Hacienda Pinilla

At times we get off topic here at the Miami Blog, and we talk about things that happen outside the Magic City.  Today I’d like to share with you my experience at a recent round of golf in Costa Rica.  Since many Miami residents enjoy the short 2 hour, 2o minute flight to San Jose, Costa Rica, I thought it would be a good thing to blog about today.

So I was lucky enough to get a round of golf in at Hacienda Pinilla in Guanacaste, the West Coast of Costa Rica.  I have to say something the real estate in Costa Rica is simply amazing!  I am still contemplating a move down here, but I need to sell some properties in Miami before that can happen.  I’m anxious to get down to the land they call “pura vida.” Anyways, onto my experience at Hacienda Pinilla.

Pinilla is a secluded, gated community near Tamarindo, Costa Rica.  It’s a HOT climate that most people may not be able to bear.  The golf course is in pristine condition, like many of Costa Rica’s golf courses.  Only the Four Seasons, in my opinion, has a more secluded feeling for a course near the Ocean.  (I will put the disclaimer that I have never golfed at Conchal.)  It’s a links style course, with one hole, a par three, actually backing up to the Ocean.  A buddy of mine actually hit his tee shot over the green and had to chip from the sand.  True sand, like Ocean sand.  I thought that was pretty neat.  Anyways, the course is very desolate right now, nobody really golfs out there as it’s in the middle of nowhere, so if you like that type of privacy, you will certainly like Hacienda Pinilla.

If you are ever on the west coast of Guanacaste, certainly do check out Hacienda Pinilla.  I highly enjoy the resort there put up by the J.W. Marriot. It’s brand new, and caters to pretty much anyone’s taste who would like to have Ocean view rooms and a five star resort right at their feet.

On the other hand, I do love Los Suenos Resort & Marina in Playa Herradura, Costa Rica as well.  Marriott has some great properties that usually rank near the best ones in the world, and these two properties are no different.  I’m looking forward to more golf experiences in Costa Rica, and as much as I love my life in Miami and working in real estate there, Costa Rica has a certain charm that really keeps bringing me back there.  Maybe it’s the guaro, the local moonshine, or maybe it’s the friendly people, but for some reason, I find myself missing Costa Rica every time I get back to Miami.

Thanks for reading my rant about Costa Rica and golfing in Hacienda Pinilla, and we’ll be back soon with more news. If you want to learn more about the sport of golf, check out this basics of golf blog.

Since we have not had a chance to check out the new “U” documentary, we felt we’d post a review we read on ProCanes.com.  Let me just say that we are VERY anxious to see this Miami Documentary, which focuses on the football program that has been among the greatest in the world, year in, year out.

We will have one of our own Miami Blog Writers post a full review in the upcoming weeks – until then, we’re pretty pysched about what has already been said about the documentary.

“So fans, I just got back from the worldwide premier of “The U” which was produced by rakontur in conjunction with ESPN and their 30 for 30 series.

One word: WOW. Actually two more words: Holy Sh*t. And one more word: Amazing.

If you’re a Hurricane fan you will feel what I felt: intrigue, chills, laughter, concern, proudness, happiness and I could go on. It’s an emotional roller-coaster. It’s not a documentary. It’s a ride, a ride through history, through the ups and downs of the program presented in a very “real” way. You hear it all from the mouths of people that were very involved in the program in the 1980’s and 90’s. You hear it from players, coaches, athletic directors, the mascot (John Routh), and of course Luther Campbell.

Let me go through some of the highlights for me:

- Howard Schnellenberger. His stories, that I am sure you have read about, about leaving his pipe in recruit’s homes and his low intimidating voice were great, but one thing really stood out for me. When he spoke about how he left for the USFL, you could see how emotional it was for him even now to talk about it. He would look down, hands fidgeting, voice slightly cracking as he described leaving the University of Miami. It showed an emotional side of Coach Schnellenberger that you didn’t see in the old clips of him and that you wouldn’t expect from such a historically stoic person. You could tell he still loves the U without having to say it.

- Jimmy Johnson on the other hand said it. He said that out of all the places he went to school or coached, the University of Miami is his home and he will always be a Hurricane. To see his passion still alive was great.

- The players describing Coach Schnellenberger recruiting and coming into “the hood,” to their homes was truly priceless. A white man going into a neighborhood during those days was unheard of and when he was there he had to be escorted by a bunch of people into a home.

- Melvin Bratton and Bennie Blades were the two most heard from players in the movie, and it was really great to see the movie mention Bratton’s devastating knee injury during the Orange Bowl. It was sad too.

