South Beach Wine & Food Festival - Miami, Florida

Florida and Michigan farmers joined promotion committees because Michigan has a lot of milk and not many people, and Florida has tons of people and not as much milk. So, our dairy promoters invited us to come to the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, where we are promoting the best product ever.

Kris and I got to Miami and stayed at the Sagamore Hotel. Our room wasn’t ready, so we walked along the sidewalk by the water to Tala Beach, which was a tiki place not far from our hotel. We checked in and immediately went to the beach. When we first stepped in we felt it was cold, but once you got in it felt amazing. The colors were incredible – the blue-green of the water, the blue sky, the green palm trees, the bright sun. I thought, why don’t I come here more often? We stayed there awhile, then stopped to swim in the heated pool on our way back to our room. 

We met up with the promotion team and other farmers (all friends of ours) – and even ran into a friend of mine since high school who happened to be at the same hotel! We walked across the sidewalk to the first night’s event – the Burger Bash. There were about 30 different burgers to try, along with other food and drinks. I tried only two, because it is hard to eat more than that – and what are the chances?! The only two I tried are the two that won! They have a People’s Choice Award chosen by tokens the people put in their boxes, and that went to La Birra Bar. It was delicious…wagyu beef patty, white America cheese, crispy onions, black truffle, and Argentinian chimichurri mayo. (Our friend Melissa actually took us to this booth first, so she was instrumental in me choosing this one.) 

There was a team of judges that we watched eat the burgers - restaurateur Matt Kusher, comedian Bert Kreischer, model Ashley Graham, TV journalist Gayle King, chef Nick DiGiovanni, and food influencer Samatha Schnur. 

The Judges’ Choice Award went to NFA Burger - Billy’s Classic, a smashed cheeseburger with mustard, pickles, homemade seasoning, and Sassy Sauce. (The owner was there and really kind. Apparently he tried 19 different seasoning combinations before hitting on this one he thought was perfect.) I didn’t plan on eating the whole thing…but I did! I couldn’t resist!

Our dairy booth was also incredible. The amount of work that went into it really paid off! It was set up as the MOOn Light Diner, and it had an entire set! Our promoters handed out dairy merchandise like bags and hats that we saw people wearing and using all weekend long. There was an area for pictures all decorated with milk crates and cow pillows, and all the influencers were taking pictures. They offered a QR code for tracking a cow, and a boozy cookies and cream milkshake. People were drinking them by droves, and the people behind the scenes were churning them out like a factory! We talked with some of the influencers our team partners with, and they were great. 

The whole event was huge. So many people, such a huge place. A cover band played, and we stayed until they turned on the lights and kicked us out. 

Day Two

I got up early to see the sunrise and run. Kris and I walked along the water until we got to the South Pointe Park Pier, which was about two miles away. So many fit people – running, walking, rollerblading, biking, playing volleyball – and at Muscle Beach, lifting weights right on the water. There was a guy there who did a handstand on the wall for at least a minute and didn’t even move to adjust his balance. Another level of fit! 

We met up with our promotion team for the afternoon event, which was the Wine Spectator Trade Day hosted by Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. The info says that it ‘offers a sneak peek of the grandest of tastings, where guests will sample rare vintages, unique spirits, and select pours while networking with fellow industry leaders.’ 

This event made the first night look small. There were three giant tent buildings, then another huge area outside on the sand. There must have been 100 places to stop. It was packed and amazing, with lots of new products we had never heard of or seen before. We stayed the whole time here, too. We had enough time to swim in the ocean again (heavenly) before our night event, which was the Tournament of Champions hosted by Guy Fieri and performance by Rev Run.

The dairy booth was still the MOOn Light Diner, but a whole new influencer area! This time they had a huge, muscled promoter lifting weights that looked like wheels of cheese. I know. So clever. We gave out parmesan wheel pasta and Parm Bars, which were blocks of parmesan. There was always a line to pose with the bodybuilder (who was great and such a nice guy) and people once again took and wore the merchandise. We talked to more influencers, and it was so fun! What a great promotion. It was so well done. I loved seeing people clamoring to take pictures with the wheel of cheese weights!

