He took us to the Black Beard sailing club where we boarded his dad s sail boat and sailed for an ho

We wanted to avoid as much stress as possible so we made our reservations 3 weeks ago and paid at that time. When we tried to check in, they said we didn t have a reservation and put us in a smaller room overlooking a drained pool that was being repaired. I called century hotel miami Hilton and complained about the room and the lost reservation (on our wedding day!) and eventually got a better room (the same suite we originally reserved) and it was free. They were very nice about it after they realized the problem was on their end. Apparently their web site was broken for a while and prepaid rooms weren t actually booked or charged; even though confirmation emails were sent. I was pretty angry (and hopped up on caffeine and sinus meds) when talking to them. I tried to stay calm but it was a struggle. century hotel miami I didn t really succeed at until Archer picked us up at 5:15.
He took us to the Black Beard sailing club where we boarded his dad s sail boat and sailed for an hour towards New Bern. After we passed under the bridges, we had our ceremony at the front of the boat. We threw some wild flowers into the sea then got down to business.After the ceremony, they dropped us off at the dock of Persimmon s restaurant, announcing to everyone eating on the patio I present to you, for the first time, Mr and Mrs Hager to much applause. We had dinner there and walked the half mile back to the hotel, passing the birthplace of Pepsi on the way.
We got on the Amtrak train for New Orleans around century hotel miami 3am. Our room was tiny but had 2 beds, a toilet and a sink. Our meals were free and included breakfast, lunch, and dinner. century hotel miami I love riding the train but wish we had started earlier so I could get more sleep.
As we rode through Alabama, I was amazed at the tornado destruction in Tuscaloosa. It went on for miles and miles. Every roof had a tarp on it, most treed were snapped in half. I ve never seen that much damage in person.
We checked into the Maison Dupuy in the French Quarter around 8pm. It is nice. There is a cherry picker in the street below our balcony century hotel miami so I guess we ll hear construction in the morning. We wandered around The French Quarter, ate some food, saw some shops, went home and went to bed. I left our breakfast order tag on the door. This didn t work the last time I tried it (in Myrtle Beach, where they took the tag but never brought the food). I wonder if it will this time.
The cherry picker woke us up a few times, as expected. century hotel miami Room service century hotel miami woke me up next but it was for the room adjacent to ours. When I opened the door, I saw that our breakfast order tag was still on the door. Around 9:45, housekeeping knocked and I asked her about the order. She tried to make excuses but I wasn t having it and eventually closed the door on her. She must have told room service because they called and asked if I still wanted it. I did. It was good but not really worth the $50 and stress. Plus they forgot our juices.
So much for taking it easy on the food today. We went to Brennan s restaurant for breafast. They invented the bananas foster so we had that as the 3rd course of our 3-course breakfast. I had Eggs Shannon for my main course, because of the name (of course).
We were going to walk to a Garden District tour but the walk was too far so we wandered around a while instead. We went to a Southern Art museum, Trashy Diva, the River Walk, and some other shopping century hotel miami spots.
Marisa century hotel miami s back was killing her from the walk so she got a 90-minute massage while I played around on the iPad in the courtyard and drank coffee. We ate a light(ish) dinner at the Bistreaux downstairs then wandered around the Quarter taking century hotel miami photos of live bands. I tried to hit every bar with music. Some of the bands sounds like good karaoke, some sounded like bad karaoke. We actually hear a band playing a live version of The Electric Slide. I was surprised at how lame most of the music was. There were a few good jazz and blues bands but they were in the minority.
Took a 3 hour tour of the city from the comfort of a air-conditioned van. The tour guide showed and explained the damage of Katrina (still evident over 5 years after the tragedy), the methods of the above-ground cemeteries, and the beautiful homes of the garden district. I find it sad and amazing that so much of the damaged homes are still standing in the exact same state as the day the flood waters dried up. Rich homes, poor homes, the destruction was everywhere. There was an overpass with a watermark on it. There were beautiful expensive homes on hills with watermarks halfway up their doors. century hotel miami There were 10 foot high street signs with watermarks on them. There were spraypainted markings everywhere showing that the homes had been searched and if there were any bodies inside. New Orleans has more soul than any city I ve ever seen in America. They should just move elsewhere is not an option and I don t think anyone who has visited New Orleans would say that. This city is a national treasure.
