Where Has Ellory Been? aka My Adventures in Florida

This past week I've been in Florida. Mostly on vacation, but also for a fantastic time meeting podcasters, connecting with new friends, and even a little business too.

I thought I'd take a minute to thank a few people and update you on my adventures of the past week. I've had some really great experiences the past 6 days and I'm excited to share them with you!

Florida is hot. Yes, I know what you're thinking; I should have expected it.

But exactly how hot, I really had no idea until I was sweating through my clothes the first morning after I'd arrived. The humidity in Miami was absolutely insane.

It gets hot in Austin, upper 90s in the summer is the norm, and over 100 isn't unheard of. However, in Miami, you could fish a marlin out of the water, it would survive because there's so much moisture in the air.

My sister, Kellsye, and I initially came to Miami to join our mom who was speaking at a national nursing convention. Here's a brief look at the really cool adventures we had this week.

Tuesday

Early Tuesday morning I headed to the airport. I arrived in Miami a few short hours later only to realize that the baggage loaders don't like to unload in the rain and lightning.

Why some guys can be out on the runway directing planes and waving sticks, but other guys can't unload the luggage onto a conveyor belt, I don't know. I waited almost two hours for my luggage and I hadn't eaten in ten hours.

I was h-u-n-g-r-y!

I finally got my bag, picked up my rental, and made it to the hotel. I took my things up to the room and came back down to have guacamole and a Cuban sandwich. FYI, Texans do guacamole better. Sorry Florida.

After eating I spent the next few hours sitting in the lobby trying to get my computer connected to the internet. Now, I'm pretty tech savvy, but I still couldn't get it working. I couldn't get their system to give me an IP address so maybe you could help me out for next time.

I headed back to the airport to pick up my mom and sister at 11 pm. While waiting, I got yelled and aggressively pointed at by an over-eager police officer and got lost in downtown. I finally made it back to the hotel in time to go to bed and prepare for the coming onslaught of Florida-humidity.

Wednesday

The next morning, after taking a few pictures outside the hotel down by the river, Kellsye and I decided we'd try to head over to the Bayfront area of Miami.

We got lost in the hotel. Woops! Life goes on.

After we finally made the trek up town, we realized our mistake when the fish were swimming above the surface of the water because there was so much moisture in the air. The humidity was insane!

The hot weather, combined with the humidity and the frustration of getting lost, required a margarita at the docks.

After we'd been walking all day, we finally made it back to the hotel just in time for our mom (who'd been sitting in a conference room all day) to say,

Let's go out and walk around down town!

Uh, no. Not after walking four miles around Miami!

Well, we did end up going back out and we had a great Italian dinner at a restaurant called Spaghettino. We sat out front and watched sports cars and beat up trucks drive by.

After some excellent spaghetti with meatballs and a glass of wine, we called it a night.

Thursday

After sleeping late Thursday morning, we decided to check out South Beach. The sand, the massive buildings, the throngs of people – all of it.

Having never lived in a place near the ocean, it's hard for me to imagine so many people on a beach as long as Miami Beach. It's just like the movies – people everywhere, both on the beach and in the water.

The picture at the top of this post was me at the southern tip of Miami Beach and here's one of the beach itself –

There aren't many people in this shot because of the time of day and the day of the week.

After South Beach we headed back inland to Little Havana. We ate gelato at a restaurant called Versailles and walked across the street to a local cigar shop.

As you may know, I'm a big fan of cigars and the community that generally comes with smoking them. One thing I really enjoy about cigars is smoking them with friends. I've met some incredibly interesting people while enjoying a smoke, and would love to have one with you sometime!

My kind of store!

Friday

Back in the early 1900s, a man named Edward Leedskalnin decided to build a monument to his long-lost love. He began carving the stone out of the ground to create the Coral Castle.

On Friday, we drove south from Miami to see Ed's work and it was a very interesting experience. Couches, chairs, tables and towers, all carved out of stone.

I'm not sure how long I could sit in this chair –

After Coral Castle we headed back north to Miami and took a break. My sister and my mom went to an event with the conference my mom was involved with and I enjoyed an awesome and quiet dinner by myself.

