Day 1: Tuesday, April 15, 2014
My flight was on Delta 2233 from Huntsville to Atlanta and departed at 5:35 A.M.
It was a misty rain and foggy morning, all the way to the airport.
Checking in was easy.
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| Miami Airport |
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| Flying over Miami |
The jet was not full and the flight attendant said we could sit anywhere.
I had a window seat so I did not move but I did take a short nap.
The flight took about twenty-five minutes.
The takeoff was horrible it felt like we had four flat tires. Once up in the air, it was smooth sailing.
We landed at Atlanta International Airport at 7:26 A.M. and disembarked at Gate A.
My next flight was on Delta 1567 from Atlanta to Miami at gate B.
I took the escalators downstairs to the tram.
I was not tall enough to see the Miami sign so I asked the man to tell me which gate I needed to take.
I entered the tram and the man told me to get off at station B.
I took the escalators upstairs and walked to gate B 16 only to find that the inbound flight was late arriving. Our flight was delayed one hour and moved to gate 14.
The flight from Atlanta to Minneapolis was moved to gate 16B for departure.
Our flight was scheduled to leave at 9:58 A.M.
I sat in the lobby, waiting for my fight.
I started talking to a woman who was traveling to South America.
She said that she had no children but she had many nieces and nephews. We talked about everything.
Finally, it was time to board. I sat in seat A17, my seat was toward the back of the plane and the woman I was talking to in her seat was in the front of the plane. I said have a good flight and I did not see her again.
We landed and I wanted to see when my daughter's flight would land but the incoming flights list was downstairs.
I went to the food court because I was getting very hungry.
I ordered a custard tart, which cost $5; it had blueberries, strawberries, mandarin oranges, and custard on pastry.
After I got my food, I found a seat next to the windows so I could see when the jets landed and took off.
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| Miami Airport |
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| Miami Airport |
After my daughter's plane landed she met me in the food court.
She was coming to Miami via Boston MA.
Once we finished in the food court, my daughter called the hotel and asked what bus we needed to take to the hotel.
There is a shuttle bus that Hampton Inn sends to pick up passengers at the airport every hour.
There are two different Hampton Inn shuttle buses so we had to be sure which one to take.
We saw a shuttle bus with Hampton Inn written on the side, it was not the right bus, so we stepped back.
The attendant at the airport terminal said, do you need a bodyguard? I laughed and I said it looks like we may need a bodyguard because we almost got run.
We arrived at Hampton Inn Hotel 3620 NW 79 Avenue Doral, Florida
We checked into room 619 on the sixth floor.
We walked across the parking lot to a restaurant.
Lora and I shared a plate of fish, cream potatoes, and salad, and we both ordered water with lemon to drink.
The server also brought us a basket of toasted bread with butter.
My daughter’s doctor’s appointment was at 4 P.M.
She had the hotel call for a taxi, a one-way trip cost $30.00
It was late in the afternoon when my daughter came out of the doctor’s office.
She wanted to take the bus downtown, but I was reluctant because we did not know the bus system.
All I could remember was two men being killed because they took the wrong bus, in Miami.
We walked to Burger King which was a couple blocks away, where my daughter could charge her cell phone which was almost dead.
After we charged her cell phone we walked around the square of NW 42 Avenue and West Flager for what seemed hours.
We decided not to go downtown but to go back to the hotel but we did not know which bus to take.
No one spoke English, and they did not understand when we asked them which bus should we take to Doral.
Finally, we sat next to a woman who could speak English.
We told her we were trying to get back to Doral. She said to take bus 11 but not the first bus 11. Take the next bus 11 to 89th Street.
We got off the bus at 89th Street and we walked to CVS.
At CVS, my daughter bought some snacks and soup.
Next door was a Panda Express where we ate dinner. We ordered shrimp, rice, and vegetables with water to drink which cost $10.00.
We walked to the bus stop, where we met a nice young man from India. He said he worked as a software engineer.
He helped us to take the right bus and he told the driver of the bus where we needed to get off.
He said my car is broken and I am using the bus until it is fixed.
He said that he had bought a bus card.
He said if you do not have a bus card, then you must have the correct change to ride the bus.
To ride the bus costs $2.25, correct change only. If you put $3.00 into the coin box, you will not get the change back.
Always use the correct change!
We thanked him for all his help.
The bus driver called our stop; we got off and walked several blocks down 36th Street to the hotel.
I was so exhausted, that I fell asleep when my head lay on the pillow.
Slept like a log all night.
Day 2: Wednesday, April 16, 2014
I took the elevator downstairs to the dining area.
