely remember a more bite-sized variety at Cafe du Monde. So I ask for two orders and we only finish one. I chalk it up to the lesson learned list and now know that tomorrow we will only need one order and maybe some fruit to cut into the sugary sweet. 

Breakfast finished and Kahlua thoroughly exhausted from walking, we drop him back at the hotel and hop a streetcar headed uptown. Our goal is to visit Tulane University. I attended Tulane for three semesters before changing my major and transferring to Vanderbilt. Being my first exposure to college life the campus holds many sweet memories for me. I made some wonderful friends there and was, in some ways sad to leave. I will say though [sorry Tulane-grad friends] that Vandy was certainly an upgrade. Returning to campus I see and appreciate the upgrades [new UC, closing off McAlister], but realized what a small and, in some ways, crowded space it is. I don't think I ever noticed how linear it was. I think my two favorite upgrades were the University Center, which is absolutely gorgeous, and Turchin Stadium, which is huge!  

The heat was beginning to get to us and we still wanted to walk the French Quarter a little more so we walked through the Garden District until we could ride a streetcar that was not busting with tourists [I don't think we counted as tourists since I lived in NOLA for about a year and a half]. Getting to our stop we contemplated going to the Aquarium of the Americas, but rethought it and walked the riverfront instead. Taking the route we'd taken the previous day we were eager to see if we could go inside St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square. I have actually never gone in there before. It always seemed to be closed and when I was in undergrad the only reason we went to the French Quarter was to laugh at drunk people singing karaoke at Cat's Meow followed by watching the sunrise over the levy and eating beignets at Cafe du Monde for breakfast. We were pleasantly surprised to find it open and it was beautiful! I'm certainly glad I finally got to see it. 

Hot and gross from walking around in the Louisiana heat we returned to our hotel to take care of Kahlua and prepare for our anniversary dinner! I know I haven't really mentioned it, but today is Mark and my 4th wedding anniversary! It's been wonderful so far and I only see it getting better. 

For dinner Mark made reservations at G.W. Fins a very delicious and upscale seafood restaurant just off of Bourbon Street [apparently we can't get enough of Bourbon St. even though we'd never partake of such debauchery]. Shown to our table we discover that it has been decorated with star-shaped confetti [Mark hates glitter] and the evening's menu printed with a congratulatory message. Dinner was fantastic followed by delicious dessert. I decided to go with a light mango and raspberry sorbet because I wasn't sure I could stomach what Mark selected -- apple pie with cheddar cheese. Now, I think the cheddar cheese was baked into the crust and not melted on top of the pie, but I still didn't dare. He says it was scrumptous. I'll take his word.

Stuffed to the gills [see what I did there? GW Fins -- gills?] we ambled back through the French Quarter to rest for the next days departure. We did get some good advice from the waiter and will share it with you in case you decide to visit New Orleans. He suggested walking all the way down Bourbon Stree until you arrive at Frenchman's Street where he says there is wonderful local music. We were too tired to heed his advice, but thought we'd pass it along. 


Tomorrow we are off to Houston with the hopes of scoring a bobblehead at the Astros game. I'm looking forward to seeing Minute Maid Park and comparing it to Marlins Park in terms of gameday feel. It's also throwback night [they're wearing their Tequila Sunrise uniforms] and fireworks night! What great timing we have! Yay baseball! 

The Gulf Coast

With our time in Panama City Beach now up we have a new addition to the car: sand in every corner and crevice. Nothing like the beach. Plan for today is to hug the Gulf, driving along the shore to Mobile for lunch and then on to New Orleans for dinner. 


After an uneventful morning (other than our race to get a McMuffin before they closed for breakfast at 10:30am), we got into Mobile around 12:30pm to meet Clark Dumas for lunch. We both know Clark from our Vandy days, and he too just finished his MBA (graduating from Georgetown). Appreciate him meeting us because it's a big week in the Dumas household with Hailey(!) getting married on Saturday. Wish we could stay - it's going to be quite a party.

