Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay
Posted on April 19, 2018 by Ching under Travel.
I’m so grateful for all of my Marriott points. Brian and I got to stay at a very nice hotel in Florida, close to the Port of Miami, before and after our cruise. It didn’t cost us anything since I had enough points to cover both stays.
Here are some pictures of the room that we got the night before our cruise.
The room itself wasn’t anything fancy but that view was spectacular.
We loved the view so much we had to selfie in front of our window.
Check out this view!
Here’s a view of the marina just outside our hotel.
From our window we could see the Venetian Causeway (closest) and MacArthur Causeway (further one) and the Port of Miami.
The Venetian Causeway is closest to our hotel and is one of the ways you can get to South Beach. Except, sometimes traffic gets really backed up when the bridge (a double-leaf bascule bridge) is open for the larger boats to pass through.
Brian and I did some exploring around the hotel on that first day. Here’s a view of the marina from the hotel terrace.
Oh, and I found a ping pong table but had no one to play with.
We also found a giant connect four game.
And a giant chess board.
It was a pretty quiet Saturday night at the hotel.
Not a soul in sight at the pool.
The hotel gym is on the same level as the pool with a nice view of the marina.
The next morning we woke up to see our ship at the port.
This giant Adirondack chair was on the terrace right outside the hotel restaurant so, of course, we had to take a pic of me in it.
Pictures of our yummy pre-cruise breakfast…
We took some selfies out on the restaurant patio after breakfast before heading up to our room for a quickie Facebook Live video.
We took yet another selfie with our fabulous 31st floor view as the backdrop when we got back to our room. Then we did our Facebook Live.
Here’s the quickie FB Live video from that morning.
When we got back to the Marriott after our cruise we got a room on the 23rd floor. Not as high as our top floor room from before, but it actually had a balcony and better view. We could see bay and city views from our room.
This is a view of the bay.
Here are some pics of the city view.
Here’s the view at night, with the bay on the left and the city on the right.
Here’s a pic of the bay at sunrise.
And the marina beneath our room at sunrise.
Here’s our messy room.
Because of my rewards status, we also got free breakfast in the mornings. Here are some pictures of the nice breakfast buffet at the hotel restaurant each morning.
This is the omelet station where you can also get fresh pancakes and waffles.
I didn’t have pancakes or waffles but I kind of wish I had because I really wanted to try the rum-infused maple syrup.
All sorts of breakfast foods — regular and cheesy potatoes, bacon, sausage etc.
Fruit on the left, cereal bar and breads on the right.
All sorts of breads and pastries.
Fruit and smoked salmon.
My breakfast.
After we ate our breakfast, we got some pics of the beautiful sunrise.
We really enjoyed our stay at the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay. It’s a beautiful hotel and the location is perfect. Next post we’ll tell you about the exploring that we did on our first night in Miami and our visit to South Beach.
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Broadway Autopark
Posted on April 11, 2018 by Ching under Events.
Misty talked me into going to the Broadway Autopark open house on Friday. It didn’t require much effort because I’d been curious about this project for some time. I drive by all the time on my way to work. Brian and I had talked about going over there to check it out multiple times.
Here are a few pictures form their open house last Friday.
The 44-unit apartment complex managed by Bokeh Development is one of the most unique new residential developments in downtown Wichita. It used to be a full-service parking garage, which I didn’t even know was a thing.
The open house on Friday featured a tour of a furnished model unit on the 5th floor, which is the top floor of the building. You don’t need to see them all because the units are all the same. They are all one bedroom efficiency apartments. The only difference is that there are a few units with no balcony because they are on the other side of the building with the round windows.
The apartments are tiny so it’s good that most of the units at least have some outdoor space. You definitely have to live very minimally, though. I think it would be ideal for a young, single person who lives downtown.
Being able to park right outside your door is definitely a plus so you don’t have to park on the street and get rained on. You enter through this door and then your bedroom and bathroom are immediately to the left. The bedroom is not even quite a bedroom as the walls don’t go all the way up and it has no door. It’s just a partition. Definitely can’t be messy because your guests will see everything.