- The focus on the state of the City of Miami at the time and the racial tensions really set the stage for the film and really put into greater perspective what this team did, not only for the University but also for the City of Miami. The film showed a great contrast between Coral Gables and the rest of Miami and as Michael Irvin said, they never dreamed of going to a place like Coral Gables.

- Michael Irvin talking about how when they would go to clubs they would get in no problem by skipping the lines as they passed Miami Dolphins players who were waiting in line and begging them to get them into the club. It was flat out said that the Canes were the team in Miami and Dolphins took a back seat.

- Video from the steak fry before the Fiesta Bowl against Penn State was great. The contrast shown between a predominately white Penn State team and an African American Miami team was very interesting. But as one former player said: “Even the white boys on our team were tough!”

- The highlights from the Cotton Bowl were priceless and probably one of the funniest parts of the film was the thorough review of the new NCAA “Miami” Rules that were put into effect after that game. A rule would show on the screen and then a Hurricane dance, hit, celebration was then played to show where the NCAA got the idea for the rule. Great, great part of the movie.

- Players saying how Robert Bailey before the Cotton Bowl kickoff said he was going to knock someone out on the opening kickoff and then following it up with actual knockout of the returner just showed you with what confidence these players played with. It was a pretty funny part too.

- I felt a little bad for Tad Foote, but the film did a real good job of depicting the contrast between him and the team. Jimmy Johnson describing his meetings with Foote were great.

- The end is sad. Very effective. The sanctions come along but they also fast forward to show the tearing down of the Orange Bowl. That was a real heart wrenching point.

- Dennis Erickson saying he learned more from the players than they probably learned from him was very interesting to hear but very believable. At that point the players obviously ran the show and he was along for the ride.

- It was pretty shocking to hear how some players to be able to survive stole things to support their children. That I can’t say I expected to hear.

- The stories of calling Brian Bosworth at 5am the day of a high noon game talking trash to him while smashing things in the room just showed how intense these players were and how seriously they took this.

- The clip of the coin toss before the Oklahoma game where Miami players refused to shake hands was quite memorable as you can see what the Miami players were saying to the Oklahoma players. You can see and feel they were instilling fear in their opponent before the kickoff.

- I don’t remember what game the clip was from, but the sideline announcer was reporting that former Hurricane players like Cortez Kennedy were on the sidelines coaching the current players. You could tell the shock in the sideline reporter’s voice that former players were on the sideline, a tradition kept to this day.

- Melvin Bratton saying he took his helmet off so the ladies could see his face, and Lamar Thomas saying that during the Oklahoma National Championship game, he knew they were going to win, so he was just thinking about how he was going to balance all of his women was classic.

- The extensive description of the quarterback competition between Bernie Kosar and Vinny Testaverde was very interesting to hear from both Schnellenberger’s perspective and Kosar’s. I must say Kosar sounded weird in the film, almost drunk.

- Cameos by more recent Hurricane alums like Willis McGahee, Jeremy Shockey and Jonathan Vilma were nice surprises.

- Luther Campbell and his sarcasm about not giving players money was quite entertaining.

- It hit me hard once the Pell Grant allegations came up in the film, along with the arrests and other problems. It really hits you hard and makes you realize things were somewhat spinning out of control.

I could honestly go on and on but I will stop so some things can be a surprise. I will say this though, Hurricane fans you will fall more in love with your Canes while being shocked at times, but this film doesn’t hide anything. It’s the real deal. You’ll laugh, you’ll cheer and you’ll be saddened, while also feeling chills. Non-Hurricane fans? Well, you’ll probably like the Hurricanes even less, but you will be entertained and if anything you will have more ammo to throw at Hurricane fans.

Lastly, I’d like to congratulate rakontur on an amazing job. It truly is an amazingly entertaining film while also being more than a sports film. Yes there are highlights, but there are deep social and racial issues addressed in the movie and you real get the raw details of how things were back then. Truly riveting.”

Reading that, it’s no wonder people in Miami are talking so much about it….

Being a life-long smoker, I’ve always been dependent on a little nicotine fix.  Smoking is a disgusting, terrible habit, but I feel like I’ve finally found a solution that will end up being a great way for me to continue to get a small fix as well as help the environment, not to mention my well-being.

Electronic cigarettes have hit the market with a bang, and after doubting them for a while, I’m now a seasoned customer of these things that most people call “smokeless cigarettes, or e-cigs.”

My favorite type of electronic cigarette is called Green Smoke.  Green Smoke offers an easy to use, two-piece system.  There are many three piece e-cigs, but this is not the case with Green Smoke.  I personally have smoked about all of the different e-cigarette brands, and I have found that Green Smoke’s two-piece system is much more efficient than the rest.  I’d argue this is the best electronic cigarette on the market right now.