We requested seafood and Clark didn't disappoint by taking us to Ed's Seafood Shed. It's located on a causeway that parallells I-10 in crossing Mobile Bay and is just about as authentic as they come. I had a shrimp po' boy; fried shrimp with some lettuce, tomato, and this red/white sauce. Incredibly good. Had a great time catching up, talking about old Vandy folks, and hearing about Clark's upcoming move back to Atlanta (which is quickly becoming Vanderbilt alumni central).

After lunch we finished the quick drive to New Orleans. As Cristy mentioned yesterday, this leg represents a homecoming for her after studying three semesters at Tulane. We decided to stay at the La Quinta, which is moving from our hotel of choice to the only hotel chain we look at it. It's affordable, usually convenient, and is great for us in offering free Internet and free accommodations for the dog. No deposit, no fee, no hassle. We even joined the rewards program (only 6 more nights before we earn a free one!). We'll have to find the nicest La Quinta in the country to use our free night.


The location was great -- in the French Quarter just two blocks south of Canal St and two blocks east of Bourbon St. Made everything walkable but also put us on a quieter block than much of the French Quarter madness. We dropped our bags and took the dog around to explore the city. Cristy and I agreed that this was the first genuine urban environment that Kahlua has experienced - no shortage of interesting smells. We walked over to the riverfront and up, before turning in at Jackson Square and then down Bourbon St back to the hotel. Cristy thinks we should get Kahlua a T-shirt saying he partied on Bourbon St.

With the dog now sufficiently exhausted, we went back to the hotel to regroup before dinner. After searching around (and there were no shortage of great looking places within walking distance) we settle on Dickie Brennan's Palace Cafe right on Canal. Good call. Excellent cajun/creole type food; we sampled the turtle soup, Cristy had andouille crusted fish, and I had duck with sweet potato and corn. And to top it all off we had their signature bananas foster. I think it's the first time I've had a really excellent bananas foster. Not too rum soaked; just delicious. And it's always nice to have a little fire-driven entertainment to end the night

Thankfully the trip slows down a little at this point with consecutive nights(!) in the same city. We won't even take the car out of the garage. So we have all day in New Orleans with the plan to take the St Charles streetcar down to Tulane campus and then hang out in the French Quarter while we celebrate our anniversary. It will be nice to wake up and not turnaround and pack everything back up.

The Beach

They say all good things must come to an end and so it was with our visit to my family in Fort Lauderdale (Mark calls it Miami, but it's not even the same county). We had one thing we had to take care of in person before setting off and that was to sign over ownership of the MINI to my mother. After 10 years of faithful service it was time for me to let go in preparation, perhaps, of something bigger. Selling her (the MINI) was made easier knowing I would always be able to visit her and she was in very good hands who would attempt to keep her in the near mint condition I had managed to this point. I really could bear spending a ton of money to schlep her across the country one more time only to sell her shortly after arriving and never see her again. It would have broken my heart! 

Anyway, after getting that squared away we had lunch at the always delicious Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine owned by a family we have known for many years. Of course, Mark had to have the Lechon Asado [you can never really eat too much] and I ordered the Bistec Palomilla, a very thin pounded steak prepared the way my Abuela Mima used to make it. Paired with white rice and fried plantains I can think of no better way to fuel up for the road ahead. So off we went headed northwest in continuation of our trip. 

Mark apparently likes the way I call the Florida Turnpike "The Turnpike" as if there were no others in this country of ours, but truth be told for me growing up there were no others and so that stretch of road running through Orlando has always been THE turnpike. Probably one of the most fun things, at least it used to be when I was younger, about the Turnpike are the rest stops that lie in the middle of the north and southbound lanes. You don't have to exit and pay to get back on you just pull into the middle and take your pick of fast food venues. We usually get to stop once or twice along the way each time we make the trip, so they've become quite commonplace. This trip however upon stopping for gas we realize that we have pulled off at the same time as A'mare Stoudemaire of the New York Knicks [I wouldn't have recognized him except for the crowd of people he was very cordially taking pictures with, I mean he's tall and that tipped me off, but I wouldn't have been able to tell you his name if I hadn't heard someone say it].

