Puttin' On The Ritz

Little Miss Sunshine State went on a field trip for 3 days to see how the other half lives. My friend was working in Miami this week. She and I only manage to be in the same state about once every 2 or 3 years, so I drove down to hang with her during her off-hours. They were putting her up at the Ritz and I thought it would be good for me to have a few relaxing days before the retail Christmas Crazies begin. I grabbed enough Broadway CD's, M&M's and bottled water for the total of 8 hours driving and hit the road.

A quick roadside critter count (because I always keep track).Breathing status not recorded. 1,000 cows, 100 white egrets, 4 grey herons, 3 raccoons, 2 vultures, 2 skunks, 2 armadillos and 2 large turtles. One of those turtles appeared to be just a shell of his former self.

Snippets from my notes on the Ritz:
Room rate- $399 a night.
Room size-420 sq feet (that's almost half the size of my apartment)
Beverage shock- $15 for a 12 ounce Margarita at the beachside bar (salt included)
Number of coral-colored roses in the vase in the lobby-12 dozen
Parking fee per day-$30 plus tips for the valet.
Wireless Internet connection fee-$2.95/hr
Depth of the poufy down padding on the mattress-about 5 inches
Number of Ferrari's in the parking lot-too many to count.
Number of topless sunbathing women at the State beach-3
Number of male couples in matching bikinis-1
Number of times in life I'll stay at the Ritz-1

And I think I had a job interview.