Driving home today

7:00am
We've been down in Miami since Wednesday and the days have flown by. And after lunch today we'll make the trek home.

After Maguire was dropped off to be boarded, we got on I-75 South in torrential rain. And it rained most of the way to Miami, including across Alligator Alley. The car hugged the road, you could really feel it.

Did some gambling at Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, FL. Didn't win, but didn't lose too badly either.

Took some walks along South Beach, omg - how hip is that street????

Had dinner at a fantastic sushi place, called Sushi Samba. Isn't that an appropriate name for a sushi place in Miami???? But, seriously, it just became my #1 sushi place, bumping my previous favorite in Orlando (called Amura) to 2nd place.
http://www.sushisamba.com/index.cfm/id/7/Id2/16/imageId/21.html

Dined there on Thanksgiving evening and had the Bobo roll (Brazil seared kobe beef, avocado, kaiware, shiso, red onion, chimichurri ponzu) and the Maya roll (shrimp, avocado, tomato, tomatillo salsa) after splitting their field greens salad. It was so very good.

I notice on their web page that they've got a location in Chicago. Hmmm .... maybe next time I'm up there I'll be able to stop in.

We used hotel points that Peter earned when he was working on the Ft. Lauderdale airport project, so we moved 2x. The hotel in South Beach was called Z Ocean Hotel.
http://www.zoceanhotelsouthbeach.com/miami-beach-suite.htm

Let me tell you ... there is no way we would have stayed here if we were paying our own $$$ for it.

Wow! Very, very hip. I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but this place just became the nicest hotel we ever stayed, bumping the Pan Pacific in Vancouver to 2nd place.

Oh, I could make a list of my top 5 sushi places and top 5 hotels, but I'll save that for another posting. ha!

Anyway, ready to read this morning's newspaper, have some coffee and grab a light breakfast. Like I said, we'll be shoving off after lunch. Maguire gets picked up tomorrow 7:30am. (Can't wait for that!)