I had been missing my overly due yearly vacation, but thanks to my friends for planning the vacation to Sunshine state Florida [ in lieu of Zion National Park, Utah which got cancelled due to some unforeseen reasons] .
I was really excited about this trip as I was going to meet a lot of new people [ Karan, Meghal, Priyal and Sushant] and reconnect with my old friends and their family [ Ashu Sharma, Ashu Bhardwaj, Sheveta and Anju]. We started planning for the trip a month ago, we used whatsapp for communicating and planning purposes. There were people travelling from different places, so the trip required lot of planning and co-ordination. Ashu S, Ashu B, Sheveta, Priyal, Samby from New Jersey, Sushant from Toronto, Karan from all the way from India, Anju from Baltimore, Meghal from Miami and lastly myself from California.
The folks from New Jersey took a 25 hour long road trip and all other flew to Miami from their respective places.
Day 1
December 23rd
December 23rd Sunday was the day of arrivals. Ashu and NJ folks arrived early on Sunday morning to the house [1828 Scott Street, Hollywood, FL] we had rented out for our vacation. It was not the best vacation home but a good company of friends shadows petty things. Priyal and I arrived in the evening, Priyal had an adventurous beginning to the trip, as her flight was delayed for delayed approximately 9 hours. Ashu's had come to pick us from Miami airport, we reached home around 9 pm. After a meet and greet session, we went for a dinner at Red Thai and Sushi restaurant in Hollywood downtown.We were joined by Sheveta didi's friend Prachi, Parag and Vinod. We shared some light moments over dinner.
Day 3
December 25th
It was my turn to fulfill my wishes, nick named "Graries", so as per my request we planned to go for an airboat ride in Everglades national park/Gator park, home of alligators. We really enjoyed the airboat ride, natural sanctuary and wildlife which included toads, beautiful birds and deadly but lazy alligators [there are approximately 1 to 1.5 million alligators in Everglades national park]. We also got a chance to carry and touch baby alligators, they were unexpectedly soft.
After that we went to South beach and rented out Jet Ski's, Jet Ski's was fun, but given that the ocean was little rough, I was a little bit scared, but overall it was great.
Then we went for dinner on Lincoln Street , this street is the happening and shinny part of South beach at night, where you see all the hip/hop people. After that we went back home, and ended our day with routine games of Bhabho and Minimum.
Day 4
December 26
It was turn to try bigger exciting things, so as planned earlier we headed for sky dive in West Palm beach after having breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. On our way we saw some of the most amazing houses and polo grounds, they call palm beach as the winter polo capital. Last not but not the least we saw lot of beautiful horses and a horse on a tread mill, never seen that before :)
After travelling through muddy roads we finally reached the airport, I should say it was the most lame airport I had ever seen, it was right among the fields with a strip barely good enough even for driving a car, a shanty called control room, as if sky diving wasn't good enough to scare the shit out, the whole setup made it worse.
I was really excited about this trip as I was going to meet a lot of new people [ Karan, Meghal, Priyal and Sushant] and reconnect with my old friends and their family [ Ashu Sharma, Ashu Bhardwaj, Sheveta and Anju]. We started planning for the trip a month ago, we used whatsapp for communicating and planning purposes. There were people travelling from different places, so the trip required lot of planning and co-ordination. Ashu S, Ashu B, Sheveta, Priyal, Samby from New Jersey, Sushant from Toronto, Karan from all the way from India, Anju from Baltimore, Meghal from Miami and lastly myself from California.
The folks from New Jersey took a 25 hour long road trip and all other flew to Miami from their respective places.
Day 1
December 23rd
December 23rd Sunday was the day of arrivals. Ashu and NJ folks arrived early on Sunday morning to the house [1828 Scott Street, Hollywood, FL] we had rented out for our vacation. It was not the best vacation home but a good company of friends shadows petty things. Priyal and I arrived in the evening, Priyal had an adventurous beginning to the trip, as her flight was delayed for delayed approximately 9 hours. Ashu's had come to pick us from Miami airport, we reached home around 9 pm. After a meet and greet session, we went for a dinner at Red Thai and Sushi restaurant in Hollywood downtown.We were joined by Sheveta didi's friend Prachi, Parag and Vinod. We shared some light moments over dinner.
Dinner at Red Thai and Sushi Restaurant in Hollywood Downtown
After the dinner we decided to take a stroll in the beautifully decorated downtown looking for Santa :)
During our stroll we got tempted by this Russian bakery "Chocolada" and decided to sweeten our senses with some yummy cakes. Here is a glimpse of some artistic cakes at the bakery.