We tried lots of different booths, met up with my high school friend Courtney and her husband, and gathered in front of the stage for the end. Bert Kreischer sang the national anthem (with his shirt off?) and Guy Fieri talked. Then, surprise of surprise, Rev Run was the guy in Run DMC and he put on a SHOW! Everyone danced to his concert for at least an hour, non-stop. He was so great and we all had a blast! He really had the crowd going.

It ended, they turned the lights on, and the dairy team started getting ready for the next TWO DAYS. They were serving firehouse mac & cheese with brisket on Saturday, and Brazilian cheese bites with a trip of sauces on Sunday. But they would have to promote without us, because we were heading back home…

Day Three

But our flight didn’t leave until later! I ran to the pier again, then Kris and I biked 4 miles north. It was kind of hard when we left, because there was so much foot, bike, and rollerblading traffic! It was gorgeous out. We checked out and walked into town to Lincoln Street, which is a pedestrian area with lots of shops. There was also an art installation called Mr. Pink, which had an inflatable baby in many spots, some flying. It was delightful. 

We also saw the robots that deliver things, which I haven’t seen in real life before. They seemed to have a hard time because people didn’t notice them and the robots tried not to run into people. We found a street with lots of trees and plants and shade and ate outdoors at Oh Mexico, and then we went to the ocean to say goodbye to it before we left.

Miami was beautiful, warm, the colors were great, there was so much to do, and I’m so proud of our dairy team. A great trip! Now go eat some cheese – I am!

 

Panama City Beach, Florida - Tracy's 50 state marathon!

My sister Tracy is an amazing person. She was completing her goal of running a marathon in each state, and we wanted to be there to celebrate! She planned to make it happen in Panama City Beach, Florida. She got a big Airbnb, invited a bunch of family and friends, and we were off!

Kris, my dad, and I flew from Detroit to Panama City Beach airport, which was really small. We took an uber to the house and immediately walked to the beach. It was raining, but that didn't detract from the absolute beauty of the white sand and blue-green water. I touched it, and it was pretty warm.

More people flew in, including Tracy and my mom, and we walked to Ford's Garage to eat lunch. It's a chain, but I love Ford's Garage for their nice little touches like having a gas pump as the doorknob, and having tires as sinks. What can I say? I'm from Michigan.

We went to the grocery store and I was unable to resist buying a Panama City Beach sweatshirt. It's so touristy, but I loved it so much.

Back at the house, Tracy gave everyone their shirts she had specially made! They said 'Tracy's Marathon Era Farewell Tour', and then on the back '50th State', with a map of the United States colored except for Florida. I gave everyone stickers of Tracy's face that said 'Tracy's 50th State' so we could wear them with every outfit. The Airbnb had a hot tub, so we warmed up in that and then headed out for dinner.

We chose McGuire's Irish Pub, and it was delightful. It's one of those places that has dollar bills all over it, and they had live music which I loved! Also, the food was great. I had shepard's pie and could only eat half of it. Tracy had a giant, giant pretzel. We made both of them into three meals. (This is also a chain. Chains very popular here.) Erin had us all sign a dollar and slapped one of Tracy's stickers on it before adding it to the wall. Let me know if you see it.

Day Two

Race day! Tracy and Louann got ready for the race. We were all together now - Gage, Tracy, mom, dad, Louann, Kelly, Laura, Erin, Lydia, Kris, Erin, Lisa, and me. We headed to the start line. Tracy and Louann running the marathon, Gage, Kris, and I running the 5k.

Let me note here: since we had landed, it had been raining. It never stopped raining. Fun fact - it continued to rain the entire time we were in Florida. This was unfamiliar to me, because I've never been somewhere where it never stops raining. In Michigan it doesn't ever rain an entire day. If it is a rainy day, it rains on and off, but there are definitely breaks. Here it rained the entire time, even through the night! It was so different! 

We laughed as we looked at the forecast. 52 and rain. "Rain likely to continue for the next several hours." This didn't seem to bother Tracy and Louann. They danced to the start line and...they were off! IT WAS HAPPENING!

