As I mentioned in my last blog, the Global Traveler team has had no shortage of travel in the past month. Most recently, Bill Lodzinski and I got the chance to visit Miami, Naples and Tampa Bay for some business meetings, and we made sure to get the full experience in each city.

We flew into Miami on Wednesday, and naturally, the first thing on our minds after securing our Hertz rental car was to get some authentic Cuban food. Bill tapped into his Miami connections, and we were told to go to La Rosa restaurant; we got the full experience and I felt like a local until I realized I can’t speak much Spanish. We went to a couple other Miami food spots, but La Rosa provided the best experience of all: the cortadito, a half-coffee, half-evaporated milk combo. One cordatido each and we were headed on our way across the Everglades en route to Naples.

I grew up visiting both the Naples and Marco Island area, so I knew what to expect, except I had never previously driven through the Everglades along Tamiami Trail. We saw some alligators along the bank of the trail, but most importantly, we saw the famed skunk ape, or “Florida Bigfoot” as I like to call it. You may not believe me, but we were lucky enough to capture photo evidence.

After navigating the Everglades and its indigenous swamp creatures, we arrived at Edgewater Beach Hotel in Naples. Everything was fantastic, and before we knew it we were on our way to Tampa for the next couple of days.

I always find Tampa a nice place to visit, and this time was no different. The Aloft treated us nicely, and Bill and I spent our remaining time on the river walk taking in the scenery.

All in all, it was a solid trip.

— Chris Sager, account executive