Chocolada Bakery and Cafe, Hollywood, FL
I knew we won't call it night so early, so we went to North Hollywood beach, not the right time to be at beach, but it was very calm and we had the whole beach to ourselves. We got Sammy/ Samby [ Ashu's dog, Jack Russel Terrier] really excited, had quick throws of football, and then went back home.
By now you would expect everyone to wrap up after hectic day of travel, but what's a gathering without some card games, we played Bhabho and Minimum till 3 am. I had no issues staying up till late as my body was still tuned to Pacific time zone.
Day 2
December 24th, 2012
We started a little late as it takes some effort to get everyone ready. We cooked egg omelette for our breakfast. After having our breakfast we sat down , but we couldn't find Sammy, everybody started searching for Sammy like crazy, we looked on the streets, house but couldn't find him, everyone got tensed up, blaming each other for leaving the door open. After sometime we heard a squeaky noise on the deck, sounded like Sammy, but we couldn't still trace him. So, Prachi took Sammy's favorite toy and started squeaking it near the patio from where we heard the voice, Sammy responded back, it was confirmed that Sammy was stuck under the deck.After a lot of hit and try, tempting Sammy to his favorites, we were able to take him out from below the deck.
Presenting Mr. Notorious Sammy aka Samby !!
After finishing the scavenger hunt, we headed to Sunny Isles beach, it was a very pretty area with all the fancy towering resorts lined across the beach. After some dips in the sea, we played volleyball but without a net, as other volleyball court was in restricted area :) .
Sunny Isles Beach
After some beach time, we went for a Mediterranean lunch at "Kabobji". I had a wrap and a very interesting drink named " Julaab", it had dates and rose water as the main ingredients.
We went back home after the munching session as per our plans, because we wanted to leave early next day for Key west, but after discussions we changed the plans and dropped the plans for key west and decided to take it easy. So, we planned to explore the night life of South beach , we had dinner and good time eating at D'vine restaurant on Lincoln street in south beach. After that we came back home and had a round of Bhabho and Minimum before going to sleep.
Day 3
December 25th
It was my turn to fulfill my wishes, nick named "Graries", so as per my request we planned to go for an airboat ride in Everglades national park/Gator park, home of alligators. We really enjoyed the airboat ride, natural sanctuary and wildlife which included toads, beautiful birds and deadly but lazy alligators [there are approximately 1 to 1.5 million alligators in Everglades national park]. We also got a chance to carry and touch baby alligators, they were unexpectedly soft.
Enjoying Airboat ride @ Gator Park
After that we went to South beach and rented out Jet Ski's, Jet Ski's was fun, but given that the ocean was little rough, I was a little bit scared, but overall it was great.
Then we went for dinner on Lincoln Street , this street is the happening and shinny part of South beach at night, where you see all the hip/hop people. After that we went back home, and ended our day with routine games of Bhabho and Minimum.
Day 4
December 26
It was turn to try bigger exciting things, so as planned earlier we headed for sky dive in West Palm beach after having breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. On our way we saw some of the most amazing houses and polo grounds, they call palm beach as the winter polo capital. Last not but not the least we saw lot of beautiful horses and a horse on a tread mill, never seen that before :)
After travelling through muddy roads we finally reached the airport, I should say it was the most lame airport I had ever seen, it was right among the fields with a strip barely good enough even for driving a car, a shanty called control room, as if sky diving wasn't good enough to scare the shit out, the whole setup made it worse.
The worst landing strip @ west palm beach, used for sky dive
Karan, Sushant, Meghal and Priyal went for skydive and the rest of us sat back and saw Luna (Skydive place owners dog) and Sammy fight for their priced possessions football and Frisbee . Luna was super active, she went berserk after Frisbee and also tore our Football. Luna and Sammy didn't get well along and we could clearly see Luna/Female dominating Sammy/Male, a real life story :)
After that we went to North Hollywood beach, this beach became our backyard, most visited beach. Anju didi also flew in from Baltimore and joined us today, so party became merrier as she will always keep us entertained with her funny medical encounters and songs, her best one being " Lokaan ne Peeti Tupka Tupka, Mein te Peeti Baata Naal". She is going to kill me for writing this about her :)
We had a great time at the beach playing with waves ( try pronouncing it in punjabi ), temperature was in high 70's , water was warm, we rode the waves, played volleyball on the water. Sushant had to go rescue volleyball in deep waters which actually tired him out.
