A Look At What Is Happening Today:
Happy New Year ✔ Took A Couple Of Long Walks ✔ Enjoyed Terrific Weather ✔ Terrific Dinner ✔
We wanted to begin by wishing each of you a very safe, healthy and Happy New Year. It seems as if we were just ringing in 2012 and now 2013 is already upon us. As they say time flies when you are having fun.
We truly had a memorable time we had at dinner last evening.
We've included photos of the special dinner menu which we realize will be a little hard to read. If you click on the photo you should be able to make it a little larger.
The food was just absolutely wonderful and that lobster was truly amazing. We were the first to the dining room while some were at the bar area but midway though our meal quite a few people were dining. The nice thing is when you are at any restaurant and it is not very crowded you have more time to talk with the entire wait-staff.
When we were seated the hostess took our photo not only with our camera but with a Polaroid (didn't realize they were still making them but knew that there were Polaroid type cameras now being made by Fuji) camera and gave us a photo in a little cardboard frame as a memory of the evening.
There was a vocalist on piano and the instrument he was using sounded as if he was being accompanied by several different musicians and his voice was quite good. In fact, at first we couldn't tell if it was live or if he was the original vocalist to a very familiar pop tune.
There were balloons which were nicely displayed in key spots around the restaurant and for those arriving later there were party hats and blowers.
The interior is traditional which you don't see as much in Miami given the international flare, including nice white tablecloths. You even had a choice of white or black napkins depending on the color of your attire.
This was Keith right before he was to enjoy the Lobster Tail.
We had two waiters last night as the first one helped us until the regularly assigned waiter for our table arrived. The first waiter, Don, highly recommended three entrees and one of them was the Lobster and we are so glad we took his recommendation. Our waiter for most of the evening was Caesar.
As we left the restaurant some people were still arriving. People were wearing a wide range of attire from New Years Glitter, to more casual attire. Since we had shipped the vast majority of our clothing we just went with more casual attire for the evening as the suitcase that we had our clothing in was already very full and we didn't want to add a third suitcase to the equation.
Two final comments about the restaurant which to us represented small but a very nice touch. The Manager was the one who came around to pour the flutes of Champagne and to welcome us to the restaurant. We spoke with him for a little while and he gave us his business card. Later today, the restaurant called us to ask about our experience at dinner last evening and also noted that she knew that we had dined there two years ago.
Back in the room we spoke with friends Ricki and David and each exchanged warm New Years wishes. Our plan is to speak with our children on New Years Day.
Our hotel room is located in one of the corners of the building and is very quiet so we didn't hear any of the party goers. Our views are mainly of the city but we do have a limited view of the Port Of Miami and can see an area that accommodates on cruise ship.
Our hotel was having a New Years Day Brunch today. It was an easy decision for us to pass on the brunch and go with our traditional breakfast. When we say tradition we are not talking a traditional New Years Day breakfast. Rather we are referring to the type of breakfast we would have at home or on most days while away. Keith did change it though. Instead of the oatmeal he went with the classic breakfast of Raisin Bran.
While Anne Marie was getting ready Keith went to the Fitness Center to get in another workout lifting weights. He was decked out in all Under Armour attire including shirt, pants and even sports shoes.
We left the Hotel around 9:00 AM and took another nice walk. We walked nine miles. The downtown area was fairly quiet when we began the walk. There were no ships in port today and even the trucks that you normally see on the bridge that take goods to and from the container ships were non-existent given the New Year's Day Holiday. For those of you familiar with the bridge that carries traffic over to the Port Of Miami this is a scene that you normally will not see at close to 11:00 AM on a Tuesday morning with no traffic at all on the bridge.
We also walked over to the American Airlines Arena home to the Miami Heat National Basketball Association Team.
While Keith was taking a photo of the arena Anne Marie waited for him.
This is a full length photo of the former City Council Building of Miami with the Gecko's on the outside of the building.
The weather was nice and it seemed to change frequently from breezy and cloudy to partly sunny, to sunny with very little breeze. We stopped off at a few other places before eventually picking up lunch.
If today was not a Holiday we would have visited South Beach but we also want to see the Holocaust Memorial and we didn't think it would be open today so we will either visit this area tomorrow or the following day.
This afternoon Anne Marie sat out at the hotel pool as she wanted to get some sun. What do you think Keith ended up doing? No, he didn't have an ice cream. You say, a long walk. No no long walk. A nap. No nap. You give up. Well you were close. Rather then take a long walk he went on a nice run.
Later in the afternoon we both took one more walk and walked about three miles. The weather was delightful.
A walking/running recap has Anne Marie at 12 miles today excluding our walk for dinner and Keith at 12 miles walking and 5 miles running.
This evening we dined at Atrio Restaurant located in the Conrad Hilton in downtown Miami. It is located on the 25th floor and provides excellent views of Miami. This was our first time dining here.
The menu emphasizes locally caught seafood while also featuring a nice range of meats to choose from.
We enjoyed the nice views from the restaurant and we were seated at a nice corner table. The ambience of the restaurant was nice.
In addition to having salads and side orders of vegetables, we each had seafood entrees.
Keith had Florida Red Snapper.
Anne Marie enjoyed Pan Fried Scallops.
Afterwards, we walked back to our hotel and started to get ready for another nice day in Miami.
In the United States with the recently released movie on Lincoln there is much more talk about President Abraham Lincoln in recent months so we thought we would begin the year 2013 with a quote from Abraham Lincoln as our thought of the day.
We also spoke with our daughter, Jennifer, and our son, Eric and wished them each a very Happy New Year.
We wanted to begin by wishing each of you a very safe, healthy and Happy New Year. It seems as if we were just ringing in 2012 and now 2013 is already upon us. As they say time flies when you are having fun.
