Today wasn’t quite as eventful as the past two, but still had some interesting landmarks to report. We started out visiting a couple of schools my sisters is considering for a transfer.
Florida International University (FIU) was a nice looking school. It’s very modern with many new buildings being constructed, and the dorms look like an apartment complex. Being that it is New Year’s, nobody was around to give a tour but we did the self-guided thing from my car. We drove through the surrounding neighborhoods and noticed that a lot of the houses and apartments had bars on the windows. After consulting a local, we discovered that this behavior is somewhat typical for Miami. I’m not sure, but I don’t think I would feel too safe moving into a neighborhood where my neighbors all had bars. I’d quite honestly be a little freaked out.
After FIU, we stopped at Barry College in downtown Miami. The campus also looked new, but in order to get onto campus, we had to pass through a security checkpoint where they took my name, license number, and reason for visit. The entire campus was surrounded by a large iron fence that prohibits entry except through the one security gate. Again, I thought that was a bit freaky and can hardly imagine RPI being like that! Actually, their security reminded me a bit of the US Embassy in Cairo’s security. The only thing they didn’t do was walk around my car with one of those inspection mirrors. They must not be worried about car bombers at Barry…
Following that visit, we drove over to Miami Beach to check things out. We came to Florida completely unprepared for swimming because we thought the water temps would be too cold. We walked out to the beach to feel the water, and it was very warm! After a few hours, a trip to Wal-Mart to get swim stuff, and lunch at Burger King, we were back at the beach swimming in the Atlantic on New Year’s Day! How cool is that??
Tonight we had dinner at Bennigan’s Irish Pub and Grill which is right next to our hotel. The food was ok, but (in the words of Jim Carrey from Liar Liar) I’ve had better 
Christina is going to try to arrange a tour of FIU tomorrow morning, and after that we’re going to hit the road for Savannah, GA (the first step of our trip back to Kettering, OH). It’s going to be another early morning! After all this I think I’m going to need a vacation 