Well, I am back from Miami.  It was a blast too.  I went down from Thursday to Sunday and we made the best of our time there.

We had a connecting flight from Richmond Virginia through Atlanta to Miami.  Both flights on the way there went pretty smoothly.  We arrived to cloudy skies, but the temperature was much better than what we were having in Richmond.

Zac Brown Band on Miami Beach

After about a 30 minute taxi cab ride we arrived at our hotel just north of South Beach.  We had 3 rooms for 8 guys.  The minute we arrived, we heard of a party going on that night down on the beach.  Zac Brown Band was playing on the beach for free.  It was a party set up by NASCAR since the race was in town this weekend.  So obviously, since it was free, we would be stupid to miss the concert.  The atmosphere for the concert couldn’t have been better.  The temperature was just right and there was a nice gentle breeze that made it perfect.

When the concert was over, we basically headed across the street to the row of restaurants and bars.  We eventually landed at a place called “The Clevelander“.  It was a pretty nice outdoor bar that had club music playing.  Not to mention the “scenery” wasn’t too bad.  The only downside to the first night was I drank so much that I was a lump on a log for pretty much the whole next day.

South Beach

So on to Friday…. For dinner, we went to a place called Joe’s Stone Crab.  It was an upscale seafood restaurant that we had heard of before.  It didn’t disappoint.  I would definitely recommend going there.  All the portions were huge and were shared amongst the table.  The best things I had there outside of the Crab were the Hash-browns, Lobster Mac and Cheese, and Fried Zucchini.  It’s a must-go-to restaurant if I ever get back down there.

After that dinner, we went to go see the Miami Heat (NBA) play the Charlotte Bobcats.  At first it looked like it was going to be a blow out, but the Bobcats closed in late and made a game of it and had a pretty good shot to win the game late.  But going to the arena wasn’t just about the game, as it was also about the different celebrities that you might see and there were quite a few there.

Miami Heat

Later that night, we hit up the South Beach bar scene again; and again eventually ending at The Clevelander.

Saturday, the main reason we were down there (outside of it being a bachelor party), we went to the Virginia Tech/Miami Football game.  We had a stretch limo pick us up from the hotel and take us to the stadium early where we tailgated for a while.  Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures on this day since I of course forgot to bring my charger and my phone died on me the night before (after snapping the last few pics of the basketball game).  When the game was  over (which Tech won) we headed out to more bars.

The only thing we did not do that I was hoping was we never went to a casino.  The group of people I was with aren’t really into the gaming scene like I am.  But it was probably best anyway since I needed a little break from the poker.  Overall, it was a great time and I hope to make it back down there some time.  But now that I am back, it is time to get focused again on my poker, though my job has already got me all worked up again as I came back to a pile of crap to do.  Figures.

Oh and the flight back to Richmond, again connecting through Atlanta was BRUTAL.  First off, when we landed in Atlanta we had all of 15 minutes to get off the plane and literally run a few concourses over just to get there in time before they closed the gate.  We were seriously running through the busy airport as people made there sly remarks to us “don’t be late” or “run, run!”  Whatever, I was not about to stay in Atlanta overnight.   But we made it just in time, and somehow they even managed to get our bags on there (as I later found out) which I thought for sure wouldn’t happen.

Then the flight from Atlanta into Richmond was smooth……until the landing.  We landed in a dense fog in the middle of the dark night and you could feel the tension on the plane as the pilot said over the loud speaker “Uh, the visibility currently in Richmond is extremely low.  We shouldn’t have a problem, but be careful driving home.”  LOL, thanks!!  Just be careful landing the plane!  We circled the airport a couple times (I think) you couldn’t really tell since you couldn’t see anything but could just feel the plane maneuvers.  You would feel a sway to the left, get the feeling of being pushed back into the seat as the throttle was lifted and we had to climb back up.  It was pretty actually pretty scary.  But when it was all said and done, the minute I could see land, we were on the ground…..safely.  It is actually pretty funny that this happened to me also.  I say “also” because another blog I read by Nat Arem, the creator of the PokerDB who also works on the site PocketFives, basically had the same thing happen to him landing in Costa Rica.  You can read his blog post about his trip here.

Ok, enough rambling…..