We didn't want to drive for too long this night and so settled on Ocala as our destination. I'm sure I've driven through Ocala several times, but I don't think I've ever stopped. Ocala is best known as the home of Silver Springs, a naturally occurring artesian spring located in the "Florida's First Theme Park." In addition to glass bottom boat tours, there is a zoo full of all sorts of animals. Unfortunately our timeline would not allow us to visit as we had arrived after the park had closed and would have to leave in the morning with too little time to visit. We hunkered down in our Holiday Inn Express for the night, ordered some very tasty local pizza [a pesto, chicken, and mozzarella pizza from Pronto Pizza], and tried to get some rest for the next day's drive. We had to keep going on to Panama City Beach [not Panama City, but the town just to the west]!

I was so excited when Mark told me that Panama City Beach was going to be a stop on our trip! First of all it is the site of the annual Vanderbilt BCM end-of-the-year trip extravaganza! Both Mark and I have some terrific memories with some terrific people there. Although neither of us could remember the exact name of the hotel where we used to stay [we now know it's the Beachcomber by the Sea] we're not sure it would have mattered as most of the hotels on Front Beach Road would not take pets larger than 10 lbs. and even then would charge us an arm and a leg to have him there. La Quinta to the rescue! Although we couldn't stay directly on Front Beach Road, our hotel was a 3 minute drive to the public access point right next to the Beachcomber. Since Mark had to have some privacy to tend to some phone calls he was receiving, I asked him to drop me there and join me when he was done. I can't even begin to describe how good three uninterrupted hours lying in the Florida sun felt! Factor in the breeze coming in off the gulf and I was pleased as punch -- if it hadn't been so late in the day [my moments of solitude began sometime around 3:30] I could have spent forever out on the beach. 

Mark joined me earlier than expected due to the fact that neither of us had realized we had crossed into Central Time. I will say that I had a weird moment on the drive in where I looked at the clock in the car and it read 2:08, but I could have sworn I had looked at it earlier and it had said 2:21. Even with that it hadn't occurred to me that the Central time zone began in the Florida panhandle. I incorrectly assumed that all of Florida was in Eastern time. Bonus hour! Mark finished up his phone calls an hour earlier than expected and came down to the beach to play in the surf for a while. Well, he played in the surf I stood in ankle deep waves and watched him. 

Now quite a bit has changed in PCB since we had last been there. Our little Beachcomber was now the smallest hotel on the strip dwarfed by these mega-chains that connect over Front Beach Road to their own parking garages. Many of the places we enjoyed seven years ago [man has it really been that long Vandy-friends?] are still there: Shuck'ums, the diner, the Alvin's and Purple Haze chains of tourist merchandise. For some, like Pancakes Plus, all that remains is the sign and a concrete parking lot. They've been replaced an overshadowed by ridiculously gaudy Pier Park which contains five very tourist friendly restaurants including the ultra-popular, but not very good Margaritaville. When deciding on a place for dinner we figured that Open Table, the online reservation app, would be our best bet. It didn't disappoint although I will say it was a little pricey.

Our selection for dinner was Firefly located in a shopping center off of Middle Beach Road, just next to the crazy lazer neon bowling alley of wonderment [that's what the outside decoration was telling me, I'm just sayin'].The Firefly facade contains no windows and stepping inside you are transported back in time to what might amount to a "Good Ole Boys' club" feel. They want to be a really hip, yet stuffy cigar bar lounge type place with a restaurant attached. The food was delicious and our waiter was fantastic. We started with the crabcakes, each had a salad [Mark the caesar, of course, and me a butter lettuce with goat cheese and strawberries accented by a warm pecan dressing], and then came the entrees. Mine was a delectably rich parmesan risotto with scallops and grilled shrimp [although the shrimp tasted a little fishy, but I'm not really good at knowing what to do when that happens] and Mark had grilled grouper. Our final course was the raspberry and honey bread pudding served with vanilla bean ice cream -- ridiculously good! All in all, delicious. 