On the way back to the hotel, Marisa bought a beer and was given 3 beers. We had seen the 3 for 1 beer signs all at several bars around the Quarter but didn t really take them seriously. They really were giving out 3 beers for the price of 1 at some of these places. If I hadn t stopped drinking 3 years ago, I probably would not make it out of the French Quarter alive.
The food was much better this time, there was some mechanical difficulty on the way down that caused us to get lame breakfast dinner but great Alabama BBQ chicken lunches. We met a few people because we shared tables at meals. It is 11pm now, Marisa is asleep below me, I am going to try to sleep now. We should get a wake up call/visit from the attendant 20 mins before we hit Charlotte around 3am, I think.
century hotel miami We tried to get a room in Nashville but things were packed because it was a Saturday with 5 major events going down. Vincent was sleeping but didn t look comfortable at all so we didn t drive all night. I would have driven longer but we wanted Vincent to get some good sleep in a bed.
Vincent century hotel miami woke up early. Marisa had him and herself bathed before I got up. We ate the breakfast and left around 11am. The ride wasn t very eventful otherwise except for the devastation of the flooded Mississippi River and the storms in Oklahoma (that apparently included deadly tornados in Joplin to the north of us). After the Katrina tours, the Tuscaloosa tornado damage, the floods in Arkansas and Oklahoma, and now the tornados, Marisa joked that this isn t a honeymoon. It is an escape century hotel miami route.
We got up and out of the hotel by 9:15. We went to the Oklahoma City Zoo until noon. It was very hot and very humid. We saw some elephants in their very cool new habitat, along with the usual zoo fare.
We stopped for lunch at Cattlemen s Steakhouse, a place Rich and I ate the last time I drove to Los Angeles. The T-bone was just as great as I remembered. An older couple sitting near us paid for our lunch with instructions to not let us know until after they were gone.
We were still in Oklahoma but nearing TX when I heard a thumping on my door. I looked in the side mirror and saw the black plastic plate that runs the height of the driver s window (and houses the keyless entry touchpad) was dangling by the wires, slightly flapping in the wind. I stopped, pushed it back on and drove another few miles on I-40 before seeing that it was going to fall off again. I pulled exited the interrate and pulled into a RV Service parking lot. Marisa and I were looking at ways to tape it on with some medical tape when local guy pulled over and helped us. He had some badass black electric tape that we used to seal it all together. I think it will hold until we get back to Charlotte. I like Oklahoma. The people are nice.
We stopped in Amarillo for dinner at The Big Texan. I ve been there a few times before. This was the first time I have seen someone successfully finish century hotel miami the 72 oz steak dinner in an hour. I don t think I ve ever seen anyone attempt it before. The lady sitting beside us said he brother did it twice in one day once so they made a once per day rule afterwards.
We are in Tucumcari, NM now. We have around 580 miles to go so we should be able to finish century hotel miami the drive tomorrow. We don t really know exactly where we re going so it could be shorter century hotel miami or longer. Luckily, I am always ready for adventure.
We stopped and let Vincent run more often than usual so he could play in the wind. We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Old Town Albuquerque. It had a bricked floor and several dining rooms, most of which were on slightly different elevations. Some of the rooms were built in the first decade of the 1700s, according to our hostess. 1707? 1709? I can t remember the exact year.
We had dinner in Holbrook, AZ and stayed in a Drury Inn in Flagstaff. It has an indoor pool for Vincent. There were more devastating tornados century hotel miami in OK, including over the I-40 area. More are forecast for tomorrow.
century hotel miami We had breakfast in the hotel and set off for the Grand Canyon. First stop: Williams AZ for lunch. It is an old town that has a lot of themed shops and restaurants century hotel miami and even runs a train up to the Canyon.
We made it to the Grand Canyon, finally, and got out for a hike. Vincent wasn t digging it at all so we didn t walk far. I think the Canyon may have been overwhelming for him, he didn t seem to want to look in that direction at all.
We booked a room near the rim of the canyon, unpacked, and had dinner.We decided to book the room an additional night so we could just relax for a full day but it was already booked for the next night. We would have to pack up and move downstairs to another room. If we have to pack up our stuff, we may as well put it in the car and go elsewhere so we probably century hotel miami won t stay here tomorrow night.
Vincent woke up at 4 am. That was the same time I needed century hotel miami to get up if I were to take photos of the sun rising in the Grand Canyon but there was no way I was getting out of bed that early. We eventually all got up, checked it of the room, got breakfast, an