For breakfast, I ate an omelet, and sausage links, and drank a cup of orange juice.
I took a banana and two yogurts back to the room. My daughter is having surgery today so she cannot eat anything.
We took the elevator down from the sixth floor to the lobby.
We called for a taxi and went outside and waited for over an hour but the taxi never showed.
We needed a way downtown and the shuttle bus driver asked the manager of the hotel if he could take us to the corner of NW 42 Avenue and West Flager St.
Lora gave the driver a ten-dollar tip for helping us.
He dropped us off at the Shell Station on the corner of NW 42 Avenue and West Flager.
He said it was too hard to get that big bus into such a tight spot.
We walked to the doctor’s office, which was less than half a block.
While my daughter was in surgery I waited in the lobby.
I talked to a woman sitting in the lobby she said that she lived in Miami and she brought an old school friend in to have surgery.
She said that she was born in New Jersey; she was a divorcee with two daughters. One of her daughters was in high school and one daughter was attending Ohio State her Alma mater.
She was also caring for her elderly father.
The nurse gave me two prescriptions, one for pain and the other for an antibiotic.
She said my daughter would need it after her surgery.
The nurse said the nearest Publix Pharmacy was not that far and I could walk there.
A couple from Rochester New York was going to the pharmacy and the nurse asked them if I could go with them.
They were a nice, sweet, and funny couple. She was getting breast implants on Friday.
The nurse gave directions to the pharmacy to the husband. They had not checked into the hotel so their car was full of luggage.
The car had two doors that opened from the outside but had two more that opened from the inside.
Away we went in their rented red mini car in search of a Publix Pharmacy.
The husband drove west on Flager then NW on 42nd Avenue.
The husband drove SW on 42nd Avenue where we spotted a Publix, he let his wife and me out.
The wife and I walked inside the Publix where I asked, where is your pharmacy? The woman at the register replied we have no pharmacy.
Both the woman from Rochester NY and I started to laugh.
We explained our search for a Publix Pharmacy.
The woman at Publix drew us a map to the nearest Publix (later I discovered was not the one I was supposed to use).
We took so many turns that I was completely lost.
The Pharmacist said it would take an hour and a half to fill the prescription, so we left the prescriptions. One of the prescriptions was a narcotic drug and only one pharmacist had access to the drug and he was not there.
The husband drove us back to the doctor's office. I thanked the couple for letting me go with them and I never saw them again.
I once again returned to the lobby to wait.
I started talking to a couple from Charlotte North Carolina they both worked for the US Post Office in Charlotte NC.
The wife was a mail carrier and she said we have four children two boys and a set of twin girls.
She was having breast implants done that day.
I said you had better get your wife's prescription filled before she comes out of surgery and I told him that the pharmacist had told us that it would take an hour and a half to fill the prescription.
The husband took the prescriptions and dropped them off at the Pharmacy.
His wife went back to surgery and my daughter came out of surgery around 5:30 P.M., she was in a lot of pain. She kept saying just shoot me!
The owner was going to take us to the hotel so we had to wait until 6 P.M. when the office closed.
I still had not picked up the prescription so we had to stop at Publix Pharmacy.
I had left my daughter's prescription at a different Publix location than the one we went to.
What we thought was a quick stop turned into a nightmare.
We arrived at Publix and as I was going up the escalator I met Mural.
We walked to the pharmacy together and I said to him this place does not look familiar.
I was next in line, I gave my daughter's name to the pharmacist, and she tried to look up my daughter’s prescription.
The pharmacist said you must have left the prescription at another Publix. I did not know that there were several Publix within the area.
I walked back to the car and said this is not where I left the prescription.
So we had to go in search of Publix where I had dropped the prescription.
I did not know what the driver thought but he went several miles the wrong way. I said the Publix was not far from the first one because I remember coming back down W. Flager St.
The driver said I think I know the location of the new Publix.
He dropped me off once again and I went inside to get the prescription.
It was the correct Publix Pharmacy.
There was a woman in the line in front of me, she had her prescription filled and stood there asking multiple questions.
I did not think she would ever shut up!
Finally, I got my daughter's prescriptions, the cost was $2.00.
On the way home the driver said, “I have not eaten all day do you mind if I stop at Wendy’s?”
He ordered a Coke, fries, and a large hamburger. He asked if we wanted anything to eat, we said yes.
We both ordered a junior cheeseburger and fries.
I offered to pay but he paid for everything.
My daughter opened the bottle of pills and took one out to take and she dropped it. It went under the seat and she could not bend down to reach it.
