tedwords

The view from our room at the Fountainebleu by day...

...and by night

Every winter, after we hold auditions for the Eldredge Players spring musical (this year: The Mystery of Edwin Drood), Corb and I take a break from the cold New England weather and fly down to Florida to embark on a cruise to the Caribbean. This is our fourth year, and frankly, it's the one thing I look forward to the most every year, nowadays (well, I kind of looked forward to our wedding in July the most, last year, of course.)

No, seriously. I plan for the damn thing all year long. I have a whole ritual: once a month, after I pay the bills, I long on to the Royal Caribbean website and pay off a small amount until I reach zero. Then, once bonus time arrives in December, I pay for the airline tickets and book the hotels. We usually fly off the day before the cruise sets off and then fly home the day the cruise returns to Florida. This year, I chose to give us one more day in Miami, and return on a Sunday.

It's just an exhilarating feeling. The phone goes off, I can't speak with anyone from work, or the kids at home, or the people in the play...all responsibility is set aside and I can just RELAX.

Friday afternoon. Today! The time had finally arrived. Our bags packed, we headed to Logan Airport and flew to Miami, a city I've never been to before.

The flight wasn't exactly grueling (we've had some bad ones, given the fact that we always travel in February), even though this year I was a bit worried due to the polar vortex that blasted the Midwest but only lowered the temps in New England to around nine degrees. But the arrival in Miami was tedious: it doesn't seem to be the best organized of airports, and we waited for our luggage for about ninety minutes.

Still, it was worth it when we arrived at our hotel: the Fountainebleau, an amazing place that reminds one of luxury living for Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack in the fifties. When we went to the lobby we were given a map to find our way to our room. A map! (The hookers that hung around in the lower lobbies thought it was rather amusing that we were walking around with a map.)

And the best part: the incredible meal we ate at Stripsteak by Michael Mina.

Every moment was an experience: from the exquisite filet mignon. The only thing I didn't care for was the sauce that I asked for as an accompaniment: it was unnecessary. The steak didn't need anything added to it, it was perfect as it was. But the steak was only the main course, and everything that accompanied it was also a revelation, from the amazing butter-infused bread, to the crispy brussels sprouts, the charred broccollini, and sauteed mushrooms and onions. And for dessert? Mocha creme brulee, with a crackling top layer that gave way to a chocolate field of dreams. Two cosmos later, and I do believe I had been successfully seduced.

It was such a wonderful start to our vacation.

(I am still on vacation...typing this all down so I can remember all this years later.)