An hour later, Kris, Gage, and I ran the 5k. I had decided to run as fast as I could, and it was really fun. Kris said that he figured he could run three miles as fast as he could if Tracy was running 23 more(?!) I came in second in my age group with a decent time, so that was nice. 

The race had gumbo and drinks in Margaritaville afterward, so we gathered there. The timing was perfect, because we were able to see Tracy and Louann at the halfway point! They looked soaked and determined. Definitely in the zone.

We headed back or got clothes or bought a swimsuit or went in the hot tub and watched MSU play basketball or ran along with Tracy (lots of people, lots of activity!) and Louann texted that she was going to walk.

We all gathered at the finish line to wait for Tracy, as we followed the app that told us what mile she was hitting. Did I mention it was raining really hard? 

Lisa had told the announcer about Tracy's feat. As she neared the finish line, we all cheered. She literally danced joyfully over the finish line and - GOAL ACHIEVED!!  

A note here about Tracy. Not only is it the absolute athletic feat of running marathons in all 50 states, but there's the rental cars, finding where to go, the Airbnbs, the working a full and part time job, the logistics of timing, the fact she's doing it all with the genetic visual impairment Stargardt, and really it's just so incredibly impressive in so many ways. I ran three marathons with her, (plus one alone and one ultra) and I've seen up close how difficult it all is - but so, SO amazing. I am so proud of her!!! There aren't enough exclamation points.

Tracy finished in high spirits, joking, laughing, happy. She jumped in front of the finish line. (Yes, she could still jump after all of that!) She said she wanted to walk back, because she couldn't be any wetter anyway. 

We went in the hot tub, and she said, "I just feel so good right now," and I was again amazed, because I don't think I've said that after any marathon.

We watched games, hung out at the house, and looked at the driving rain. We narrowed down our dinner choices to three places and chose the Salty Goat. As soon as we arrived in the uber, we called the second car and said not to come, it was very lively, lots of people were watching the Georgia football game, and they had a live band, but there was nowhere to sit except outside (in the rain!) 

We met up at The Craft Bar, which was perfect for our group. We went around and said what we loved most about Tracy, and we laughed and also cried. We gave a toast to Louann for being the only one of us even willing to try to run a marathon that day, and we enjoyed our time celebrating Tracy's accomplishment together. (I had the bread pudding, and it was incredible.)

Some people headed home, and some of us headed to the Tiki Bar to play pool. We then went to the Whiskey Saloon to play darts, and we had a great time there. Darts were really fun. We then were entertained by watching Gage challenge a young guy who brought his own pool cue(!) to play, and Gage beat him twice. The band was good, we danced, we were amazed you can still smoke indoors, and we caroled at the front door of the Airbnb for good Christmas measure.

Day Three

Did I mention it was raining? It literally rained again, the entire day. We walked to the beach with umbrellas, walked to the grocery store, and hung out until we headed to the airport. Some people were delayed another day, we had to hop on an earlier flight to make our connection, but we all made it home eventually. Tracy, Lisa, and my mom stayed another night. Tracy sent some follow up pictures: 1. Tracy and Lisa wearing the same Panama City Beach sweatshirt from the grocery store. 2. A clear sky and a bright, shining sun! 

Tracy's husband John couldn't come because of the timing of his cancer treatment, but he was able to start work again this week. Tracy headed home to her happy husband, new home, and having another amazing accomplishment in her back pocket. 

Cocoa Beach, Florida spring break 2025: Cuckoo for Cocoa

Spring break! Ty and Cole were invited to go on a cruise with another family, and we decided we should go somewhere with Max. That somewhere was Cocoa Beach, Florida!

Our friends the Uptons were already going there with a big group, so we just got another house a half mile away. Many of them have been vacationing together for a long time, and they were all so, so fun. Fun kids, fun adults!

Two days before we were supposed to leave, I got a message from American Airlines that there was upcoming bad weather, and did I want to change my flight for free?

I have learned my lesson from Africa. 

