Miami: a wedding, jellyfish and food

This week, Thursday morning, I drove to Miami for my friend Paul and Heathers’ wedding, scheduled for Saturday. 

 

A three-and-a-half-hour drive, arrival at the hotel and unpacking was followed by Paul’s bachelor party. I use the term party loosely. Our destination was a large, semi-outdoor, four-story mall in downtown Miami. The weather was beautiful, 72 degrees, 90% humidity. 

 

We went to dinner at a nice sushi restaurant, ate outside on their porch, and enjoyed many different varieties of sushi. My favorite fish this time around was the salmon. Very fresh, very good. We walked around downtown, and got dessert, gelato, at a nearby spot. 

 

While getting dessert, we were sitting outside this little Italian ice cream shop when two gentlemen at a table engaged in conversation.

 

“You know it’s rude to eat food out here,” one said. “We’re hungry.” 

 

They were homeless.

 

Paul’s brother-in-law Ian couldn’t hear them, so he got up to sit with them. After a couple minutes he got up with them and started walking off, saying nothing to us. We had to chase him down to find out what he was doing.

 

“It’s fine,” Ian said. “Don’t worry.”

 

After more prodding as we chased, Ian said, “They’re hungry. I’m buying them some food.” 

 

About five minutes later, he walked out of the neighboring 7-11 with some sandwiches for the gentleman. He sat down and prayed with them before we left.

 

I don’t know how typical bachelor parties go, but I did not have praying with the homeless on my bingo card. 

 

We returned to the hotel for the evening and everyone went to sleep early. Everyone was tired from the long trips.

 

Friday morning I picked up Ian and we headed to South Beach. I really, really wanted to go swimming in the ocean. Paul was busy getting last minute tasks done for his wedding or else he would have come with us.

 

Before the ocean, Ian insisted we stop at a film store. Yes, the kind of film that goes in old cameras. Ian buys, sells, repairs and photographs using classic cameras. He was in need of some new film. A brief visit to the film store made me feel like I time traveled. An old photo booth sat inside, along with film and retro cameras. The atmosphere in the room, the air, felt old, comfortable. It even had a certain smell, although that may have been the chemicals from their dark room.

 

Fifteen minutes later, we were standing on Miami’s South Beach. The water was beautiful, Miami Dolphin Blue. 

 

Our hour in the ocean swimming made me feel like a kid again. 

 

The most memorable part of the trip, however? 

 

I was stung by a jellyfish. 

 

I didn’t want to leave, so I was lingering near the shore, when my right arm suddenly was suddenly engulfed in pain. I quickly thrashed my arm and marched towards the sand.

(You’re not actually supposed to do that when stung. I’m told you’re supposed to sit still in case there is a school of jellyfish.) My arm was red, hurt and within five minutes broke out in hives and bumps. I googled what I should do and the internet said to rinse off with sea water before doing anything. After this, Ian and I debated what to do and decided, on a whim, to ask the lifeguard. He sprayed my arm with a solution and informed me that if I were going to die of an allergic reaction, it would have happened within the first five minutes. 

 

Within two hours, my arm was just a little red. By evening there were no visible indicators that I was stung at all.

 

After a drive back to the hotel, the group of bachelor party goers departed for ‘part 2’ of Paul’s bachelor party. Our destination: an Escape Room: a game where we were given an hour to escape from a ‘prison.’ Clues and puzzles were intended to be solved to escape from this four-room contraption. We began with our parties split, four persons in each cell, communicating with each other how to find numbers and identify combinations to locks, etc. A long string with a chain was used to throw keys and magnets back and forth between our side-by-side cells, separated by about four feet of wall. It was quite the scene trying to throw a chain up and sideways to our companions.

 

We just barely got out, navigating through many, many puzzles, en route to our escape with one minute to spare. Some of the clues included a four-page journal, a video introduction, and numbers carved into the wall.

 

Following the games, we returned to the hotel for pizza by the pool with all of the wedding guests.

 

Saturday, the big day, my friends Paul and Heather were united in marriage. 

 

The wedding took place on a large 4,000-passenger cruise ship, as many were departing for a 7-day cruise afterwards. I opted for the free option of continuing my stay with Kyle and Anastasiia. 

 

Paul’s father Mark, a pastor, performed the ceremony. It was very sweet. The vows were beautiful. (My favorite part of weddings, I’ve learned.)

 

The reception followed. Both Paul and Heather and father Mark told me numerous times how much it meant to them to have me attend. Mark pulled me aside afterwards and told me, “Before Paul moved to Minnesota from Texas two years ago, he didn’t have any in-person friends.” 

 

I met Paul at the local game store I now own in Austin, Minnesota. 

 

I will be brutally honest here for a minute. One of my biggest struggles when I first took over the shop was how to treat people whose company I didn’t enjoy as much as others. I prayed about it. The answer I received was to treat these persons as if they were my best friends. With overwhelming love and support. And it changed everything for me. Two specific people I tried this with became two people whom I now love to spend time with. Paul, initially, was one of those people.

 

But I treated him like a best friend, and guess what happened. He became one of my favorite people.

 

I say often that people need a “third place” outside of work and home to spend their time. My goal with the game store is to provide that ‘third place’ in a healthy way for a group of people who really wouldn’t have any other place they could comfortably find that community we all so desperately crave/need. 

 

Paul’s Dad, who visited Austin this summer, told me how important the game store was/is to Paul and the local community. I’ve witnessed Paul come out of his shell over these past two years. I was so incredibly happy to see how far he’s come. He lost over 100lbs, became a social butterfly and is now married to a beautiful and kind bride. Heather and Paul make each other better people.

 

Before I departed, Paul pulled me aside and started crying as he thanked me for coming. I was the only friend who could make the trip from Minnesota to attend his wedding. He was the reason I planned this vacation. I’m glad I did.

 

I will not forget the time we shared together this week or the honor I had to stand next to Paul as he married the love of his life. 

 

A four-hour drive back to Orlando followed my three, event-filled days in Miami, which included a nice sushi restaurant, an Escape Room, a beautiful outdoor mall, South Beach, a jellyfish sting and a beautiful wedding ceremony filled with memorable lines. 

 

After I recapped my trip to Kyle and Anastasiia, we spent Sunday at the beach, enjoying much larger waves, up over my head, on the Western half of Florida. I must say, those waves are much more fun to play in. And, there were no jellyfish. 

 

Next week will include a trip down to the Everglades and hopefully some Disney Park trips with Editor Deb and her sister-in-law Joan.

 

"We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.” - Dr. Suess.