Miami 2025. Days 2 and 3. Kol Sason, veKol Simcha.
After a full four hours of sleep Wednesday night, I woke up at 9am.
The rest of the family didn’t get up until 10:30 or so. Lucky them. We moved slowly. Tzvi got us coffees in the lobby, and we finally made it out around noon. We met my parents, also staying at the hotel (but they arrived earlier on Wednesday), and took an Uber to Hadekel, a kosher dairy Israeli place.
Lunch was delicious. The vegetables were fresh, the pita was hot, and I had this great tuna sandwich. Every bite was so good. I’ll never understand why we can get this quality in the five towns. Can someone explain this to me?
After lunch, I went with the girls and my mom to Blo Bar to get our hair done. I have to say they did a great job. Hallie picked a bun which was so cute, and Madeleine looked like a little movie star with her curls. We got back to the hotel, changed for the wedding and headed out!
The wedding was at Beth Torah Benny Rock. We got there at 4:30 for a 6 pm start time. We had been forewarned that Florida weddings are different from NY weddings in that the schmorg is less stations and more pass arounds. That was true – there were only three stations – but the stations were very strong. The best was a tomahawk carving station with delicious steak and crispy fries. Even Hallie ate a ton of meat and she eats nothing. Of course Tzvi asked for the bone.
The wedding was great. During the chuppah there was some confusion as to whether or not it was mixed seating. A few men ended up sitting in the women’s section, including my father, but it mostly stayed separate.
Everyone looked beautiful in their dresses and we all had so much fun. The girls danced up a storm, amazing considering they slept so little. Madeleine spent half the wedding on Tzvi’s shoulders and just had the best time dancing. At some point the girls changed into pajamas and watched Hallie’s iPad in the bridal room with one of Jeremy’s little cousins.
We didn’t get back to the hotel until around 1 am, so another late evening! We stopped at my parents’ room, which is a shoebox compared to ours, but oddly seems to be the only room in the hotel with a mezuzah on it. It’s possible this building used to be apartments and no one ever took it down. Anyway, we said goodbye to them because they are flying home tomorrow, then went back to the room and put the kids to bed.
Goodnight! Mazal Tov! Great Day.
Friday
Once again we got up around 9:30/10. Tzvi got coffee and Hallie got a bagel. Today Tzvi was working, so I moved slowly and eventually took the girls for lunch. We walked to Mozart Café which is about a 10 minute walk, but it was hot, so Hallie was complaining. The food was mediocre, more like what we would see at home. The kids got pizza and pasta and I got a tuna sandwich that was sub par. At Hallie’s request we ubered back to the hotel.
We all got ready for the beach and met everyone there. Eli had called me when I was in the Uber and asked if I was already on the beach because there were people checked in under my name. Always a good sign. We all managed to get seats near one another. At this point it was HOT. Like St. Barths hot. Unbearable. Tzvi had to spend 40 minutes on a work call, so he sat in a giant chair on the shade, which was kind of funny.
We went in the water. Except there was so much seaweed in the water. Thankfully the seaweed is dry and not slimy and kind of feels like rope. Otherwise the water is very nice. Thankfully Hattie took Hallie and Madeleine in the pool, so they enjoyed that too. Hallie got some ice cream and a strawberry daquiri, her favorite. After we were in the water for a while people start yelling that there was a shark! I didn’t see it but everyone else did. We survived, but that was the end of the swimming.
As the day was winding down I started get antsy and I realized why. Every Friday, Tzvi makes me an iced Mocha at home, so I was itching for my Mocha Friday. After we packed up from the beach and showered, I opted to go to Publix by myself to get a coffee at the Starbucks and buy some snacks and fruit for tomorrow. It was basically a mini vacation. Of course I ended up buying three Dunkin Hines cake mixes that we don’t get at home, not that I frequently use Dunkin Hines mixes, but you know, the novelty! There was a Dolly Parton Coffee Cake, brownies WITH a fudge packet (which you NEVER see at home), and brownies with chocolate chips in them. I mean maybe it was the magic of Publix but I had to buy them. I also bought fruit, crackers, snack, etc. for tomorrow.
I got back to the hotel, changed and then we met everyone at 7:30 in the lobby. We walked to the Young Israel of Sunny Isles, where Sara’s parents were making Sheva Brachot. We had a lovely dinner, hung out, and headed back to the hotel. We put the kids to bed a around midnight, but Hallie didn’t fall asleep until 2am! Thank you Tzvi for dealing with that.
Good day.