Then after that we all played beach volleyball , we finally found a court with a net. We played quite a few volleyball games, they got pretty intense, but it was lot of fun. Stephen and Aviva who were side walkers also joined us for the game and made it more lively :)
After a tiresome day, we went back home, relaxed, ordered pizza from Papa Johns [these pizzas lasted for rest of the trip], and played our staple games of Bhabho and Minimum.
We then headed to sea monkeys for our snorkeling trip, we all changed into wet suits, and after brief instructions headed towards alligator reef, approximately 6 miles from the shore. We reached alligator reef light house in approximately 15 minutes. It was the time to jump into the water, believe me I was scared, as it was my first time in sea water, also given the fact that I didn't knew swimming and a little show of discomfort by Anju didi. I was the last one to jump into the water, but after 5 minutes into water, the beauty of under water life overpowered my fear of deep waters, and you won't believe it but I was in sea water for 1.5 hours gazing at the underwater creation, we saw beautiful corals, Barracuda's, sting rays and lot of other beautiful colored fish.
After a tiresome day, we went back home, relaxed, ordered pizza from Papa Johns [these pizzas lasted for rest of the trip], and played our staple games of Bhabho and Minimum.
Bhabho / Minimum / Cappuccino Club
Day 5
December 27
Today was officially my last full day of entertainment. As per plan we left for Islamorada, part of Florida Keys for our snorkeling trip. Also we had promised Sammy that we will take him to beach today, so our first stop was dedicated to Sammy, he really enjoyed the beach and water. After getting inspiration from Luna, Sammy also tore our Volleyball.
We then headed to sea monkeys for our snorkeling trip, we all changed into wet suits, and after brief instructions headed towards alligator reef, approximately 6 miles from the shore. We reached alligator reef light house in approximately 15 minutes. It was the time to jump into the water, believe me I was scared, as it was my first time in sea water, also given the fact that I didn't knew swimming and a little show of discomfort by Anju didi. I was the last one to jump into the water, but after 5 minutes into water, the beauty of under water life overpowered my fear of deep waters, and you won't believe it but I was in sea water for 1.5 hours gazing at the underwater creation, we saw beautiful corals, Barracuda's, sting rays and lot of other beautiful colored fish.
Snorkeling @ Alligator Reef
Snorkeling was the best part of my trip, it exposed me to under water life. I really want to thank Cooleen, our snorkeling instructor for providing us this experience.
Cooleen from Sea Monkeys, our Snorkel instructor
After that we headed back to Miami, we arrived back around 10 pm. Then we went for Mexican dinner at Orale, this was a special request to satisfy Anju didi's appetite for Nachos with cheese, but overall the food was very good.Then we headed back home and again played Bhabho, Minimum before retreating to our beds.
Day 6
December 28
It was my last day at Miami, a very fun filled trip was coming to an end. After our lazy morning, we headed to our backyard beach on North Hollywood. After reaching the beach, we followed our routine of playing in water and then playing volleyball.
Now it was time for me to depart, we had some group pictures before departing. Meghal and Sheveta Didi dropped me and Anju Didi at our respective airports for our flights. I arrived in time for my flight, but my flight was delayed because the crew hasn't joined the flight. The crew came in an hour late and when the crew came all the passengers clapped just to show a funny gesture. I slept through my flight back to San Francisco (SFO), and the moment I came out of SFO I caught cold because of 40 degree change in temperature between SFO and Miami.
I miss you Miami and all my friends. What a memorable trip and a great vacation to rejuvenate me to 2013.
Day 6
December 28
It was my last day at Miami, a very fun filled trip was coming to an end. After our lazy morning, we headed to our backyard beach on North Hollywood. After reaching the beach, we followed our routine of playing in water and then playing volleyball.
Volleyball @ North Hollywood Beach
Now it was time for me to depart, we had some group pictures before departing. Meghal and Sheveta Didi dropped me and Anju Didi at our respective airports for our flights. I arrived in time for my flight, but my flight was delayed because the crew hasn't joined the flight. The crew came in an hour late and when the crew came all the passengers clapped just to show a funny gesture. I slept through my flight back to San Francisco (SFO), and the moment I came out of SFO I caught cold because of 40 degree change in temperature between SFO and Miami.
I miss you Miami and all my friends. What a memorable trip and a great vacation to rejuvenate me to 2013.
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