"Let's just leave a day early," I said to Kris.

"There's no possible way I can leave early," he said.

Five minutes later, he returned. 

"Okay, let's do it."

We packed - Max was already packed! - and flew from Detroit to Melbourne, FL with no problems. (The next day was an awful weather day across the U.S. 95 mph winds, tornadoes, an ice storm, severe storms, etc. So glad we got an additional day instead of losing a day!)

We ubered to their house on Orlando Ave, just two blocks from the beach. It was amazing. It had a see-through pool made out of a shipping container, outdoor ping pong, foosball table, air hockey, murals, twinkly lights, a gorgeous outdoor kitchen - so nice. And 24 of our friends!

We immediately swam in the pool, then the ocean. The waves were massive. This beach is gorgeous. Huge, white sand, long, and commonly empty! No crowds. Everyone went to Ron Jon's, then to Coconut's on the Beach (just 0.2 walk from their house), which had music and was right on the water. We watched MSU play in the NCAA Elite Eight game, and the guys brought a TV outside to watch. MSU lost, we were all sad, and we went back to our hotel to sleep (La Quinta) even though our friends totally offered to let us stay in the house too, which was really nice of them. What's three more? 

Day Two 

We headed to the beach! We went from the house and played in the waves. When we got crispy, we went back to their house, swam in the pool, and we three went out to Sergio's Tacos for lunch. We all got burritos and each burrito also came with a taco! Great food - even more than we could eat! 

We borrowed a friend's car to go and get groceries, and from the parking lot we watched a SpaceX rocket launch! It was so bright, so cool, and so loud you could feel it in your chest. Absolutely amazing. We checked into our Airbnb, which was 244 Brevard, only 400 steps from the beach! Really nice place. 

We headed back to the beach, then hung out at the house in the outdoor kitchen while it rained, listening to music. Everyone took turns with dinner, and we ate some amazing food.

We walked home and went to bed. Niles (Max's friend) went with us. Matt sent us a text that said, "Get those boys out of bed for the rocket launch." We'd forgotten - and it was in five minutes! We four flew outside and watched the night launch at 9:45 p.m. It was incredible. It was even easier to see than in the day, it had a long red tail, and again you could hear and feel it! We saw it was a launch with people on it, and it just seemed amazing that people have figured this out.

Day Three

Matt, Kris, Niles, and Max left the house at 6:00 a.m. to go fishing about an hour away with a charter. I ran along the beach, worked, and then went to Cocoa Beach Pier with my friends to meet up with more friends. This place had a different vibe than Cocoa Beach by our house. It was really full of people. Nice to see our friends though! Not my beach vibe. Funny that you can go just a little bit away and there's no one. But if you're looking for action, this place had it! 

Max and Kris returned, and we hung out and helped Kate prepare dinner. More friends came over to their house, and we talked around the little fire table in the backyard until we walked home. 

Day Four

Rondi rented three pontoons from Cape Crossing Boat Rentals in Merritt Island for the 33 of us who wanted to go. Matt took Niles and Max fishing again, so they didn't go with us. (They had a little success on the first day, and they had massive success on the next day! Max said every time they cast in they caught a fish.) We saw many dolphins, tons of birds, and one manatee. They rented poles there for $10, and some kids fished. There was a rope swing over the water the kids, Kris and I enjoyed. Kris was the first one in the water, helping the kids get the swing back. Our friends joked that Kris and I didn't even have kids there, and he was the first one in. I told them that Wardins love a rope swing. Kris' family has had one at their pond his whole life! I went off of it and then Kris did a super cool dive. So fun!

Rondi suggested we go to lunch at Gators Portside in Port Canaveral, and I'm so glad she did! We sat down outside in the shade - and what do we see across the water? A SpaceX rocket booster, returned from space! It was obviously used, covered in soot, and people were power washing it. Then as we had lunch, a tugboat came, hauling the rocket we had seen in the night launch! Also in a fun coincidence, the tugboat pulling it was named the St Johns! This was amazing and so, so cool to see. I was blown away.