I was sitting in the front seat, I had to unbuckle my seat belt, lean my head toward the back, my butt stuck in the air, to look for the pill. Never found it!
At Hampton Inn, the driver got out and looked for the pill. He found the pill it was lodged in the track of the front seat. I would never have found it!
We thanked him and slowly walked to the room, taking the elevator to the sixth floor.
My daughter did not sleep that night.
She was chatty Kathy all night; she had been given steroids, which kept her awake.
To keep the swelling down I was making ice packs all night long.
Day 3: Thursday, April 17, 2014
The next morning we took the elevator downstairs.
We ate breakfast in the dining room, we ate an omelet with ham.
My daughter took back to our room two boiled eggs, and a yogurt, for later.
We spent the biggest part of the day in bed resting.
The television was playing murder mysteries on the ION channel.
Later that day, I walked to Taco Bell to buy a Nacho Bell Granda.
That night Mural called to check on my daughter and he offered us a ride to the doctor's office the next day.
Day 4: Friday, April 18, 2014
We took the elevator to the dining area.
For breakfast, we ate scrambled eggs with ham.
I sent a text to Mural to let him know my daughter's appointment was at 1P.M.
We walked outside in front of the hotel to wait for Mural and his wife Toshiba.
They got lost two different times which caused them to run late.
Mural said did you know that there are three (79th) 79th Street, 79th Avenue, and 79th Way.
We returned to the hotel after Toshiba and my daughter finished at the doctor's office. We thanked them and said goodbye.
While my daughter slept, I walked to Taco Bell and ordered two Nacho Bell Grands.
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| A beautiful sunset poolside |
Day 5: Saturday, April 19, 2014
We took the elevator downstair to the dining area where we ate breakfast.
We ate an omelet, and wine and drank orange juice.
We walked upstairs to get the iPad.
It was warm so we sat by the pool and played Boggle.
My daughter became sleepy we took the elevator back to our room.
I went for a walk, I needed stress relief after being cooped up for several days. I left the hotel and walked up 79th Avenue it looked interesting.
On my walk, I saw several stores, a restaurant, a bus stop, and an apartment complex.
I walked up 36th Street where I saw Carino’s Italian Grill. I went to the door but they did not open until 11A.M.
Last night we had a storm, there was thunder and lightning that left everything wet and muggy.
I was starting to get hot and sweaty and I needed something to cool me off.
I saw a Burger King and I decided to stop for a vanilla ice cream cone.
After I finished my ice cream I bought two whopper juniors and took them back to the hotel.
My daughter was awake when I returned, we ate the Whopper Juniors and drank some hot tea.
We again played Boggle on the iPad.
Later that day, I walked to Taco Bell where I bought Cinnamon Bonds and two Loco Tacos.
We sat up late watching ION on TV.
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| Carino's Italian Grill |
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| Walking up 36 Street in Doral |
Day 6: Sunday, April 20, 2014
Today is Easter Sunday and all the employees were in a jolly mood. Everyone was saying Happy Easter.
We took the elevator downstairs to the dining area.
For breakfast, we ate scrambled eggs, and waffles and drank orange juice.
We took the elevator back to our room and I wrote in my journal.
We rested for a spell and later that day we took the elevator to the ground floor. We walked outside so we could sit in the sun, beside the pool, and play the word game Boggle on the iPad.
Lora was feeling better so we slowly walked next door to El Tropic Restaurant cafeteria for lunch.
El Tropic Restaurant is a Latin American Restaurant. My daughter ordered Tilapia, rice, and black beans with vegetables.
I ordered a Plantain dish, which was diced into chips with ground beef, cheese, and jalapeño peppers.
Plantains are a member of the banana family. They are a starchy, low-in-sugar variety that is cooked before serving, as it is unsuitable raw. It is used in many savory dishes somewhat like a potato would be used and is very popular in Western Africa and the Caribbean countries. It is usually fried or baked.
We were served a basket of bread with butter.
We both had more than enough for another meal so we got a couple of to-go-box.
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| El Tropic Restaurant Cafeteria |
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| Plantain dish, which was diced into chips with ground beef, cheese, and jalapeno peppers. |
Day 7: Monday, April 21, 2014
We took the elevator down to the dining area.
For breakfast, we ate eggs sausage, waffles, banana, and blueberry yogurt.
My daughter took the elevator back to our room and took a nap.
I was restless so I went for a walk. I walked several blocks north on 79th Avenue. I stopped at the Shell Station where I bought lottery tickets. I spent $5 on scratch-off and won $4. I spent $5 on lottery tickets and won $27.00. When I returned to the hotel, I went to our room got my iPad, and took it with me to the pool area where I spent the day.