We truly had a memorable time we had at dinner last evening.
We've included photos of the special dinner menu which we realize will be a little hard to read. If you click on the photo you should be able to make it a little larger.
The food was just absolutely wonderful and that lobster was truly amazing. We were the first to the dining room while some were at the bar area but midway though our meal quite a few people were dining. The nice thing is when you are at any restaurant and it is not very crowded you have more time to talk with the entire wait-staff.
When we were seated the hostess took our photo not only with our camera but with a Polaroid (didn't realize they were still making them but knew that there were Polaroid type cameras now being made by Fuji) camera and gave us a photo in a little cardboard frame as a memory of the evening.
There was a vocalist on piano and the instrument he was using sounded as if he was being accompanied by several different musicians and his voice was quite good. In fact, at first we couldn't tell if it was live or if he was the original vocalist to a very familiar pop tune.
There were balloons which were nicely displayed in key spots around the restaurant and for those arriving later there were party hats and blowers.
The interior is traditional which you don't see as much in Miami given the international flare, including nice white tablecloths. You even had a choice of white or black napkins depending on the color of your attire.
This was Keith right before he was to enjoy the Lobster Tail.
We had two waiters last night as the first one helped us until the regularly assigned waiter for our table arrived. The first waiter, Don, highly recommended three entrees and one of them was the Lobster and we are so glad we took his recommendation. Our waiter for most of the evening was Caesar.
As we left the restaurant some people were still arriving. People were wearing a wide range of attire from New Years Glitter, to more casual attire. Since we had shipped the vast majority of our clothing we just went with more casual attire for the evening as the suitcase that we had our clothing in was already very full and we didn't want to add a third suitcase to the equation.
Two final comments about the restaurant which to us represented small but a very nice touch. The Manager was the one who came around to pour the flutes of Champagne and to welcome us to the restaurant. We spoke with him for a little while and he gave us his business card. Later today, the restaurant called us to ask about our experience at dinner last evening and also noted that she knew that we had dined there two years ago.
Back in the room we spoke with friends Ricki and David and each exchanged warm New Years wishes. Our plan is to speak with our children on New Years Day.
Our hotel room is located in one of the corners of the building and is very quiet so we didn't hear any of the party goers. Our views are mainly of the city but we do have a limited view of the Port Of Miami and can see an area that accommodates on cruise ship.
Our hotel was having a New Years Day Brunch today. It was an easy decision for us to pass on the brunch and go with our traditional breakfast. When we say tradition we are not talking a traditional New Years Day breakfast. Rather we are referring to the type of breakfast we would have at home or on most days while away. Keith did change it though. Instead of the oatmeal he went with the classic breakfast of Raisin Bran.
While Anne Marie was getting ready Keith went to the Fitness Center to get in another workout lifting weights. He was decked out in all Under Armour attire including shirt, pants and even sports shoes.
We left the Hotel around 9:00 AM and took another nice walk. We walked nine miles. The downtown area was fairly quiet when we began the walk. There were no ships in port today and even the trucks that you normally see on the bridge that take goods to and from the container ships were non-existent given the New Year's Day Holiday. For those of you familiar with the bridge that carries traffic over to the Port Of Miami this is a scene that you normally will not see at close to 11:00 AM on a Tuesday morning with no traffic at all on the bridge.
We also walked over to the American Airlines Arena home to the Miami Heat National Basketball Association Team.
While Keith was taking a photo of the arena Anne Marie waited for him.
This is a full length photo of the former City Council Building of Miami with the Gecko's on the outside of the building.
The weather was nice and it seemed to change frequently from breezy and cloudy to partly sunny, to sunny with very little breeze. We stopped off at a few other places before eventually picking up lunch.
If today was not a Holiday we would have visited South Beach but we also want to see the Holocaust Memorial and we didn't think it would be open today so we will either visit this area tomorrow or the following day.
This afternoon Anne Marie sat out at the hotel pool as she wanted to get some sun. What do you think Keith ended up doing? No, he didn't have an ice cream. You say, a long walk. No no long walk. A nap. No nap. You give up. Well you were close. Rather then take a long walk he went on a nice run.
Later in the afternoon we both took one more walk and walked about three miles. The weather was delightful.
A walking/running recap has Anne Marie at 12 miles today excluding our walk for dinner and Keith at 12 miles walking and 5 miles running.
This evening we dined at Atrio Restaurant located in the Conrad Hilton in downtown Miami. It is located on the 25th floor and provides excellent views of Miami. This was our first time dining here.
The menu emphasizes locally caught seafood while also featuring a nice range of meats to choose from.
We enjoyed the nice views from the restaurant and we were seated at a nice corner table. The ambience of the restaurant was nice.
In addition to having salads and side orders of vegetables, we each had seafood entrees.
Keith had Florida Red Snapper.
Anne Marie enjoyed Pan Fried Scallops.
Afterwards, we walked back to our hotel and started to get ready for another nice day in Miami.
In the United States with the recently released movie on Lincoln there is much more talk about President Abraham Lincoln in recent months so we thought we would begin the year 2013 with a quote from Abraham Lincoln as our thought of the day.
We also spoke with our daughter, Jennifer, and our son, Eric and wished them each a very Happy New Year.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY............
“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at
a time.” – Abraham Lincoln
Keith and Anne Marie
One of the best parts of Florida is the fresh sea food. I salivate over your beautiful pictures. Quick question: do you do lots of walking when you are home? Or is this something you do when you travel?
ReplyDeleteKeith and Anne Marie,
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you both!!
Debbie
Nice view at dinner! Mom, I really like your blue sweater top.
ReplyDelete