Day Fifteen: Kate Arrives

It’s 10am and I take Lyla for our morning run.  We walk down Lincoln Ave and check out the shops.  It's 58 degrees this morning and people are wearing winter coats.

There is a lot going on at the hotel this afternoon.  Almost everyone at the hotel is here for the same wedding.  Everyone at the pool seems to know each other or have one degree of separation.  They are friendly, happy people and pleasant to be around.

There is also a photo shoot for the British company, Marks & Spencer. The crew is from London and they adore Lyla.  One woman comes and rubs Lyla’s belly for 15 minutes. Of course I don't mind.  Lyla is on vacation too.  I want her to enjoy herself.

I move to the area behind the pool where there are couches. Lyla and I pass the little French Bull Dog who has become Lyla’s nemesis.  He watches her so carefully. When we are close he tries to attack and starts yapping.   I sense that the owner doesn't like me, but their little monster started it.  He looks evil, calculating.  There is a lot going on in that little head.  He reminds me of Brett's French bull dog Toots.  However Toots had another plan for Lyla.

There is a tall thin blond girl lying topless on the couch next to me.  She looks like a model.   Two men are sitting on the couch across from us.  I wonder how they chose that spot.

I need a change of scene.  I wander over to the W.  It’s a nice hotel. Very different from Raleigh.  Brand new.  Huge.  The pool area is tiny relative to the size of the hotel.

I am picking Kate up from the airport at 9:15 and then we are going to dinner.  It's 5:30 and I need a snack to hold me over until dinner at 10.  The concierge suggested The Betsy.

I sit at the bar at BLT at the Betsy. It's very similar to the BLT in New York. It has the same menu. I order the tuna tartar and talk to Timi, the bartender.  She is Hungarian but looks Latino.  Jim from Glasgow, Ireland sits down at the bar next to me.  He is in town for the ING marathon on Sunday.  A lot if people are in Miami for the run.

Jim tells me about his career and how he became an entrepreneur.  When he was a young man, 17 years old, he wanted a car.  His mom said he would never be able to afford one.  He saw an ad in the newspaper for a job with SC Johnson.  At the time, the company only had three products.  He interviewed and got the job.  With the job came a company car. It was the best thing about the job.  Then he decided that he wanted a Ferrari, so he started his own business. He started a coffee company and now he owns sign making company. Apparently business is booming in Middle East.  "When you start a business, you are going to make mistakes and if you start a few of them, you are likely to fail a few times," he explains in a thick Scottish accent. "There is no one to turn to when you have a question about how to do something or what to do. There is no easy answer," he continues.  "But if you have a good idea, something will stick. You learn from your failures what you need to do the next time." 

Kate at the airportWhat he tells me echoes what Aron, Kate's friend, said to me over dinner two weeks ago.  Aron is a very successful entrepreneur who has built companies worth billions from nothing.  "Starting a business, growing a business, is not formulaic," Aron explained.  "You hit a wall.  Once you power through it, there is another wall waiting for you on the other side, and then another and another after that.  It never stops, until you turn around and walk away.  You retire, get bored and come back to that wall."  He has come in and out of retirement several times.

I wonder if I could be an entrepreneur.  It seems that being an entrepreneur is in your blood.  To see an opportunity and act on it; to fail and get up and do it again.

After my snack at the Betsy, I pick Kate up at the airport and head back to the hotel.  We go to Casa Tua where we run into our friend Manny and meet Ruben, Arturo Carolina and Nacho.  Ruben invites us to go boating with them tomorrow. 

See more picturesMe, Kate, Manny and Rachel at Casa Tua