Tomorrow morning we will pack our bags and head out of Florida, hopefully joining Clark Dumas for lunch in Mobile before arriving in New Orleans for two days of celebration! Our anniversary is June 21st and we will be spending it Cajun style showing Mark around a city I was fortunate enough to live in for about a year and half while I was attending Tulane University (I transferred to Vanderbilt in the Fall of 2001 when I switched my major to Special Education). I'm looking forward to seeing it again and getting my fill of beignets and crawfish etoufee.

The Heat

We began Day 3 with an early lunch in St. Petersburg before the drive down to Miami to visit with Cristy's family. One advantage of travelling with iPhones is that we can more confidently veer off trail and avoid the major chains (the disadvantage is that you never feel really disconnected). So for lunch we decided to head to Ted Peters' Famous Smoked Fish, which has been featured on Food Networks's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. The place is known for two things: smoked fish and burgers. So we decided to get (1) a smoked salmon platter and (2) a cheese burger. And the food was great! One point for Food Network. The fish (with German potato salad) was excellent; burger was good but nothing special.

After lunch we rolled down I-75 towards Miami. Pretty unspectacular drive. There is a portion where the road turns due east through the Everglades which Cristy (and presumably others) call Alligator Alley. Kahlua and I did our best, but not a single alligator to be seen.

We got into Miami around 3pm and spent the evening at the Venereo house swimming in the pool and having dinner. Kahlua was very excited to get there -- think he appreciated being in a familiar place with space to run around. It also meant he got to spend with time their dog Oso (Spanish for 'bear'), who despite being three times as tall as Kahlua gets bossed around by him. Cristy thinks he's a bully for doing it; I think he's bothered by having to keep an eye on Oso to make sure he's staying in line. That, the sunshine, and the stream of guests to the house are a great combination to wear the dog out.

Sunday was Father's Day, and the Venereos hosted a good ol' family pig roast. Smaller pig than usual, but delicious as always. And I guess to be clear for those who have never visited, when I say pig roast I don't mean pork chops on the grill -- they get a pig and roast it in a box (la caja china). Head, feet, curly tail -- the whole thing. I had to leave the party a little early, though, because I had plans downtown.

My Uncle Jay and his family live in Memphis, but they also have a vacation condo (or two) in South Beach. Associated with that he has two season tickets to the Miami Heat. And Sunday was Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Really appreciate him inviting me to the game -- talk about a rare lifetime experience. I drove to South Beach to pick-up Jay and then crossed back to the mainland and the American Airlines Arena. One advantage of travelling with a season ticket holder is that we parked and travelled to the game completely avoiding the mess of traffic downtown. As part of the 'White Hot Heat' campaign we all got shirts -- this one had Beat New York, Indiana, Boston crossed out and OKC remaining. Not too useful for me as an XL, but no matter -- we donned out shirts and settled in for the game.

Two overarching impressions. First, the NBA game is so fast. The 24 second shot clock is part of that, but what really amazed me is the speed of the players. I've seen some excellent players in college (Kyrie, Rondo, Horford, Ben Gordon, etc.) but to see the Top 1% of the college ranks playing all-out is awesome. Lebron, Wade, Bosh, Durant, Westbrook -- pretty cool. Second, the game was intense. Every possession felt so important; the crowd was reacting (and overreacting) to every drive, every shot, every call. I've been to big games before -- Vandy beating #1 Florida jumps to mind -- but even that didn't have the desperation of this game. Tremendous fun with the Heat pulling out a win despite being down 10 in the 3rd quarter. LeBron for MVP.

Plan for tomorrow is to have a final lunch with the Venereos and then start working our way north. We have 'Central Florida' on the itinerary -- we'll see where that puts us -- and are then hoping to hit Panama City Beach on Day 6.