Beyond the bed is a closet but your washer and dryer are also in there. So not much space for clothes really. This is why I mentioned living really minimally. There isn’t much storage available within the apartment itself. I think you have bike storage outside but this is definitely not the place to rent if you’re a hoarder.
The patio is spacious and would be a great place to hang out on nice days. There isn’t much privacy as there is an entire row of patios but it’s a great way to meet and get to know your neighbors.
Here’s what the units on the other side look like.
There’s no outdoor space but the windows are plentiful. You also get the unique, round, porthole windows. I love how they preserved the elements of the parking garage and kept the “garage” feel.
Your kitchen cabinets are even made of garage tool chests. They polished the concrete floors but kept everything (beams, posts, and all) exposed so the feel is definitely very industrial.
Since you don’t really have much room for entertaining in your unit, there is a very nice community space in the ground floor.
It is in the same area as the 24-hour fitness room.
It’s not a big gym but it’s got everything one would need to get and stay fit.
Oh, there’s also a dog-washing station in there for pet parents.
They also have this nice TV room for game or movie nights.
Anyway, I thought the place was great. I loved how close it is to the office. I would have walked over but it started raining ice that afternoon. It’s not ideal for people with a lot of stuff but I think it will be popular with folks who want to be right in the thick of the downtown action.
I love that they’re offering more and more living options downtown. I can’t wait to see downtown Wichita bustling with people. So much is already going on downtown. I think it will only get better the more people live downtown. Great things are happening in Wichita and I’m so excited to see it all unfold!
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Best Lunch Deal in Downtown KC
Posted on April 10, 2018 by Ching under Food and Drink.
If you haven’t been to Tavernonna inside Hotel Phillips, you have to check it out. They probably have one of the best lunch deals downtown. For $10, you get soup or salad, a half sandwich or pasta dish, drink, and gelato. My favorite thing to get is the spaghetti with a Nonna’s meatball (extra). The meatball is kind of expensive but it is huge and delicious. It is worth every penny.
My friend Lesa and I had the opportunity to eat lunch together at Tavernonna last week. Here are a few pictures.
When I’ve had the $10 lunch special in the past, I’ve gotten a Caesar salad. However, it was super cold out last week so soup sounded good. The were serving a very green broccoli cheddar soup that day.
I had the spaghetti with a Nonna’s meatball.
Green must have been the color of the day because the gelato flavor they were serving was pistachio. It was amazing. I’m not sure if the gelato is a new thing that they’re doing because this was the first time I’d ever had it with lunch.
Now that I know that a scoop of gelato is part of the lunch deal, I may never eat lunch anywhere else.
Lesa originally asked for the smoked prime rib dip sandwich with a side of fries but she didn’t care of the dressing that they put in the sandwich so she ended up getting the spaghetti with the meatball as I did also.
Lunch was super fab. I’m hoping to hit Tavernonna again for lunch when I’m back in Kansas City next week.
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Society of 1895 Luncheon
Posted on April 9, 2018 by Ching under Events.
I missed the Society of 1895 luncheon again this year. At least Brian got to go on our behalf. I’m going to make this luncheon one of these days.
Brian took some photos and sent them to me to make me feel included.
Brian with Lou Heldman, VP of Strategic Communications.
Brian with Nathan Johnson. Nathan took over for April Padgett.
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Doggy Picture Day at Subaru
Posted on April 8, 2018 by Ching under Babies.
Here are our favorite pics from the Doggy Picture Day at Subaru.
We almost missed it too because we were just lounging around the house after work. I’m so glad that Jay called to remind us. Jay and Becca brought their new puppy Gronk for the photos and then they came over to hang out and have dinner at the house after. Gronk got to play with the girls in the yard.
It was a lovely way to end the day, which is even more reason why Good Friday was a GREAT Friday.
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