Mini Adventures: Part One

I try so hard to get caught up in this blogging thing and I never seem to be able to do so. I am sorry about that. I will keep trying and one day everything will be in order and not a month behind.  This post is a little out of order because tomorrow I am hoping that I will be able to post all about our mini adventures through out the Christmas Holiday. The following, however, was this past week and weekend. 

First: MIAMI 

I flew to Miami for business but it felt more like a vacation. 

I was in Miami for a week for our annual meeting with everyone from our company. It was a great trip (minus the fact that I missed Bear terribly) and a wonderful experience. I was able to enjoy the sun and the beach. Our hotel was right on the ocean so every morning I got up and went and hug out on my balcony and watched all the many people already enjoying everything the beach had to offer. I ate wonderful food, got a little bit of sun, and enjoyed being out of New Jersey for a little while. 

The Hotel entrance 

                                 Myself and one of my co-workers (Liz) at our final dinner. 

Second: Baltimore

The weekend before school started up again we took a short trip to Baltimore to visit Jack and his girlfriend Brittney. It was great to spend time with Jack again and also to get to know Brittney. We miss our friends, so anytime we have the chance to visit them we make sure to take advantage of it. We were only there one night but we managed to have a drink at a cool little bar by the harbor, patron a two-story Barnes & Noble, and spend all Saturday afternoon touring the Baltimore aquarium. The aquarium was really quite amazing. The four storied building was packed full of hundreds of species of animals ranging from the exotic from all across the world to the more familiar found within the Chesapeake Bay. Highlights included a walk-through atrium with species of birds found only in the Amazon basin, a small scale recreation of Amazon River plant and animal life (the Amazon River, stretching over 4,000 miles long and containing 2/3 of the world's fresh water, is also home to more species of fish than found within all of the Atlantic Ocean), and an open water aquarium containing a variety of full size sharks. I (Bear) left with a far better appreciation of the world's natural diversity and am thankful we made the trip. 
                                                        Give me a kiss, said the fish. 
                              Jack, Brittney, and Bear all waiting for the dolphin show to start 


                   There was a monkey that was just hanging out in the trees. Sadly, over 95% of his natural habitat has been destroyed by logging and development.