March 28, 2013
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Plan B, and then Plan C
Rather than fly Alicia to Houston to join me there the other weekend, we decided to use my American Airlines voucher to go to Miami this weekend. (It expires March 30.) I figured we could use Marriott points for a hotel and find a reasonable rental car.
Unfortunately, there aren’t any reasonable rental cars in Miami (at least not at the airport), and I discovered I don’t have enough Marriott points even for one night. Most decent hotels cost over $100 a night, and even Motel 6 costs $85 this time of year. Makes for an expensive “free” trip!
So we started developing Plan B. Alicia’s cousin who lives in Ft. Lauderdale is arriving today from Colombia, but Alicia and her sister were unable to reach him by phone. My frantic research indicated that the more reasonable hotels are north of Ft. Lauderdale, and that a train runs up through the coastal cities, which would mean a couple of trains and a taxi to get from the airport to a hotel near the beach.
My niece Laura is expecting her first child. Yesterday afternoon my sister Martha called to let us know that they were leaving for the hospital. Last night Alicia called to see how it was going. Laura was still waiting. Alicia gave me the phone to talk to Martha, and I mentioned the trip to Miami and the issues. Martha said, “Oh, maybe you can stay with Hernando! He’s got a big house and lives alone.”
Hernando is her brother-in-law. When Martha and Gilberto lived in Miami 25-35 years ago, Hernando lived with them. He’s a nice guy. Once in the 1970s when I had an overnight layover at MIA (too short to bother going to Martha’s to sleep), he went to the airport to keep me company. It was nice to have someone to talk to and to look after my luggage if I went to the restroom.
We hung up, and a few minutes later Hernando called. He sounded delighted to host us, and mentioned that he has a spare car we could use, as long as I could drive stick. I laughed and told Alicia, “He even has a car for visitors!”
So this evening Hernando will pick us up at MIA, and we’ll spend the weekend at his house, with a little white car to get us around for sightseeing and shopping. No worries about money, hotel bedbugs, or rental car fees.
Comments (16)
How wonderful that it worked out. Hope you enjoy your weekend together. That will be fun.
wow, thats really lucky! Enjoy your trip!
Wahoo! what an excellent turn of events! It’s sure nice to have friends like Hernando.
Oh good! YAY! I’m glad things worked out so wonderfully! Have fun, fun, FUN!!!
HUGS!!!
Hotel bed bugs are the worst! Enjoy your trip.
So glad it all turned out. you’ll have some fun times and memories I’m sure
Yay! Have fun! Sit on the beach in the sunshine.
Not enough Hernandos to go around.
Wonderful and am so happy things turned out so well for everyone.
Awesome!!! I love the way God works in all good things, and the fact that Hispanic people are so CLASSY and family oriented! YEAH!
Oh, I’m so glad, yay! Enjoy every minute! Please give Alicia a hug for me.
And huzzah for the arrival of little Ryan! Fun to have another BOY in the family, right?
Is not this a good news for your both, Tim ? . Yes Hernado is a great guy .
In friendship
Michel
How wonderful! All good things happen to good people like you and Alicia. I am delighted that the problem was solved so beautifully.
Sometimes I do bthe same thing: Start with a plan A, and end up with plan Z:’ stay home.
I am sure it will be a great free or almostbfree vacation. Have fun.
An adventure awaits! Have a wonderful time!
wow! that worked out great for you guys!
and also, it was very nice of him to keep you company like that at the airport – that’s a really classy thing to do. i’ll put that on my list of things that a gentleman would do for friends and family.
hope you two are enjoying!