Of course, there are several other e-cigarette brands, and I’ve had the pleasure of trying many of them.  You see, I enjoy the electronic cigarettes because they are 100% legal to smoke in the mall, airports, restaurants, and more.

There is one brand called the Blu Electronic cigarette, it’s a unique concept because when you take a puff from it, the tip lights up all blue colored.  This is very cool because the other e-cigs light up orange or red, and this can make it appear you are smoking a traditional cigarette.  The Blu E-cig changes everything with this innovation.

The really cool thing about this e-cig is that there are many flavors.  Classic Tobacco, Magnificent Menthol, Java Jolt, Vivid Vanilla and Cherry Crush are all flavors of e-cigarettes offered by Blu.  My experience with Blu showed me that a lot of my friends that don’t smoke, mind you, enjoyed this e-cigarette quite a bit.

Between Green Smoke and Blu, if I had to pick one to reccomend, I’d have to say Blu, just because it’s an easier price point to swallow for a first time e-cig smoker.  There are certainly many reasons to switch to e-cigs, number one being the amount of money you can save by switching to electronic cigs, but if you are looking for more solid information, I found a great electronic cigarette review website you can peruse.

As I continue to smoke e-cigs, I’ll be reporting back on different brands.  I’ve seen that the Smoking Everywhere brand is quite popular in malls such as Pembroke Pines, Dolphin Mall, and others.  I’ll go ahead and try that brand and let everyone know how my experience was.

First reported by the Miami Herald….

North Miami Beach Mayor Myron Rosner was treated like less than a human being while on a recent trip to Walt Disney World with his wife and four children, according to reports from the Miami Herald.

Rosner, who is disabled, uses a wheelchair to get around.  Park employees mistook it for a Segway, the two wheel stand-up device used by Mall Cops (like Paul Blart) to get around.

The rest of this post was taken from the Miami Herald….

In front of his wife and four children, park employees demanded Rosner lower himself and use four wheels, citing a Disney policy that prohibits the use of Segways, which it deems as unsafe.

“I was totally harassed by Disney World. It was a nightmare for my wife, myself and my four children,” he said. “They gave me the impression I was not welcome here.”

That’s not the case, spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez said.

Employees were simply confused, mistaking the wheelchair for a Segway.

“The guest was provided with conflicting guidance. We apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused,” she said.

In 2007, three disabled people filed a lawsuit against Disney for not allowing Segways at its parks. The lawsuit was recently settled out of court, but the Segway ban remains.

Unlike a Segway, which is used while standing, Rosner’s iBOT 4000 keeps the driver seated.

Rosner said Monday he plans to file lawsuits against Disney for what he called an embarrassing experience.

`ON ALL FOURS’

“He said I needed to go down on all fours, and I said . . . the only way I’m going down is if the sheriff takes me down,” Rosner said, noting his wife cried during the incident.

Ironically, Rosner said he was inspired to buy the high-tech wheelchair after seeing it on display at Epcot’s Innoventions, which exhibits products that help make human lives better.

FINALLY GETS IN

Although Rosner’s entrance to Epcot was delayed Friday, a park manager finally let him through.

But the questioning didn’t end there.

Employees and a security guard surrounded Rosner and his family as they toured Disney’s Animal Kingdom on Sunday afternoon, when he was again told to lower the chair.

FAMILY LEAVES

The family soon left after employees followed them around the park, Rosner said.

Rosner said he appreciated Disney’s apology, but said, “it still doesn’t make up for how they treated us.”

“It made us feel dirty, disgusted, undignified,” he said.

Miami Blog Opinion: Sue the shit out of Disney World and make them allow anyone with the slightest disability have free access for life. What a disgrace from an otherwise “family-oriented” organization.

If you have been to South Beach, you know how amazingly gorgeous the women are.  It’s not even funny how hot some of the Latinas, Europeans, and local gals really are.  Why does Miami have so many gorgeous women?  I can only hope to try to answer that question.

I used to think that the women who were nationalizing here in the US that came from South American countries such as Colombia were the “cream of the crop” of their country.  Then, I took a trip to Medellin and found out I was dead wrong.  Medellin has to be the gorgeous woman capital of the world, in my humble opinion.  The sense of style and fashion they possess is second to none.  I can also say from time spent in Costa Rica and Panama that women over there are quite gorgeous as well.

I think Miami does well in the beauty niche, as evidenced by Geneva’s column and the popular moniker given to South Florida, the “Skin belt.”  Good skin can make a gorgeous woman even sexier, of course, and with the number of skin care companies that are located in the Miami area, coupled with all of the dynamite surgeons around, the women here have all the tools to look their best.

