brickell | Maicurls

27th November 2016 – I woke up at 7:00am, finally the day had arrived when I would meet my friend (K). We connected through (Napturallycurly.com) and our friendship grew after bonding over the experience of having lost our pet dogs. We had discussed for ages about how amazing it would be if we ever met and that day was the 27th November!

I made my way to the tiny Amtrack Station in Woodbridge, Virginia by way of taxi. My Taxi driver ended up not only coming from Nigeria but had lived in Germany (I am German/Nigerian) so he very quickly became friendly and handed me his card so I could call him in the evening when I was coming back from my trip. During the drive he gave me all kinds of advice and warned me about pickpockets and “rough” neighborhoods, he actually freaked me out a little but I knew I was going to be in the company of a local so I was ready.

It was really cold and I got to the train station a little early (as always) to make sure I would be on time. There was no where to sit and wait indoors so I braced myself for the 30 minute wait. For whatever reason you don’t find out which track the train will arrive at until it gets there so I decided to stand with the rest of the people. Of course, upon arriving it was announced that the platform was on the other side which, involved going up three floors, crossing a little “connection bridge” and going back down to the ground floor. There were a lot of elderly travelers, people with luggage etc. all of whom needed to use the elevator. I legged it across and made it, sweaty and all (because I of course was wearing a thick coat since I was cold) but anyways I made it!

I quickly texted K to let her know I was on the way, the excitement was building with every passing minute. After a little while I got a message from K asking if my train was going to be on time because she was informed that it would be arriving 1 hour late! This was news to me! Of course I panicked a little because we didn’t really have a lot of time to spend together and a one hour delay would eat away our time. I checked online and asked the ticket man who reassured me we would be on time and there was no delay. About 1.5 hours later I arrived at the station in Baltimore. Super pumped to meet my twin (we have a lot in common so we call each other twins) I looked around but didn’t see her. After a few minutes I spotted her looking around searching for me. HUGE SMILES, girly giggles and OH MY GOODNESS were exchanged along with a huge hug! Happy day the twins met!

K wanted to take me out to brunch first. Now let me explain my LOVE for all things food! I am literally obsessed with eating LOL. K and I both love talking about food, discussing recipes, sharing recipes, sharing what we plan on eating, what we ate etc. So when she told me we were going to one of her favorite spots for brunch I was more than thrilled. We ate at a place called The Blue Moon Cafe. I HIGHLY recommend a visit if you are ever in Baltimore (they have two locations). The food was mouthwatering and the service was great!

K did the honors of ordering for us and we shared everything selected because (US of A I will never get used to your portion sizes) this cafe had EXTREME portions! I am going to let the photos speak for themselves. And yes I did get to eat some crab (in here smothered with eggs and cheese and everything else) and yes, it was absolutely scrumptious! If I manage to get the names of each dish ordered I will update it here * will have to ask K. (Updated: Top Left – Cinnamon Roll (made with delicious biscuit), Top Right: “Sweet Baby Jesus (yes that is the name – this was the amazing crab dish with yummy cheese goodness) and Bottom: “Captain Crunch French Toast” – French toast coated with Captain Crunch Cereal before being cooked).

So after we ate (both of us had leftovers…HUGE I tell you), K then took me to the harbor district. The sun was out and we initially wanted to walk but figured she would end up getting a ticket if we left the car parked so decided against it. It took us ages to find a parking spot, tried a parking garage but the price for just 2 – 3 hours was ridiculous so we drove around looking for a place.

We actually got threatened by an insane man in his car! He thought K had attempted to “steal” his parking spot even though she didn’t notice he was parked a few good meters away (he was far away enough that it didn’t look like he intended to take the spot in he first place). Mad man drove up beside us and yelled like a loon, “Didn’t you see me parked there waiting…yaddayaddayadda”. K attempted to explain that she hadn’t noticed him and asked him POLITELY to remain calm; to which he responded with “Go ahead and park there and see what will happen to your car when you come back”. I was so shocked (and have a big mouth) so I yelled “Excuse me?!? What did you say?!?” He was clear, “you heard me”! Normally if I were at home I would have gone off but I was a visiting tourist and my mother warned me to keep my mouth shut unless I wanted to be an arrested visiting tourist on my first trip the US so I left it at that (with a lot of shock and anger pent up)! We waited for him to drive off before looking for another spot, didn’t want to take the risk!

Anyways after that little incident we found and spot and walked around the harbor which was stunning! K pointed out little spots, places she likes to go to, places we would visit again upon my return, I even picked up some accessories.

Now I wouldn’t be me if something else didn’t happen…my freaking boot heel broke! Now given it broke when I was in Miami (a new pair of never before worn shoes)! I tried using gorilla glue and even zip tied the heels to let the glue set while in Miami, but oh no it felt like breaking while I was away from my hotel and mid walking around! H&M came to the rescue with a pair of ballerinas LOL.

To finish off our trip we picked up some coffee and headed to the station. I was disappointed that I didn’t get more time with her but K had work the following day, our initial plans didn’t work out, everything sort of was rushed planning and there were no later trains I could catch directly back to Woodbridge. No matter, I shall be visiting her again in a few months and more time shall be spent together!

