One of the things that took the edge off of leaving Boston and saying goodbye to my family was knowing my bestie had booked a flight (for $100 roundtrip!) to see me 5 days after I arrived.
Vicky and her household and my sister and I have been a pod since the summer because she takes COVID just as seriously (aka is just as anxious about it) as I am. I have also known her since Middle School so our families are close; the ongoing joke is about how sad I am that Vicky’s daughters like my sister more than they like me.
Vicky flew in Thursday evening and would be staying until Monday morning. Our attempt to go to the beach and swim out to the sandbar didn’t work out as expected because it was overcast and a bit cool (obviously nothing compared to the New England winter we were both escaping) so while we laid on the beach and caught up we didn’t get in the water.
After the beach we headed to the Wynwood Walls section of Miami which hosts an outdoor graffiti art museum. We didn’t do the official tour because it was still closed down but we were able to see some amazing art throughout the entire neighborhood. We had also carefully chosen an outdoor rooftop bar to go to at 2pm in the afternoon when we were hoping it would be less crowded. We went to Astra and had the best time; the view of the Miami skyline, the frosé with flower garnishes, the art on the buildings around us, and the lack of people anywhere near us- it was perfect.
We also researched several outdoor dinner options while enjoying our drinks with a view. We found a few places with fancy dress codes (not our style- if you knew us in high school we were the ones adorned in black using safety pins as accessories). We chose a place a few blocks south in the Coconut Grove neighborhood called Glass and Vine . It is an open concept restaurant where most of the seating is in the adjoining park- we felt safe and had a wonderful dinner.
The next morning we headed out to explore the Everglades listening to the playlist we made the night before including our favorite songs to belt out and harmonize (Sara Bareilles, Miranda Lambert. Taylor Swift, Kacey Muscgraves, Pistol Annies). Seeing Everglades National Park was a huge bucket list item on my Miami trip itinerary. We headed out on the 2 hour drive (with our 13 hour playlist) through the Everglades towards our destination of a recommended airboat ride place. We were going to play it by ear and decide if we felt safe enough to get on the boats once we arrived and checked out the COVID scene.
The scene was concerning- not a soul in sight was wearing a mask and they were putting about 18 people on each boat (yikes!). We got out of the car in our N95s to scope it out and ask questions about the smaller boats we saw. The woman at the ticket counter was wonderful and when we told her we were trying to be socially distant, even though she didn’t have a mask on, she was thoughtful and kind. She told us a smaller boat made for 10 was leaving in 20 minutes with “a family of 6; 2 kids, 4 adults, from Ohio.” We told her we would think about it and walked away. As we were walking around the corner of the fence preparing to leave we see a family of 6; 2 kids, 4 adults walking towards us- all in masks. I hesitated and then asked the father, “Are you the family of 6 from Ohio?” He chuckled and wondered out loud how we knew he was from Ohio but alas he was, they were, and they were leaving on a 12:00pm boat. We explained why we asked and that we were still considering it and went our separate ways.
As Vicky and I stood there contemplating I had to spend a moment discerning what was COVID cautiousness and what was my own anxiety around boats. I feel a bit trapped on boats and planes and other things/places I can’t just leave (yes, the flight/escape thing is quite the theme). As I was listening to my anxious part and my let’s do hard things part go back and forth the grandfather figure of the Ohio family group came back around the corner, gave us a thumbs up, and told us he confirmed we’d be on their boat and that the ticket lady was holding the tickets specifically for us. Well Vicky and I took that as our sign, ran and got alcohol wipes for the earphones and seat rails, and sanitizer for our hands and off we went.
We had the best time flying around on the fan boat, checking out the alligators and learning all the random things- like how racoons live in the Everglades (what?!). As we were getting off the boat we all got ready to tip our captain, Jake, who was about 24 years old and had grown up in the Everglades. I was first out of the boat and thus first to tip and Captain Jake reached out to shake my hand in appreciation and I swear to you I had a minor seizure- I haven’t shaken a hand or touched a stranger since last March. As a therapist, I usually pride myself in being able to effortlessly and respectfully get out of any hug/handshake/high five situation but this completely caught me off guard. I believe,for him, it came from a place of being raised to be a respectful young man who says “yes, ma’am and no, sir” who would rather get sick from COVID than not respectfully thank someone for a tip but wow I wish he hadn’t. Luckily Vicky had the sanitizer in her pocket and we headed off to see the Tiger King-esk zoo area quickly before getting back on the road to Naples.
Where My Feet Are 
You’re so amazing Flame!! ❤
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