English 252
Instructo: Ms. Young-Manning
My Most Memorable Trip
The summer of 2012 my husband and I prepared everything for our family vacation in Miami with our first and only baby at that time. We were very excited to take this trip because it was our first family trip outside California. I remember that we bought the airplane tickets two months in advance. The tickets had one stop. We departed from San Jose, California, and made one stop in Atlanta, Georgia, and then we took another flight from Atlanta to Raleigh, North Carolina. We stopped there to visit my mom before going on to Miami. The reason we bought the tickets departing from San Jose instead of Fresno, and with one stop, was this way they were cheaper. The flight was long and tiring, but we were very happy to be able to take that vacation.
When we arrived at the airport in Raleigh, my mom and her husband were waiting for us. The last time that we saw my mom was when my baby was born. It had been almost ten months, and she was anxious to hold her grandson in her arms.
My mom’s house was around forty-five minutes away from the airport. When we got to the house, a casserole of birria—a traditional delicious Mexican dish made of goat, dried red chilies, and many other condiments—was waiting for us. She also had made homemade tortillas. All the food was delicious, and my husband and I ate like we hadn’t eaten for weeks.
We spent one week at my mom’s house in North Carolina until we finished preparing everything for our trip to Miami, Florida. The idea was to drive all the way from North Carolina to Florida to my cousin Marisol’s house. We rented a big spacious SUV for the trip because my mom, her husband, my youngest brother, my husband, my baby, and I were all going in the SUV.
I know that the idea of being in a car for a long time sounds boring, and for us, of course, it was a little tiring, but it was also fun. We were talking about funny things and also stopped to get food when we were hungry, and whenever we stopped to fill up the car in a gas station, we were able to get some snacks. During the trip, my mom, her husband, and my husband were taking turns driving so they wouldn’t get too tired. It took us sixteen hours to get to my cousin’s house. We stayed in Miami for two weeks, two wonderful weeks that passed by very quickly.
During those weeks, we did many fun activities. For example, one time we went deep sea fishing, and we caught many crabs and fishes that we ate when we got back to my cousin’s house. This was one of my husband’s favorite activities on his first trip to Miami. On another occasion, my cousin took us to a beach where there was a big lighthouse. I remember that my husband and I started walking up the steps inside the lighthouse, and as we were getting to the top, the lighthouse was getting smaller and smaller. When we reached the very top, there was a small door that led us outside to a balcony where we could go all around the lighthouse from that balcony. We were able to enjoy a beautiful view of the beach and part of the ocean; it was a unique experience for me and my husband.
During this memorable trip, we also went shopping, to the theatre, to eat in some Cuban restaurants, and we also had the chance to go to a TV show called Sabado Gigante as part of the audience in the Univision studios of Miami. One of my favorite activities of those two weeks happened one night when my cousin, her husband, my husband, and I went dancing at a night club in the downtown center of Miami located at the seashore. First, we ate some seafood in a nice restaurant next to the night club. Once we finished eating, we headed towards the night club, where we had some drinks and danced almost all night long to different kinds of Latin music like Banda, cumbia, merengue, and salsa. Around three a.m., we were tired and ready to leave, but before heading to the house, we took a walk at the beach for a short time enjoying the view. The moon was full and bright and illuminated the beach. The weather was perfect, and the sound of the waves was very pleasant. It was the perfect night out for me, a beautiful night that I will never forget. This was one of my favorite activities because it had been a long time before this night since the last time my husband and I had the chance to go out on a romantic date.
Soon the two weeks had ended, and it was time to drive back to North Carolina. It took us the same time to drive back, but now we felt the trip lasted a little longer, maybe because we were already tired from all the activities we did in Miami.
Once we got back to North Carolina, we stayed with my mom one more week until the day to take our flight back to California arrived. On this wonderful vacation, my husband was able to visit Miami for the first time, it was the first time for us to take our baby to the beach, and I was able to spend unforgettable moments with both of them, and my mom. This is why this is one of my most memorable trips. Now since we have a new family member, I hope one day we could go back for another vacation to North Carolina and Miami, this time with my husband, my son, and my little girl.