Honeymoon Adventures II: Miami Twice

So, here's one thing that can be said about Miami: there's not much to say about Miami. OK, sure it very well may be a party in the city when the heat is on (all night and day, 'til the break of dawn) but when it's overcast and the Marlins are out of town, there's not much going.

Matt had been to Miami once before and it was great. That was when, as a college senior, the Illini went to the prestigious MicronPC.com Bowl. After the 63-21 drubbing of the University of Virginia, everyone spent New Year's 1999/2000 on the beach. Some guy took his girlfriend's clothes off then threw her in the Atlantic Ocean; then Shalin stepped on a syringe and had to go to the emergency room. It was interesting, for sure. Matt was looking forward to going back.

But the city is much different in hurricane season.

So on Aug. 16 - the second day in Miami - Lynne and Matt's second day in Miami, they decided to grab a 10-minute cab ride ($30!) to the local mall where they wandered around. The highlight was when they found a machine that looked the one in Big. Matt wished he was married to a great girl. And then...he was! Magic.

After wandering through the mall for a while, a guy noticed Matt's Illini hat. The guy was on his way to the bathroom, but he stopped for a chat.

Random dude: "Hey, you from Chicago? I'm from Chicago!"

Matt: "Yep. Cool."

Random dude: "How's Juice Williams going to be this year?"

Matt: "Pretty good, I think."

Random dude: "All right. Go Cubs!"

Odd.

Finally, Lynne and Matt took a boat tour of the Miami Harbor. As boat tours go, it was fairly shallow (the substance, not the water). But as with everything else in Miami, it was bilingual - Spanish and English. It was kind of fun to hear them say (to Matt): "Blah blah blah Rosie O'Donnell blah blah blah." Matt never did learn that Spanish.

The boat drove around the harbor, peaking at the back of rich people's mansions and then into even richer people's summer homes.

Later, when Matt looked at the pictures - and he took a lot of them - he couldn't remember whose house was whose. Was that Sylvester Stallone's old home or Paula Abdul's current digs? The only one they knew for sure was Shaaaaaquuuuile Oooooo'Neal's mansion. As you can see from the picture, it was pretty easy to tell which $40 million pier was his. They also saw Al Capone's hideout, but Al did not appear to be home.

After the boat tour was over, Lynne and Matt didn't have much to do. They had checked out of their hotel room, but the flight wasn't until 1:30 a.m. the next morning. So, they wandered over to a museum (is there anyone else who'd go to a museum when they're in Miami?), which turned out not to be a museum at all. Odd.

Eventually, Lynne and Matt wandered back to the hotel and Lynne promptly fell asleep in a lobby chair, while Matt took picture No. 1 in a series he calls, "Sleeping Beauty Snores."

With even more time to kill, they eventually wandered over to see Hancock starring Will Smith. At the time, Matt thought it was pretty good, although when he gave it some thought, there were some fairly big logic holes in the script. But, hey, it was either that or the Chipmunks movie.

Finally, finally, finally, at 1:30 a.m., they boarded the 5-hour flight bound for Lima, Peru, South America. You know what that means: There will finally be something interesting in this travel diary.

One final note before we venture south of the Equator. Those of you studying the photos closely will notice the caterpillar that climbed onto Matt's upper lip. Matt decided before the honeymoon that he would spend this romantic time growing a mustache. It has long been his dream to have his picture taken with a mustache that he did not buy from a magic shop. Needless to say, Lynne was very excited.

Day Two summary: one museum that was not a museum, countless outrageous rich people mansions, two Will Smith references, one Chicago shout-out, one flight that was really the next day

Mustache status: hazy

Honeymoon Adventures I: Miami Not-So-Nice

At long, long last Lynne and Matt will start posting some pictures from the honeymoon.

Here's Day One of what is tentatively being called...Honeymoon on Monkey Island! (Spooky, isn't it?)

Lynne and Matt left O'Hare early Tuesday morning, July 15, for a two-day layover in Miami. They built the stop in so they'd have time to relax and - in case the flight from Chicago got delayed - they wouldn't miss the LAN Peru flight to South America.

They arrived at the Embassy Suites hotel in Miami, about 15 minutes from the airport. The hotel was pretty cool (that's the inside on the right), but - like much of Miami - it was pink on the outside. Odd.

The weather was not so good. It was hurricane season in Miami, so it was cloudy and overcast with sporadic downpours. The streets were pretty empty because - I don't think I'm telling any tales out school here - there's nothing to do in Miami besides go to the beach.

Faced with a wet beach (who wants that?), Lynne and Matt decided to walk (since, as they would soon learn, a Miami cab ride cost $25 to cross the street foreshadowing, ooooh) to get something to eat. They ended up at Bennigan's which turned out to be a blessing. It's one of Lynne and Matt's favorite restaurants. Of course, at the time, there was no way they could have known all the Bennigan's everywhere in the world were going to close. As Matt had a Turkey O'Toole and Lynne ate some other meal now lost to history, they had no idea that impending doom was on the restaurant's menu. If they had, Lynne and Matt might have ordered a milkshake. Milkshakes are good. In retrospect it was nice were able to spend that time together.

After a fulfilling last meal, Lynne and Matt went back to the hotel, fell asleep for three hours, then went downstairs to watch the All-Star game at the hotel bar. It was a pretty cool game because they brought out a bunch of old Hall of Famers. The game didn't end until 2 a.m., when the American League finally scored. Lynne ended up going to bed before the game was over, but Matt was transfixed. He kept watching, wondering if Benito Santiago would somehow get the last at-bat. (If you get that joke, you're a huge nerd.)
After all was done and said, Lynne won the $1 they bet on the game. Of course, it was meaningless because what's hers is now Matt's, so Matt also won. Even though he kind of lost.

Day One summary: One flight Chicago to Miami, two unintentional last meals, one 15-inning All-Star game, one picture of Lynne looking like a turtle

Hello from (the real) Peru

Matt worked for a few years in Peru, Ill., but it was nothing like this.
We just arrived in South America - a new continent! Lynne and Matt are very tired after a flight that left Miami at 1:45 a.m.
The city looks interesting - very unusual driving habits. Well, we're going to catch a nap, then take a walking tour of Lima, the capital city with 9 million residents. That's even bigger than Aurora!
Tomorrow, we leave for the Amazon at 2 a.m. for canopy walks and river rides. It should be great!

Party in the city where the heat is on

Lynne and Matt didn't want to abandon their faithful readers, so we're posting a very short hello. We're in very rainy Miami and so far we've eaten at a Bennigans and slept for three hours.
Now, it's time to watch the All-Star game!
We're thinking of all of you. Wait, not really. We're having a great time on our honeymoon!

See you soon. We'd write more, but Matt thinks he just saw Will Smith!