Saturday

Saturday was a big day. In addition to another great lunch in South Beach, I had the opportunity to speak at the Podcast South Florida meetup!

Once I knew I was going to Miami, I started reaching out to my friends in the area. One of the best things about connecting with people online is the offline relationships they can lead to.

I reached out to my friend Jared and he connected me with Laura Sanchez. They invited me to speak to their group about the power of podcasting. It was such an honor to be included in their meetup, let alone be speaking. I was so glad to meet my online friends in person.

I plan on releasing the talk I gave as a podcast in the near future so make sure you subscribe in iTunes, Stitcher, or via RSS so you don't miss it!

The things I talked about were:

1. Believing in yourself and in your message
2. Why your “why” is so important
3. Growing your network
4. The importance of going “all in”

Make sure you're on my email list so you get info like this on a regular basis!

Here are some of the pictures from the Podcast South Florida meetup –

After the meetup a handful of us went out to dinner and really had a great time. Danny Peña and his cousin Lee were gracious to drive me all the way back to Miami and I can't tell you how awesome it was for me.

If you're not connecting with like-minded people offline and in the real world, you're missing out.

A huge thank you to Donald Kelly, Jared Easley, Jon Harrison, Jackie Jimenez, Laura Sanchez, Kingsley Grant, Jason Mazier, Linda Yates, Mace, Gregory, Ted Ryce, Gisele, John Dennis and my mom and sister for making Saturday so awesome for me!

Sunday

After driving up to Fort Lauderdale to drop Kellsye off at the airport, my mom and I decided to take a drive up the Florida coast. We drove all the way up to Palm Beach and saw some amazing sights.

From castles on the ocean to magnificent yachts, compared to Austin, Texas, the Florida coast is a different world. For me, Miami is too crowded. I much prefer Fort Lauderdale and north where it's quieter and life doesn't move so fast.

I also hate paying to park. It's one of my many pet peeves and the further north you go, the cheaper parking becomes.

After our sightseeing tour, I drove my mom back south to Miami's airport for her flight back to Texas. After dropping her off, I began my journey back north for the remainder of my trip.

Sunday evening was spent with my good friend Jared. He and his wife allowed me to use their spare room for a couple of nights so I could spend some time with my new friends. Had they not allowed me to stay with them, because of frequent flyer mile restrictions, I wouldn't have been able to visit Florida at all.

Monday

Back in December 2013, I had the honor and pleasure of having Scott Fay as a guest on my podcast. He and I had an awesome chat about discovering and working within your “sweet spot.” If you haven't listened to that episode, you need to!

After the podcast, Scott told me to look him up if I was ever in his area of Florida. So, when I found out I was going to visit on vacation, I asked if we could have lunch.

Scott accepted and we had an excellent lunch in Hobe Sound. I'll be creating a few new services and products based on our lunch discussion so be on the lookout!

Here's Scott and I after lunch –

And here's a picture I took of Hobe Sound Beach before meeting up with Scott. Beautiful, isn't it?

Monday evening I had the pleasure of having dinner and sightseeing in West Palm Beach with Donald Kelly and his wife Christina. They took me down town for Cuban food and ice cream.

West Palm Beach is really a pretty place. After dinner there were people playing in the park, the restaurants had music playing, and the environment was very casual. Having dinner with Donald and Christina was one of the highlights of my trip!

 

I flew back to Texas on Tuesday and was happy to be home. I had an awesome trip to Florida and got to meet some amazing people. All in all, I drove over 700 miles. I saw some amazing things and had a lot of fun.

The poor hotel WiFi and my busy schedule kept me from writing while I was out there, but I'm glad to be back so I could share my adventures with you.

If I learned one thing from my trip, it would be the importance of having friends. And, not just having lots of friends, but having quality friends. I really can't thank Jared, Laura and Donald enough for making me feel welcome.

And one final thank you to my mom. Without her, I wouldn't have been able to spend a week in Florida and have such a wonderful experience!