Miami- See it like a tourist

On days like this, I have one of the greatest jobs of all time. Missionaries come through on their way to the field or on their way back home. They come for work/mission related stuff. But who can come to Miami and not want to see the sights? This is where I come in :) (Acutally, I come in during the 'work' part too, but I love the 'tour guide' part so much). Kevin and Leah are going to Mexico City in the Fall, and they came to the LAM office today for orientation. After orientation, we ended up doing way more than I expected, because the weather was awesome. I explained to them that for the last two weeks, we'd had afternoon 'monsoons' everyday... they didn't seem jealous of us Miami residents anymore. I think I almost saw pity on their faces. Anyway, we started today's Miami tour at Key Biscayne. We drove all the way to the end of Bill Baggs, to what my friend calls 'el farito' (the lighthouse). It's fun to see Miami like a tourist. I don't ever notice the things that tourists notice, like people feeding wildlife right next to the signs that say 'DO NOT FEED THE WILDLIFE' and people blaring the 'little boombox that could' to try and overpower the sound of the waves, which apparently is an inferior sound to reggaeton... Only in Miami. After el farito, Kiki had the awesome idea to go to Matheson Hammock as well. It dawned on me once we got there that I hadn't been there in about 10 years or longer. Brought back memories...




(though I don't remember thinking when I was a kid that it was like a giant wading pool, that kids like to pee in... probably because it felt bigger when I was little, and because I was probably one of the kids doing that unforgivable action).
And I thought this sign was blog-worthy:

They should probably add one that reads 'CHILDREN WHO PEE IN THE WATER WILL BE HENCEFORTH BANNED FROM PREMISES FOR THE REST OF THEIR CHILDHOODS'...
I'm not sure which is my favorite; it's a tie between the last one 'NO UNRULY BEHAVIOR' and the incredibly-technical, almost-overkill one 'CHILDREN THAT HAVE NOT ATTAINED THEIR SIXTH BIRTHDAY MUST BE PHYSCIALLY ACCOMPANIED IN THE WATER BY A PARENT OR ADULT GUARDIAN, 18 OR OLDER'. The whole 'not attained their 6th birthday' thing just gets me. Is it not enough to say 'under 6' or '5 & under'??? Apparently not.

There is an oasis that I live really close to, and get this- it's FREE! Why haven't I been going there all along?!?! Check out the pics from Pinecrest Gardens:

Okay, I guess that was a shameless plug. But it is really neat to do all the 'Miami' things that tourists do everyday while we fight traffic and shop at Target and watch the news. There's a great big beautiful city out there... Here's the coolest part of all. There's another missionary coming through this weekend. She'll be staying with me Sunday to Tuesday. I get to do this all over again! Yay!! And this time I'll go to the beach ready to swim :) It's awesome to be a tourist in your own city.