(12/6) 12/8 - 12/22 Florida and Bahamas...escaping cold Europe

Amazing sale at Kate Spade = additional Christmas present for wifey

 

Went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner and then back to the hotel...arrived there after 10pm.

Preferred a beer in the room and chatting. Maybe going to Seminole HRC tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will go back to Sawgrass Mills, since the forecast is rain again. Booo

 

They said it’s nice in Florida. You can go to the beach/pool and get a nice tan in Florida. Not this time. Another rainy day, another trip to Sawgrass Mills.

After breakfast in the room we drove to the mall and started today’s shopping adventure around 11am. Timberland, Under Armour, Carter’s were happy to give us shoes and clothes for our money. Must say, it’s often hit or miss at Sawgrass, but this time they had really good sales.

Hungry and tired we went to the Cheesecake Factory. We were starving and I forgot again to take pictures of the food. Cuban Sandwich for wifey, Parmesan herb crusted chicken for me and a salad for our friend.

I checked in at the Cheesecake Factory on Facebook. Then a woman approached our table and suddenly started speaking in German. We were confused and it took a moment to realize that she went to law school with us many years ago. What a funny coincidence. She is on holiday and was waiting for her table to be ready. Small world.

We ordered some cheesecake to take back to the hotel for the evening.

It was already between 4 and 5 pm and we discussed what to do. Someone suggested going to Ulta Beauty. You can probably see my excitement. Counter offer from me was to drop them off there and I go to Hard Rock Casino. They take Uber back to the hotel and have a girls night. We reached an agreement. Also I needed something Casino related in the TR.

Arrived around 6.30pm at the Casino.





Parking Garage was packed as expected on a Friday before Christmas.







There was also a big Poker tournament going on. Meant a full Poker room. And that was exactly where I headed to. 1/2 NL Hold’em was on my agenda. I bought in for $300. shortly after I was at ~ $450



Then around $610



At peak I was at $710, but cashed out at $645 in the end. Profit of $345. Not bad for a little over 2h of play.

Of course I couldn’t call it a night yet without playing some slots. Walked a around looking for my ATM Ultimate Firelink. It proved to not be my ATM here. Despite 2 bonuses the first $50 were gone quickly.





Moved to Zeus, but no hit to take a picture of. First $100 gone.

Then I found my not so secret slot affair Heidi. Put in my second and last $100 (wanted to leave a winner) and she treated me really well.

Quick bonus for 35 free games on a $1.50 bet. Nice.



Retriggered twice and had a total of 65 free games.



That resulted in an almost $300 bonus. Suddenly I was $176 up on slots. Decided to play it down to $300 and leave with another $100 profit, but Heidi had other plans. Another bonus and some good line hits brought me up to just under $500 in the slot. Decided to play down to $450 or to $500. It was $450 and I was up a total of $600 including poker.

What could I play next? Let’s give the dragon link $1 a chance to give me more profit.

$100 played down to $20 I hit free games that included a Ball bonus. Total win was $133, so
I was up another $50. Played it down to $100 and left the machine even.



Tried another $100 on Ultimate Firelink, but lost them quickly without a bonus.

After that I called it a night and left with a profit of $500.

Back in the hotel I had my winner cheesecake and beer.

Started packing since tomorrow is the second last full day.

Weather will not be good. We drive over to Naples to our family again.

 

That boosted my bankroll. No trip to the US until Vegas in April. So I will not be able to spend the $$.

It’s not only the rain...also pretty windy and therefore chilly. Good preparation for the winter back in Europe .

 

Another rainy and windy day in the FLL area. Got up around 8am and had breakfast in the room. At 9.30 we were on the road. Filled up the car and bought some snacks for our visit. Arrived at noon.

Had lunch together and then they showed us the club house of their community. Enjoyed a drink there and took a pic together which we forgot on our first visit.



Then went back to our family’s house for the Patriots/Bills game. Like the TV setup. NFL on the big screen, college bowl games on the smaller ones.



We had dinner during half time and left the beginning of the 4th quarter. Smooth ride back and on to the worst part of traveling. Packing.

After that was done, I enjoyed my last beer in the room.

 

This was a early morning. Alarm set for 5.30 and in the car around 6am. Our friends flight departs from Miami around 8.45am. We did want to take a risk of a busy airport before Christmas.

Afterwards we made a quick stop at Target. Now at the hotel and we already had breakfast.

Our flight is only around 8pm and we have 3/4 of a day ahead of us.

 

Last planned activity before we head to the airport.





Still hard to believe they moved from Key Biscayne to Miami Gardens for the tennis tournament in March. Love the old venue.



But now it’s almost time for Dolphins vs Bengals

 

During halftime they honored the 1972 Dolphins team as all time number 1 team in NFL, since they didn’t lose a game that year.







Unfortunately we had to leave during halftime for our flight back, but were able to make a stop at Coldstone for some ice cream.

Then dropped off the rental and checked in our bags. Could have easily spent more time at the game, but you never know with traffic.

We had almost 3h to spare before boarding. What to do? Since I have the Priority Pass we checked if Air Margaritaville still participates and they do. Means we have a $28 credit there. Can’t say no to that.

Ended up at the bar and I was shocked the game went to OT. So we watched the final minutes and had a frozen margarita and ate chicken quesadillas. Really good.





Went through the security checkpoint in 2 minutes and now we wait another 20 minutes for boarding at the LATAM Lounge.







Once we boarded I will change into my pyjamas, put earplugs in my ear and try to catch as much sleep as possible. Maybe I will also have dinner if they have tempting food choices, but currently I am full.







Kind of sad the holiday ends now, especially with 5 rainy/windy days and no sun, but we are also looking forward to spending Christmas with both our families.

Next update of the TR follow probably from Zurich.

 

@aprilroncincy Who would have thought they go to OT?

 

Decided against dinner and for sleep although food options are good. “Only” 8h flight.

Will just have breakfast.

 

Arrived in ZRH on time. Now we have a 2h layover before we take the short 45 minute flight to Nuremberg.

Flight was smooth and I caught a little more than 6h of sleep in this seat. I love the so called “Stübli“ in Swiss Planes...just 2 rows and a total of 10 passengers. Usually very quiet and no through traffic to the lavatories. In front of us only First Class passengers with their own lavatories and ours between the small and the bigger compartment. Unfortunately we are normally sitting way back in the plane.

„Stübli“ is Swiss dialect for a small comfy room.



The flight attendant woke me up 1h before landing and asked if I want to have breakfast, which I did.

Now we are at the new Alpine Lounge in ZRH. Access only for business class passengers of Lufthansa Group airline or their own Gold members.



















Weather in ZRH is similar to Miami, rainy and windy...just colder

 

Having lunch in the lounge. They are Swiss themed and today they have a typical Swiss dish for lunch. Raclette





Here are some more pictures of the lounge

 

Made the Last flight and arrived on time in Nuremberg. We’re around 2.30pm at my in laws house. That gave us 30 minutes to get ready before the guests arrived.

Although it was only 12/23, we had our Christmas Eve dinner that day and exchanged presents. As you might know, in Germany Christmas is celebrated on on 12/24, but the 12/23 was the only day everyone was able to come. On 12/24 we will be with my family

That concludes the trip report, although I might wrap it up after the Christmas break. Thanks for following along. Hope you enjoyed it.

Merry Christmas everyone and a happy new year. Hope you have a enjoyable time with all the people you love.