The trip back was uneventful; I caught my train back to Virginia, my taxi guy was there waiting for me, (I realized I forgot my leftovers in K’s car which broke my heart) and I grabbed some dinner before hitting the sack!

My next trip was to Washington DC which will be covered in my next post!

Maicurls

22nd November 10:00 am. I was picked up after Qais’s last course and onward we went to the train station, headed to Washington Ronald Reagan National Airport direction MIAMI!!!

Upon checking-in what else was there to do but drink and eat. Now that we both were on holiday it was time to reallllly let loose. I was still suffering from jet lag, time difference, sore arms from lugging around my extremely heavy hand luggage the day before but no matter!

We picked a Japanese restaurant to have lunch and obviously were hungry because A LOT of food was ordered! The next move was onto a bar to have (a few more) drinks after lunch since we had time to kill. After two drinks we went through the security check (I hate airports by the way in case you hadn’t noticed in my two previous posts)!

Fast forward to me sitting on the plane and not next to Qais. Now enter me talking in my sleep AGAIN. I had finally drifted off to sleep and suddenly jolted awake to find the guy sitting next to me looking with this smile/smirk/attempting not to laugh look. I immediately knew buying Christmas presents was not just part of my dream but I had yet again shared…this time with a stranger!!! I apparently went on and on about the gifts I was getting my dad, mum and sister according to random guy (just kill me now)! I apologized and literally pulled up my turtleneck to cover my lips in the hopes that it would keep me quite for the rest of the flight!

After we landed we went to rent a car which was an ordeal and a half with a mix up of credit cards….1.5 hours later we finally got our car and were headed to Brickell, Miami. Now finding our apartment hotel was yet again another ordeal with road construction etc. We eventually found the place and when I say he made an awesome choice I mean he made an AWESOME choice! The apartment was perfect! Clean, nicely decorated, free WiFi, HUGE bedroom with the most amazingly soft huge bed I have EVER slept in, HUGE bathroom, BEAUTIFUL view.

View from the balcony on the night we arrived 22nd Nov

First morning in Miami

View from the balcony on the night we arrived 22nd Nov

First morning in Miami

View from the balcony on the night we arrived 22nd Nov

First morning in Miami

So as you probably can tell, this trip was one of over doing the partying. There is no need to delve too deeply into what we ate and drank since the list would be long (will share a little about it). Qais took me to see “touristy spots”, the beach and A LOT OF BARS and I met some of his old collage mates over the 4 nights in Miami, all of whom were so much fun! I also got to practice my French with the wife of one of his friends (I am so rusty but she was super polite and kept telling me I spoke it “perfectly” and with a French accent). *Buffing my nails* 😉

Aside from being extremely beautiful, Miami is party central, artistic and so diverse in what it offers. We went to a trash bar (trash music). I will say that the bathrooms in that place were trash too….I have never and hope will never see anything like it. As we walked to the entrance one of the women outside yelled “No bathrooms…no bathrooms” we brushed her off as being drunk; I mean how can a bar not have a bathroom right? She was trying to warn us and we quickly understood what she meant. The men’s toilet.was.out.of.this.world (and not in a good way)! Both were one stall each, right next to one another and I wanted to see if their toilet would be cleaner than ours (BIG MISTAKE). Okay I will stop about the state of the toilets but for the life of me I will never understand how certain “things” were splashed/dropped EVERYWHERE!!!

On our third night night we went to a bar decorated as a “beach bar” literally with sand in it (it was not near the beach). I tasted raspberry flavored beer in a Belgium Bar (I am not a beer drinker but this stuff was delicious), and was recommended by the super friendly bar guy. An Irish and English bar was also visited along with a Mexican Restaurant where they prepared fresh guacamole in front of us at the table.

My first Thanksgiving was also spent in Miami. Qais and I ended up sharing a “Thanksgiving for two” at a super fancy Italian Restaurant and when I say I was stuffed, I was stuffed! It was a three course meal that of course included super succulent Turkey with Rosti, Brussle Sprouts and a whole heap more as the main course; followed by pumpkin pie for desert. (I don’t know how I forgot to take pictures since I took photos of everything but trust me when I say I was extremely happy)! Again he made a good choice!

On our last night in Miami we bar hopped (surprise surprise). By this time my body was so confused about everything from my first 5 days in the States that I actually feel asleep in the taxi while we were moving from place to place. I am happy to say I did not talk in my sleep however, there is photo evidence that Qais took (has yet to be destroyed…shall never be seen in public EVER)!

Part of our bar-hop-marathon included an outdoors bar/lounge. I LOVED it! It had both indoor and outdoor bar service areas (two outdoors), a huge dance floor, beanbags to chill on, benches and tables to kickback with friends. I really loved it but can not for the life of me remember the name. When I am back in the States and on my next trip to Miami (I foresee a few trips) it shall definitely be revisited!

Our trip back to Woodbridge, Virginia was uneventful; we ate and drank at the airport (again surprise surprise), arrived without a hitch, (I froze again) and got back to the same hotel I first stayed in. Qais took me out for dinner and then I prepared for a train trip to Baltimore, Maryland to meet someone I consider my twin. I can tell you I was exhausted but super excited to finally meet her after what seemed like forever!

To be continued…