Stop three on the Mazda 6 Press Release Tour was Miami, and what a crazy time it was. Very conflicting reports here, weather was nuts, hotel was AMAZING, event site was a homeless population hotbed, we cut our work days in half, it was hot, but it was beautiful. So I will just run the list for you.
Josh and I are not built for 88 degree heat in September and certainly not for humidity like that in Florida. Our dogs are not build for that heat or for the surprise downpours and crazy winds that spring up during walks. Even with that said palm trees still fascinate me and our event site was right off the ocean. The winds cracking though their stiff leaves freaked Willa out a little, we had some trouble on our late night walk.
Our hotel! We spent an night at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Miami, this is a five star joint. A team of valets greet you when you pull up, you don’t have the option of parking your own car. The lobby is two stories tall and has three water fountains and a staff that will bend over backwards to get your to your room.
We were somehow given an upgraded room to and executive suite. I was speechless, the room was decked out with a soaking tub that you could open a curtains to the room with, a sitting area, a balcony that spanned the entire room and had a view of Miami that people pay that (insert) for. Needless to say we didn’t eat there but the chocolates that they gave us were delish. There were even complimentary slippers, yes they were free but not the robes.
Checking into that hotel followed a great day too, we completed set up in six hours, that is half of what is was in New York. This was due to great planning by our tour manager Bert and having some of the flooring already together. It did take me more then I wanted to get the inside trailer set up. There was extra cleaning to do. I got lucky, it is air-conditioned. The guys however where not fairing so well in the heat.
There were a number of snafus. That wind and rain I mentioned earlier well it did a number on our site. Signs were blown over and parts of the tent were damaged. That didn’t matter so much until we started to tear down and things had become so twisted they would not come apart and a large sign was damaged so much it needed to set to Las Vegas for repairs. As the site cleared out of visitors and we started to tear down a whole new set of visitors started swarming. The place is a well known location for Miami’s homeless to spend their days. It has a lovely view, is right on the water and is for the most part just a vacant tract of land. There were a number of times we had to shoo people out of the tent and were asked for handouts. I will say that just as many that asked for something also asked if we needed some help. I guess that is good but it didn’t make the event coordinator feel very safe. I had to call Josh at one point.
Miami has never really been my favorite city but all and all it was a lovely trip. Our day off and the easier work day, it was a great stop.
The Roving Van Gelders 
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