I talked on my cell phone to my cousin until I ran down my battery.
My daughter came down later and we played the word game Boggle on the iPad.
I called my sister, but she did not answer, she called me back later.
While I was talking to her, my cell phone died.
I had to take it inside because the power plugs outside were not working.
We were playing Boggle in the dining area when we met Matthew.
Matthew said he was born in New Jersey, he now lives in Miami.
He told us he thought we must be bored because we were playing Boggle on the IPAD. I said no we were inside to charge my cell phone.
He told us that he had moved to the South side of Miami to take care of his aging father, who was eighty-plus years old.
He said that his mom, who was twenty years younger than his father had died and his father was alone.
They had moved from New Jersey to Miami because it was cheaper. Matthew said that he was an only child.
He said both of my parents had previous marriages.
My daughter said that she needed some Advil and aspirins and had to way to get them.
Matthew said I need come cigarettes so I can pick you up some Advil and aspirins at Walgreens.
Matthew went to Walgreens so we took the elevator to our room where we ate leftovers.
My daughter called Delta Airlines to get a wheelchair for tomorrow's flight.
She called IBEW to make two payments on her car.
She called her lawyer about making flight plans to come home for the trial in May.
We took the elevator back to the lobby to wait for Matthew.
Matthew had driven to 36th Street to Walgreens and he got stuck in work traffic, which took forever.
When Matthew returned my daughter told Matthew about her ex-husband and kids.
She told Matthew how her ex-husband had cheated on her, how he had taken her kids, how he had taken all her money and left her destitute.
It was getting late, and my daughter needed to wash clothes so we said goodbye.
We took the elevator back to our room to get a load of clothes.
I took the elevator to the lobby for a change for the washer and dryer.
I filled the washer with the clothes and stopped at the drink machine for a soda.
The soda machine took my money and did not give me a soda.
I took the elevator back to the lobby.
The woman at the front desk said I could get a drink out of their machine. While there, I bought a chocolate candy bar.
We watched ION on TV.
I took the elevator to the washroom to put the clothes in the dryer and when they were dry, my daughter returned to fold them.
We set the clock for 4 A.M. for our flight leaves at 5 A.M. tomorrow and went to bed.
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| Shadows |
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| Poolside |
Day 8: Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Today we are flying home.
We both are taking the same flight to Atlanta, Georgia. In Atlanta, I will be taking the next flight to Huntsville, Alabama and my daughter will be taking the next flight to Boston, MA.
The shuttle bus took us to the Miami International Airport. We checked in and asked for a wheelchair. We were instructed to wait for a woman from Delta to bring us a wheelchair.
The woman from Delta pushed the wheelchair through security and to the waiting area. I followed with my luggage, as a curiosity to disabled people, Delta stores their luggage for free.
We sat in the waiting area until time to depart.
We were with the first to board, children and people needing assistance.
The plane was full and the attendants said anyone wanting to stow their bags would be at no charge. I gladly said yes.
My daughter had a seat next to one another, and I let her sit next to the window so she could rest. We were served soda and snacks.
A small black boy sat in the aisle seat next to me. His parents and siblings set across the aisle for us. When we arrived at Atlanta Airport, they had a wheelchair waiting for my daughter. They said we would take care of her so I said goodbye and headed to my next flight. My flight to Huntsville would take about twenty-five minutes.
Hubby was running late.
He picked me up and we rode to Logan's Roadhouse in Madison Alabama to eat lunch.
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| Logan's Roadhouse in Madison |
My Adventures were getting lost! Getting helped by a stranger! Spending Easter with my daughter in Miami!
The employees at Hampton Inn were very kind, thoughtful, and helpful.
The employees ask every day about my daughter after her surgery.
We made hot tea every day.
In our room, we had a refrigerator and microwave.
The shuttle driver took us to my daughter’s doctor's appointment.
God was looking out for us in Miami!
We were helped several times by strangers, (6 Good Samaritans)
Matthew,(we met in the hotel)went to the drugstore for aspirins, and Advil.
The man for India helps us get on the right bus.
The owner of Spectrum Aesthetics gave us a ride back to the hotel after my daughter’s surgery.
Mural and Toshiba gave us a ride to and from the doctor’s office.
The couple from Rochester NY gave me a ride to Publix Pharmacy
The shuttle bus driver gave us a ride to the doctor’s office
Relaxed mostly
Our Many Adventures
Miami beachside