If you ever want to see hot women on South Beach, just visit places like the Clevelander on a hot sunny day.  Many women will be bikini-clad, drinking Mojitos or Mimosas, taking in the Hot Miami Sun.

As I watched the Miami Dolphins game last night, I was shocked to see so many celebs.  You’d think you were at a Heat Game or something.  I mean, Fins games have never been a main attraction in Miami, but all of a sudden you have Tiger Woods on the sideline?  Weird stuff….

The new celebrity ownership is playing a big part of this.  I mean, the Williams sisters own a small piece of the Fins!  Also, Marc Anthony and J-LO own some of the Fins too.

So, will this become an A-List event?  Will the South Beach scene take a nose dive as people head up north for games, and most likely meander around the Miramar/Miami Gardens area before and after games?  Or, was this only because this was a high profile game in prime time?

The answer will play out this year, but I must say, its a change I welcome whole-heartedly.  It used to be that the Heat were the only team in town getting celebrities at the games….

Terry Bender, shame on you…..everyone in Miami all the way up to the Palm Beach area knows that skin care is IN style in South Florida.  If you don’t want to read about eye gels and other sorts of anti aging products, I suggest you quit your job as an amateur blogger who does nothing more than tell the world about how many Patrons you put down the night before or what nasty skank you tried to bring home!

If you don’t start taking care of your alligator-esque skin soon, there will be no tramps left in the 305 that will even sit and listen to your bullshit.  Take a chill pill, Terry Bender!

Look, I know it’s hot in Miami and everyone is into their fashion and beauty stuff.  Ya, Ya.  I get that.  But seriously, as one of three editors of this site, I know that my content is 100% awesome.  I only report cool stuff and tell awesome stories about what is going on in the 3 0 5.  I’m sick of logging in to read about my sweet work, and show my buddies all of my awesome exploits published online, only to read one of Geneva’s “Wrinkle Cream Reviews.”  The only wrinkles I’m lookin at treating right now are my nutsack wrinkles.  If someone can review a product that can cure those, than I am all for smearing that crap on my sack each night and smoothing out the “fine lines” on my ballsack.

Sorry to rant, but when I think of Miami I think of cool stuff, like Mojitos, beaches, Latinas, and fancy cars.   The last thing I want to read about is what Geneva feels is the “best wrinkle treatment.”

Who is with me?

• Anti Cellulite Cream.  (And she isn’t even fat.  I swear.)
• Dermajuv Neck Cream.  (Why does anyone need a neck cream?  I did read that link but seriously, I think this is such a scam.)
• Elite Eye Serum.  (That is what I get for getting us a sponsor.)
• Anti Wrinkle Cream.  (She says they PREVENT wrinkles, but by the time she wrinkles I’ll be banging some other chic, right now all I care about is the money for the rent.)

I mean seriously, how can you spend that much money on skin care stuff?  I know it’s hot down here, and I know they tell you that you need coppertone every day you go outside, but seriously, this is getting disgusting.  We spend $2,000 a month for rent, and she spends $500 on anti aging creams?  Come on!!!!

Forget Disneyland! Costa Rica is the happiest place in the world, according to an independent research group in Britain with the goal of building a new economy, “centered on people and the environment.”

In a report released Saturday, the group ranks nations using the “Happy Planet Index,” which seeks countries with the most content people.

In addition to happiness, the index by the New Economics Foundation considers the ecological footprint and life expectancy of countries.

“Costa Ricans report the highest life satisfaction in the world and have the second-highest average life expectancy of the new world (second to Canada),” the organization said in a statement.

They “also have an ecological footprint that means that the country only narrowly fails to achieve the goal of … consuming its fair share of the Earth’s natural resources.”

The Central American country, tucked between Nicaragua and Panama, touts its lush rain forests and pristine beaches. Its president, Oscar Arias Sanchez, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for trying to help end civil wars in several Central American countries.

This year’s survey, which looked at 143 countries, featured Latin American nations in nine of the Top 10 spots.

The runner-up was the Dominican Republic, followed by Jamaica, Guatemala and Vietnam.

Most developed nations lagged in the study.

While Britain ranked 74th, the United States snagged the 114th spot, because of its hefty consumption and massive ecological footprint.

The United States was greener and happier 20 years ago than it is today, the report said.

Other populous nations, such as China and India, had a lower index brought on by their vigorous pursuit of growth-based models, the survey suggested.

“As the world faces the triple crunch of deep financial crisis, accelerating climate change and the looming peak in oil production, we desperately need a new compass to guide us,” said Nic Marks, founder of the foundation’s center for well-being.

Marks urged nations to make a collective global change before “our high-consuming lifestyles plunge us into the chaos of irreversible climate change.”

The report, which was first conducted in 2006, covers 99 percent of the world population, the statement said.