To Hell and Back: Escape from Snowmageddon (Or, The World’s Longest Valor Review, part 4)featured
Andddd I’ve figured out this new Blogger template thing…and I’m suddenly thankful for the year I spent blogging for a local paper in Chicago completely in HTML because it looks like HTML is my new friend on this blog.
Also? Two weeks from this moment (where I’m doing laundry, blogging, trying to plan our next trip and watching Bridesmaids with Stephanie)? I’ll be in Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Yay!!! I have a ridiculous amount of packing to do and stuff to get back together today, but we’ll see if I can finish up two parts of this tonight. Maybe.
So I think where we left off, we had just gotten to Florida. We usually spend a day and a half in Florida. This time, we extended it to two and a half days firstly, because of the unpredictable weather (just in case we had to leave a day early or were delayed in coming in) and secondly, because we never feel like we have enough time to do what we want to do or see and visit the places we want to go. So I slept in until 10 because I was exhausted and everyone else was already up. Stephanie had a migraine so we didn’t actually leave the hotel until closer to noon.
First order of business? We wanted to take a test drive to the Port of Miami to see how long it would take us. And of course…there was a multi-car pile-up on I-95 and our test ride was no where near indicative of how long it would take us, but man…having the windows down and feeling that warm, balmy air was so nice. And Miami was just as I remembered it (we haven’t been to Miami since our first cruise, way back in 2004) — beautiful in some parts and kind of sketchy in others.
After we found the port and took a little scenic drive around, we decided to head over to Boca Raton (our old stomping grounds- grandma owns a condo in Boca and we all used to live there in the winters when Stephanie and I were little. It’s too much of a hassle to use it for short pre-cruise stays, but we like to visit and check in on it when we’re in SoFlo). We were getting hungry and Mom wanted to do a little shopping, so we headed towards Boca Town Center.
I’m perpetually amazed by how no matter what day or time it is, there is never parking at Boca Town Center! Here we were, middle of the afternoon on a weekday, and it took us almost 20 minutes to find a handicap spot! I can’t even imagine how long it would have taken us if grandma weren’t with us and we were looking for a regular spot because they were cleared out of those, too!
We were all hungry and we settled on Grand Lux Cafe. We have one of these in Chicago, but for some reason, we never tried it. Grand Lux is owned by the same restaurant company as The Cheesecake Factory, so they have the same kind of decor and same large portions but an even bigger menu (if you can imagine!).
Service was a little slow at the Grand Lux, but we needed that extra time to peruse the over-sized menus and the restaurant was packed, anyways, so we kind of expected it. Stephanie had these pork sliders that were, maybe, one of her favorite noms and noshes of the cruise. Grandma had a warmed goat cheese salad that was just amazing. Mom had the lunch sized Sonoma salad (which was bigger than most normal salads) and I had the lunch special of half a BLT, a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup and small mixed greens salad. And for dessert? Freshly made beignets with three sauces: a liquored chocolate sauce, a raspberry sauce and a creme anglaise. So, so good.
B.B.Q Pork Sliders and Warm Goat Cheese Salad
Lunch-portion Sonoma Salad
Lunch Sandwich Special (Half a BLT, a cup of soup-of-the-day and an organic greens salad)
New Orleans Beignets
We walked around the mall for awhile after. We used to spend so much time here when Stephanie and I were little and as many things that change, so much feels the same. It’s always nice to come back. And palm trees! Always a novelty for me.
We found a cupcake place in the mall and, well, we’re a cupcake family. We got a few to bring back to the hotel for later before heading out to explore Boca.
Towards the end of the afternoon, grandma was getting tired so we took her back to the hotel to nap. We rested for a bit, too, before heading out again (and telling her we’d be bringing her back some dinner later) and then we headed out to Sawgrass Mills, which is one of (if not the) largest outlet malls in the country. The last time we were in SoFlo, we came here to see a movie, but we’d never had a chance to walk around. And let me tell you- if you’re a shopper like me, you could get into some *serious* trouble here. I’m pretty sure the Sawgrass Mills houses every major luxury outlet to exist. Barney’s. Burberry. Kate Spade. Juicy Couture. EVERYTHING. And it was packed. On a weeknight.
We headed to PF Changs for dinner (breaking my nothing-that-we-would-eat-at-home quest) and had a bit of a wait before we were seated. But yummmm. So good. I could eat PF Chang’s Mu Shu Pork every day of the week.
Mu Shu Pork
After dinner, we noticed a Target nearby, so we stopped in to get some more last-minute essentials that we’d forgotten and to get some snacks for the next day. And let me tell you- this Target looked *exactly* like our Target at home! There is no bigger mind screw than being in one place that is exactly the same as the one you have at home. Stephanie and I got a kick out of it.
We headed back to the hotel and Mom and Stephanie went back to the room to bring grandma her dinner. I sat in the lobby and called one of my friends. I love, love, love the lobby at the Renaissance. It’s not grand by any means, but it’s just so lovely. And it has PALM TREES! Always a novelty.
Stephanie attached her portable DVD player to our TV, popped in Baby Mama and we snacked on the cupcakes we bought at the mall earlier in the day before heading off to sleep.