We stopped back at the house to see Max, then left for a bioluminescence kayak tour. I've always wanted to do one. We met our guide, and he told us it was just the three of us. Oof. The conversation was super awkward, and he couldn't tell that I wasn't interested in talking about my favorite hobby or vacation. Kris even less so. We found a place of comb jellies, which are small transparent blobs of jellyfish. The guide forgot glow sticks and told us he had to go back for them. I told him it was okay, and he said he couldn't lose us. We were in 3 foot water, it was still as glass, and we were 2 feet away from him. There was no possible way he would lose us. But okay! I whispered to Kris that I was excited for the tour to end, but then...it got dark.

"If you run the net through the water, you'll see the dinoflagellates light up," the guide said. 

I ran my net through the water, and I was amazed. I plunged my hand in. Anytime you touched, splashed, and flicked the water, you were rewarded with what looked like blue firefly sparks. It didn't matter how many times you did it or where you were in the water. There were millions of blue fireflies there. I cried. How had I never seen this? How magical is this world! Not only are there people in rockets, but there are underwater microscopic fireflies! I loved this experience so, so much. 

We also found some comb jellies, and whenever you touched them, they glowed. This was cool, but not as surprising as the dinoflagellates. 

As we ended the tour, I realized we didn't need a tour at all, and I basically wanted to jump into the water to make it happen. (Later my friend Jessi told me they did this in Thailand, and were in a whirl of sparks.) The tour guide gave what he thought was a big reveal - he was a high school senior! Kris and I were not at all surprised, given the awkwardness. 

Back at home, the girls had gone to the beach and I ran to meet them at Hunkerdown Hideaway until we walked back to our house.

Day Five

Last day. (I should include here that I worked every day, but that's not super interesting.) Everyone but two kids were at the beach, so we took a group picture, and Brandi cleverly photoshopped them in. 

A lot of the kids had boogie boards, and I grabbed one to try with Max. It was incredibly fun! I'd done it in Hawaii 23 years ago...had I not tried since then? I think the waves are usually scary, since they're dragging me around and pummeling me, but with a boogie board I could ride them easily! It was such a blast. Such a rush! Max and I boogie boarded a long time, Kris joined us, we did it on and off all day. We walked on the beach, played bocce, played in the sand, and headed back totally burnt to a crisp. We had been using lotion, but I'd bought some spray. I was talking about how great spray was until we all got burned. Whoops! A little souvenir.

After dinner, we all walked to The Fat Donkey for ice cream. I got Calypso Crunch, which was chocolate with chocolate covered pretzels and a river of peanut butter running through it. I ate it in a cone, trying not to drip on my dress (impossible), and it was perfect. It was the best food I had on vacation.

Day Six

We left the house at 4:00 a.m. to catch our 6:00 a.m. flight. We got stuck on the runway because our steering broke, and even though we sprinted across the airport, we missed our connection. It didn't really bother me this time, though. Usually I'm desperately trying to get somewhere, and here I was already with two members of my family, and the other two weren't home! I just worked in the airport. We made it home sweet home on the next flight.

Thank you friends, and thank you Florida for a magical time!  

Friends featured: Fillwocks, Finks, Uptons, Kincaids, Barretts, Zieglers, Boettgers, Staubus, Kiebler, Simons, etc!

Orlando, Florida - NDB/NMPF/UDIA Annual Meeting

That's a lot of letters for a meeting name, isn't it? I thought I should include it, though, because I definitely didn't see all Orlando had to offer this trip - but I did have a great meeting! In the past, we've taken advantage of the Disney parks, which we really enjoyed. This time, I had work and the meeting - plus I didn't take my kids - so the parks will have to wait.

I flew on Spirit at the low low price of $80. It's amazing to me that airlines can charge so little sometimes. I have no problems with Spirit, as they have never let me down. The seats are a little less comfortable, and they are small, but when there's no food or drink service, I just sleep the whole time without waking up for it! 

A note - on Spirit, they announced four times that you had to open your window shades for takeoff and landing. The other airlines I've been on haven't done this, but I like it because I want to see and if you don't have a window seat you have no control over this. They also announced when it might be a good time for kids to go to the bathroom, I'm guessing because there were/are always so many children on the flight.

