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Florida dreamin’: Natasha’s view (part 2)

This is the second of two guest posts by my friend Natasha, who visited me from Thunder Bay, Ontario, in June. Read the previous installment to get caught up.

On Wednesday, Jordon invited me to have lunch with two of his good friends, Nick and Mike. I had never been to Hooters prior to my Florida visit, but it was an experience. We had a nice time with Nike and Mike, and went back to the house for more down time. Kristen then invited Jordon and I to go for sushi with a friend of hers. The sushi place was pretty packed, but we managed to find a booth. We enjoyed our dinner and conversations, and headed back to the house. We hung out with a couple of Jordon’s friends till it was time to go back home.

Thursday morning we lounged around for most of the day. One thing I wanted to do was go to Build-A-Bear Workshop and get a memorable animal friend for my nephew, Traden. They didn’t end up having the Gator, so we decided on a baby Florida panther. We dressed it in a UF t-shirt, jorts, converse sneakers, and aviator sunglasses. Even though Traden is very small, he loved it when I gave it to him. After that, Jordon and I decided to get some pictures taken in a photo booth. It was a lot of fun, and the photo’s turned out to be stickers! I wonder where Jordon has decided to stick his. I haven’t stuck mine anywhere yet; I haven’t found a place special enough. When we returned back to the house, we had dinner with Jordon’s family and Kristen’s friend. Jordon and I decided to watch Harry Potter after dinner; soon after the movie was over I fell asleep.

Friday was a day I had been looking forward to since I arrived. It was the day that we were going to Miami! Jordon’s dad dropped us off at the train station, and we boarded the train to Miami. It didn’t take very long to get there. Once we were there we had lunch at a small sandwich shop, and walked around for a while. We went to this outdoor mall which was neat, and I did some shopping for my nephews, Benton and Traden. We then met up with Andy, Kristen, and Kevin. We enjoyed some Starbucks, parted ways with Kevin and Kristen and Andy, Jordon and I headed to the Miami Seaquarium. I had never seen sea life like killer whales, manatees, and sea lions before. It was a worthwhile experience, although I felt like I was dying in the heat. We were getting pretty hungry after seeing all that fish (just joking), so we headed over to an area in Miami called Little Havana. We enjoyed our meals and afterwards met back up with Kristen and Kevin. We went to South Beach and checked out all the amazing scenery and stores. The beach at night time almost took my breath away. The contrast between the shoreline with all the lights, and the ocean at night was surreal. After taking more pictures at the beach, we stopped by Nick’s house and had a nice visit, where we enjoyed playing some fun games. Jordon and Andy took a drive to Taco Bell which was lovely. We then decided it was time to go home in the wee hours of the morning and get some sleep.

Saturday almost killed me. We went to the beach during the day which was the first time during my visit. The sand was so hot; it felt like I was walking on hot coals. I couldn’t understand why someone would want to put themselves through that. We left shortly after and relaxed in the pool at Jordon’s house which was much better than frying alive. Because it was my last night in Florida, I wanted everyone to get dressed up and join Jordon and I for dinner. We went to a Chinese restaurant and enjoyed our dinner’s and everyone’s company. Saying goodbye to everyone I had met that evening was another bittersweet moment. It was starting to settle into my brain that I was leaving the next day.

When I awoke in the morning on Sunday, I was happy to be going home but sad at the same time that I would be leaving behind all the amazing people I had met. The experiences I had in Florida would forever be in my heart, as well as the people. Jordon and I had brunch with his family, and we then had to leave to get me to the airport on time. We took a couple family pictures plus one (me). Saying goodbye to Kristen was awful! We both started to lose our composure and tear up, but I guess that goes to show you how close you can grow to someone in a short amount of time. On the way to the airport, I was worried that I was going to react the same way when saying goodbye to Jordon. When I got out of the car, a feeling of ease washed over me. I knew I would see Jordon again, whether it be in Florida or back in Thunder Bay. Knowing that I would see him soon again comforted me. We gave each other a hug, said goodbye and I walked through those airport doors ready to go home, feeling like I did what I wanted while I was there, and enjoying every moment of it.

I want to thank everyone for making my visit so special; I will never forget any of you. And Jordon? I’ll see you soon.