Daryl and I rolled down to Miami for the Mayweather/ Paul Logan Exhibition fight at the Hard Rock Stadium. We had a great time and looking forward to our next excursion.
This short impromptu trip almost didn’t happen but I was determined and it worked out for us. When I first heard about the Fight it was from Team Watson out of Los Angeles. Since the fight was in Florida, they called to see if I was coming down. I got excited and told my husband but he said he didn’t want to go because it was last minute and we had too much to do. He further added, it was going to cost too much, because last minute reservations are always sky high. Besides we had a paper to get out, Fresh Friday coming up and our anniversary was this month and we had travel plans for that.
Well I still wanted to go and my mind was made up. So I checked the hotels and to my dismay, all my first choices were sold out and the others were just too high to consider. In the old days I always stayed on South Beach at The FountainBleu but that was $1,700 a night.... wayyy out of my budget.
The hotels where my LA and Memphis buddies were staying were now $700 a night and sold out. I was referred to another hotel and it was $600 a night and sold out. So I began to conclude, maybe Daryl was right and I could not afford to go. Moving forward anyway, I tried to get my press passes to no avail. The public relations firm that was handling media did not call me back and registration was shut down the week before.
Rationally speaking, we had a paper to get out, payroll to cover, I expected somewhere else that weekend and could not find an affordable hotel near the venue. However, I continued to justify my search by saying I had the ticket hookup for great seats, and I was ready to get away. So I kept looking.
My friend, who was from Miami, told me to try a Marriott property in Aventura, a small city between Ft. Lauderdale and South Beach Miami. Ba bee, that was the charm!
I found a hotel for $340 a night that would make our accommodation about $750 with tax and hotel fees. I justified in my mind that it wasn’t bad because it wasn’t in Vegas, it was right here in my home state of Florida. We did not have to pay airfare, I could drive. I was determined to go even if I had to go alone. I knew the fight team and they knew me, so once I got there I would not be alone.
So I made my reservation, packed my bags and prepared myself for the argument with my husband about spending frivolously. Although I knew he was right I wanted to go and was going with or without him. When he saw he could not deter me, he re-grouped and decided to join me. Road Trip!
When we checked into the hotel we were quite pleased. It was centrally located. We called the fight team and met them at the Fountain Bleu for drinks and wings. South Beach nightlife was booming. There were no signs of a pandemic or fear of being exposed to one. It took us 30 minutes to get up the driveway of the hotel from the street, so when the valet approached the car, we jumped at the opportunity to get out. We were amazed at how expensive it was to valet park and all the people lined up to get in this nightclub called LIV. That night we enjoyed each other reflecting on who and all we saw and thanked God we had each other’s company.
Exhausted from a fun evening we slept late, skipped breakfast and did lunch at Bonefish. We stopped and shopped briefly, got back to the hotel so that we could rest to reserve our energy for our late night in Miami.
Even though the fight would only last 8 rounds. We were a little worried about Mayweather because his challenger was 10 years younger, much taller, his body was chiseled and arms were longer. It was rumored that Mayweather was being paid $10 million to step in the ring. It rained a bit but that did not put a damper on the night, but it did on my hair. By the time the fight was over, my hair had swollen to a raggedy afro. But my husband did not care, we were together in Miami, living our best life!