To compare with the other airlines, obviously I love United because of my brother and the fact I can fly standby. They also have a really well-written magazine in their seatbacks! Most of them have done away with this - they all used to have them in the past. You can also bend the headrest to support your head while you're sleeping. I also like Delta, because of their comfortable seats and very chill attitude that they're not telling you what to do. On American, my flight was delayed through no fault of the airline - it was weather. However, there was no communication or announcements. They also tell you what to do all the time, before, during, and after the flight. Why do they wake you up 25 minutes before you land? Why not five? There has to be a reason, but I don't know it. I think it's surreal to look around a plane, see most people sleeping, as we're hurtling across the sky, and we all just take it for granted that this magical event is happening all day long every day.  

Our meeting was at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel. Kris and I immediately changed clothes and went running around the property. We happened upon a nature trail, which was along water. We saw so many birds - hawks, plus two different kinds of herons than we see at home. Then we saw three giant, pink birds fly up from the water into a tree! I thought they were flamingoes, because my knowledge of pink birds is limited, but my friend Aimee suggested they were roseate spoonbills, which was right. We saw salamanders everywhere, but no alligators, even though there were signs everywhere warning against them.

We ate lunch outside by the pool, and I mentioned the signs about alligators to the server. He said everyone put signs like that up after the toddler was killed by an alligator on Disney property in 2016. He said, "Everyone knows you can't go near the water after dark! They just let their toddler go down to the water! Everyone knows that!"

I told him everyone probably doesn't know that. I certainly wouldn't have thought about alligators if I hadn't seen the signs. Florida is a different place. 

The hotel had really nice pools and hot tubs, and it was nice and sunny. We spent the afternoon swimming. We then walked off the property. It's so interesting being in different places - the tree roots of these trees were coming out of the ground, making all the ground bumpy around them. It looked like something out of a fairy tale. We also saw a tree completely covered with thorns. Nice armor. 

We walked to the Half Barrel Beer Project, and the man working and locals in the place were so friendly. We talked sports for a long time. They suggested we go to eat at Miller's Ale House, which they said had less expensive and good food. Our friend Aaron joined us, and we went there - and it was all tourists. We thought it was funny that the locals directed us to the tourist place, but it was in a district called The Pointe that was really cool. An upside down house (WonderWorks), people doing indoor skydiving (iFly - I did it once here and loved it), lots of restaurants, and good people watching. The Detroit Lions game was on and there was a huge group of Lions fans - all decked out in Lions gear - watching it. We won in the last few seconds, so that was exciting! 

After meetings and work the next day, our group went to the Capital Grille, which was in the same area. The next night, we went to Delmonico's Italian Steakhouse. Both were nice and fancy steakhouses, and the kind I really only go to when I'm at a meeting.

The meeting is for all the dairy organizations, and I love it because I get to see people from all over the country. It was fascinating, especially the part where they talked about how they can look at milk at the molecular level, choose one molecule, and one subject like 'brain health', and use AI to compile all research that has ever been done on this molecule and that subject. It was milk marketing at the molecular level! Kris was elected treasurer of the United Dairy Industry Association, which is a national board of farmers that makes decisions on how national dairy checkoff promotion money is spent.  

In the morning I was running back to the hotel and was in the parking lot, when I was surprised to see four giant sandhill cranes on the sidewalk in front of me. They weren't scared of me at all. I stood about three feet from them, taking pictures as they tore up the mulch, throwing it on the sidewalk as they searched for whatever they were eating. Sandhill cranes are not a popular bird among farmers, because they do a lot of crop damage. We now have them in Michigan, but they certainly aren't as tame as the ones at this resort. I like them and was happy to see them up close.

As I was standing there, a woman from the toxicology conference at our hotel stopped to watch them with me. She had an Irish accent. She commented on how amazing it is to see all the different flora and fauna when you travel to other places.

I do love a Disney park, but Orlando has a lot to offer even right in the parking lot.