Elsa’s Arrival

My Independence Day trip in 2021 was exactly what I needed. After an extra session of school for the summer, I couldn’t wait to make the most of my shortened summer break. As the days of my upcoming trip got closer, I couldn’t stop daydreaming of the clear blue ocean I would reunite with. My tired legs from sitting in my mediocre office chair every day needed to move around, a lot. I could picture my boyfriend and I salsa dancing, swimming, museum hopping, and the like. Anything to get us moving and exploring was my goal.

What I had not pictured though, was waiting roughly three hours to receive a rental car after landing in Fort Lauderdale. This wasn’t our first trip to Miami, and we’ve always gotten our car in a timely manner. So, what was different? “Oh yeah it’s a holiday weekend,” I thought to myself as we passed a line so long it curved down to the restroom hall and out to the parking garage. The frazzled manager went down the line apologizing to customers and even mentioned it was the longest line he had ever seen there. An hour later, we made it to the front and swiftly checked in. Standing in a line that long was a piece of cake, the real fun started once we led ourselves out to the garage. Chaos is the least I could describe that scene to be. Angry customers swarmed around the staff demanding their rental cars. If an employee moved three yards to the left, so would the swarm of angry customers. It was strange but hilarious. One of the customers waiting by the wall yelled “Stop following him!” I couldn’t help but laugh. This waiting game became so intense that customers started clapping and cheering when the next customer’s name was called to get their car, like winning a prize. Unfortunately, my optimism lessened when I noticed that customers that came after us were getting their cars before us. My boyfriend became a part of that angry crowd to ask what the disorder was about. Of course, there wasn’t an explanation. It was clear that they had never dealt with a dilemma of this magnitude, so I gave in and sat on the floor for the next two hours wasting precious vacation time.

My boyfriend and I quickly put that experience behind us, ate some Cuban food, and finally drove to our hotel. It was not what I expected and looked better in the pictures we saw online, but we put that disappointment behind us since we were going to be mostly outdoors. Our splendid dinner downtown brightened our outlook again.

After a refreshing day at the beach the next day, I browsed for some Independence Day events and finally, a pleasant surprise. A free concert with a well-known Cuban group, Gente De Zona, was going to be there. As a Cuban, and Dominican-American, I got a dose of what I’ve been missing in Maryland; Caribbean culture and warm weather. There’s an obvious difference in how people let loose here. People can be a bit more reserved up north, but down south when people wanna dance, they DANCE; and so did I . It was perfect, another successful night of fun in Miami that would be done amongst the rest.

Or so I thought.

Tropical storm Elsa was making its way into the Keys where we would be staying for the next two days. Heavy rain trapped us inside in frustration, however, the next day we decided not to let the rain stop our goal of exploration. We drove a couple of islands down to Key West and were met with some flash flooding, unphased Floridians, and tourists eager to get the most out of their trip.

My boyfriend’s hope of visiting antique treasures at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum was not going to happen since they closed because of the storm. Instead, we toured Ernest Hemingway’s home, the only museum open, and I at least got to meet the sixty cats that inhabit it. We got a good laugh out of all the quirky stories the tour guide relayed to us about Hemingway’s home. Turns out Hemingway had some drunkard days! My favorite drunk story of his is the time he took a urinal from Sloppy Joes which he made into an outdoor fountain, which is now a water bowl for his cats. Did I mention most of his cats are polydactyl and have six toes on their paws?

Of course, our last full day in Miami was the day the rain stopped. However, it was quite windy and not warm or safe enough to enjoy the beach, my favorite attraction in Miami. But Carlos and I still lounged outside until sunset.

Our day of departure was hot and sunny, the weather I needed two days ago. Out of frustration, I desperately sought out one last tourist activity to do before leaving. A quick lunch and a speed boat ride in Bayside were what we had time for, so we did just that. I scarfed down my fajita at Mambo Cafe and sped-walked with Carlos down to the dock. As our speed boat raced along star island our faces were sprayed with water and it cooled off the beads of sweat on my forehead. The mansions were a cool attraction and none were bigger than pharmaceutical billionaire Dr. Phillip Frost.

It was a bitter-sweet afternoon because I was able to enjoy the ride, however, I felt like my trip was partly wasted. What we expected to be a high-energy trip wandering from attraction to attraction, quickly fell flat. In the end, we learned to adapt to uncontrollable circumstances, such as angry crowds and bad weather.