Havana Daydreamin'

OMG, help me, I can't stop! This morning on my way to work I was trying to change radio station and I accidentally ejected the CD... then pushed it back in so I didn't have to deal with it. JB playing again, and I got hooked. Havana Daydreamin' came on, and it hit a chord..."he's just dreamin... his life away". I think I'm having a mid-life crisis; I seem to be thinking *a lot* lately "wth... wth am I doing with my life? This is it, one shot, am I living it that way?" I actually woke up in the middle of the night last night thinking about it... ugh.

So back to my trip notes before I lose the desire to write about it (even though I kinda have). First of all, I busted my ass getting the trip together at the last moment. Airfare, hotel, rental car, chartered fishing trip, places to see and eat... Our flight got into Fort Lauderdale at 1:30 a.m. Thursday morning because we couldn't leave until Wednesday evening, and we lost an hour.

At 2 a.m. or so, I was ready to get my rental car at the airport. I went to pay for it and my credit card was declined. Oh, no, you've got to be kidding me! I don't use credit cards much; I have two accounts (only one of which I had a card for), but they don't have balances. I always get those stupid checks in the mail... and that's the only reason I even know the accounts are still open. Or *were* still open. I vaguely recall a few months ago that I got a letter saying they were going to raise my interest rate from 5.9% to 23% or some such crap... and there's no way I'd pay that. So, no I don't accept your "terms". I guess they gave me 90 days or something, and then they closed the account. Nice bastards... Zero balance (at the time, I used it for Internet purchases and the like), never late, customer for 10 years or better, and they closed my account.

So, use my debit Mastercard. Wait a minute, where is my debit card? Holy crud, it's gone! So there we are, 2:30 a.m., airport deserted, no credit cards, no car. Thankfully I had some cash and had prepaid a hotel close to the airport (and thanks for that one lone taxi that came out of nowhere). The next morning I call my bank, realize Mackenzie has her debit card, transfer a couple grand to her account, and at least we have acess to some money. The problem is the rental car; I need a card with my name on it to rent from the majors. I look in the yellow pages and find "no credit card needed" local car rentals, and dial the first one "A Rental Car". I find out that it's named "A" Rental Car so it appears first in the yellow pages. Effective...

I talk to Eddie on the phone. He's leery of me... why do I need to pay cash? I tell him the story, and he's still leery. He says they need $500 cash deposit, and the car will be $170. Ok, come and get me, I tell him. Fax insurance info first, then I'll come. Ok... done; he arrives an hour later. Here's the good part. Eddie is a twenty something Puerto Rican, and he is *hot* (over 6', muscles, short hair, slight goatee... eye yie yie). Things are looking up... a little eye candy to relieve the stress. We have to hit an ATM or three for me get the $500 cash deposit, and in that time I find out where Eddie lives, that he has a couple kids but his wife messed around on him and they divorced, where he parties... and he makes sure I know where he'll be that night (it's ladies night, I can drink for free!). OMG...

We get the car and to the hotel, finally... and we are ready to start the vaca. The beach is beautiful, and we have this incredible view from our room:


We went deep sea fishing and first thing, I land a sailfish! I fought it for a while, then Mackenzie wanted to try. I had it close to the boat, and when I handed her the pole, with the release of tension, the thing took off. All you heard was "zzzziiiinnnnnnnngggggg". She got it close again, and I turned off my camera and was going to take the pole from her... and get this... the first mate (who clearly knew how to fish the area) grabbed the line! Ugh, even I know not to do that! I started to say "NO", and with one flick of its tail, it was gone.


Mackenzie surprised me by wanting to go to the Miami Seaquarium. It's located on the way to Key Biscayne, and it's really a great set up (although the park is old and a little run down). They pump water in from the Atlantic, which is within feet of the park. Their shows were more entertaining than I anticipated, really done quite well. The killer whale is awesome, with the trainer swimming with it, and it lifts her, throws her, and flies her from under the water back on the platform on her feet. Pretty cool.

Last year (with a girl friend), we didn't venture to the nude beach, which is a half mile from the hotel across the bay inlet. This year I didn't consider it an option, and I don't really have a desire to go there, anyway. What was different this year is that there appeared to be more European clientele in the area as a whole... so we didn't have to go to the nude beach to be in eyeshot of T & A. Thongs were common place... and as I ventured down the beach a mile or two for my walk\runs, so were topless lesbians making out on the beach, hot guys in thongs, on bikes, and in one case... sprawled on the beach in see through white trunks, laying just where the waves washed over his legs. Holy moly... that was almost too much for me to handle! And I wished I'd had my camera when I came came across a military type dude, built and tanned, in a G-string... who was setting up a towel in front of his flipped over mountain bike! A G-string, sand, and mountain bike... an odd combo, but to each his own.

Miami Beach, I can't wait to go back next year! And I'm pretty sure I'll go back to "A Car Rental"! :)