The Trip Begins - Sep 24, 2009 - Miami, Florida, United States

Alissa and David Across America 2009 has officially begun! I flew from Providence to Fort Lauderdale airport on Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately, David found out that he had to go to a work function tonight so we had to stay in the Miami / Fort Lauderdale area and couldn't head to Orlando as early as we'd hoped. So, we went for dinner at Outback Steakhouse (David's favorite place for chicken wings -- not my pick at all!) and visited with David's mom at her condo before some much needed sleep. (I haven't been sleeping well lately with so much on my mind for the trip and my upcoming relocation.) Today was a low key day biding time until David's work function. This afternoon we made our first pilgrimage to a place I had seen on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network. (Food is definitely going to be a focus of this trip!) It's called Sonny's Famous Steak Hogies (They don't put an "a" in hoagies...strange, I know.) and is in Hollywood, FL. It's a tiny restaurant in a strip mall, and you'd never to think to stop there if you were driving by. They make the rolls for the sandwiches fresh on the premises daily. David got their famous cheesesteak, and I got a meatball sandwich. It hit the spot because we were hungry, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go back. (Guy Fieri raved about it on the show, but I think we're going to find that he has to do that to plug the places he visits.) Then we headed over to Bayside in downtown Miami. It's an outdoor area near the port of Miami with shops and restaurants, and it reminded me of Inner Harbor in Baltimore or South Street Seaport in New York. We stopped at Haagen-Dazs for an ice cream (I don't know how we're going to lose weight on this trip like David hopes!) and walked around to see the views of the water. We had time to stop at Courtesy Auto Supply, David's family's auto supply company, to make a quick visit with David's older brother and dad before heading to the Southern Command cocktail reception at a nearby hotel. David had to make an appearance due to work politics, and I got to meet many of David's Southern Command colleagues / fellow soldiers who hold jobs all over South America and the Caribbean. We ended up staying for over an hour and a half before making our getaway at 8 o'clock. As I type this, we are currently on the highway on our way to Orlando. (You've got to love modern technology -- a laptop and a broadband card!) We hope to reach the hotel by 11 p.m. so we can get a good night's rest before our big day at Disney's Magic Kingdom tomorrow. That's all for tonight!