Greetings from Miami!

Groton students standing in front of the Versace Mansion

Greetings from Miami! Everyone arrived yesterday afternoon to the Cardozo Hotel which is on the beautiful Ocean Drive and conveniently located just steps away from the beach! It didn’t take long for the students to switch into their beach gear after arrival and take advantage of the sand. Once everyone settled in, we were treated to a very infromative walking tour of South Beach's famous Art Deco architecture, arranged by alumbus Andrew Capitman '68. Mr. Capitman has been involved in the Art Deco District preservation for many year; in fact, his mother is considered the founder of the movement. The tour was given by public historian Jeff Donnelly, and he enlightened everyone on the history and architecture of each building in the area. During the tour we also visited the home of world famous fashion designer Gianni Versace. As the tour ended, we all certainly built up an appetite, so we enjoyed a great dinner at the Cardozo restaurant.

Check-In

Yesterday was a mixture of education and relaxation which gave everyone a chance to get a closer look at some of the Miami Beach history and also wind down from a day of traveling. We concluded the night in traditional Groton fashion, check-in style! We all gathered in one of our larger hotel rooms, had a feed, and talked about the day. Each student wrote down some of their thoughts from their first day in Miami and what they are looking forward to on their Miami/Cuba trip! 

Paul Lopez
Miami is a wonderful and colorful place.

Evan Long
I expect Cuba will be less of a culture shock than South Beach, Miami.

Christine Bernard
Waiting for those Caribbean beaches...

Violet Papathanasiou
Miami and Groton, MA are similar in some ways, and different in many more.

Andrew Sudol
Awesome first day! Miami is very fun.

Steven A
I had a great time getting to hang out and know my band mates even more. Saw some very interesting things today. The people are fascinating here. It's easy to say we all took our talent to South Beach today.

Michael You
Best part of Miami is using the bathrobes I found in my closet :)

Erik
We saw quite the sights on the beach today! The rain clouds were menacing.

Zahin Das
Miami is a fascinating city. Our first day was fun and informative.

Drewwww
We saw many cool things in the city and went to a delicious gelato shop.

Matt
We had a good time checking out the city. It's a lot different from Groton.

Peter
We had a light and joyful tour of the nearby buildings today. And I'm looking forward to the coming rehearsals tomorrow!

Zach
It was interesting to learn so much about the architecture of an area so close to my home.

Malik
I got to explore the Art Deco District and eat a delicious steak sandwich.

Walking tour of Little Havana

Soul Sauce at Miami Beach Church

Our Miami trip continued today with a walking tour of Little Havana in the morning led by tour guide, Paul George. We looked at the architecture and history behind each building, as well as visited Domino Park and cooled down with some homemade Cuban ice cream! Our first jazz performance was tonight at 7:30pm at Miami Beach Community Church which featured several of the songs that we will perform in Cuba. We will wind down the night once again with a check-in and prepare for our morning flight to Cuba! 

Ready for Cuba!