Hotel: Fontainbleau Hilton, Miami Beach. In all my years of travel I have somehow avoided traveling to Miami before. While I’m sure there is much to see and do, I’m here for a total of 18 hours, all to attend a reception this evening. There seemed little point in having me here, other than as one of many from my company, which sponsored the event. It was on a yacht across the street from the hotel, and despite the fact that the water looked calm, there was a distinct roll to the footing.

The hotel seems worn and faded. I’ve always associated this name with the luxury of the 1960s, when hotels were still exotic places reserved for the very wealthy (or at least so I thought, since we spent every summer camping and I never stayed in a hotel until I was in college). My room is large with a walk-in closet, but it has a funky humid feel and smell and the toilet is so close to the wall you have to sit on it sideways. I do have an ocean view and will attempt to rise early enough to see the sun come up. It’s always a bit strange to see an ocean that is blue and green and turquoise, rather than the brown and tan and grayish blue that is the sea off the coast of New Jersey. This afternoon a number of large cruise ships were gliding along the coast. The pitch and yaw (wrong terms, I know) of the boat this evening made me resolve once again never to set foot on a cruise ship.