Baker's Miami Bachelor Party, April 1999
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Exactly one year and two months before this bachelor weekend, Greg told me on the phone that he planned to propose to his girlfriend MC in the very near future.  I lived in Houston at the time, and we did not share the same group of friends, so he could risk telling me his plans without leaking the secret to his girlfriend MC.  Exactly one year and one month before the bachelor weekend, something happened that almost erased the weekend from the possible future.  It was Friday March 13th 1998, and I received a message on my home phone from Greg Baker's brother Eric.  I was not at home that night, and had listened to Eric explain on my answering machine that Greg had suffered a bad snowboarding accident, that he was in a coma, and that he may not live through the weekend.  Days passed, and Greg did not die, but remained in a coma.  Weeks passed, and it was unknown what the future would hold as he remained in a coma.  None of the predictions were very bright.  After approximately three weeks Greg came out of the coma, but only to a pseudo-coma condition that left him with very little cognizance.  Weeks passed, and he slowly regained his ability to speak, think, and move his body.  Months passed and he continued to progress - I visited him three times during this period, and got limited glimpses of what was to become an incredible recovery.  Baker did finally recover back to his normal self, and did make that proposal to MC.  I was happy that I had not spilled the secret to MC or anyone else during the incredible sequence of events.  In preparation for Greg's wedding in Erie in May 1999, we decided to have a bachelor weekend for him on South Beach in Miami Florida!
Friday April 9th - Houston to Miami
Eric and I left Houston at 7pm, and arrived in Miami on time just after 10pm.  The majority of the group was arriving from Erie Pennsylvania after connecting through Pittsburgh, including the bachelor himself.  Eric and I knew before leaving Houston that there was bad weather in the northeast, and their flight had been delayed.  Upon landing in Miami, we discovered that their flight had been postponed until the next morning, and that they would spend the short night in a Pittsburgh hotel.  The location of the bachelor party had been kept a secret from Greg - they had led him blindfolded him to the departure terminal, and despite the flight cancellation and the overnight delay, he still did not know the final destination.

Eric and I took a taxi to our hotel on Miami Beach - the Barbizon on 530 Ocean Street - it was a great location on the southern end of the beach, and faced right onto the ocean.  Greg's father Bruce and brother Eric had successfully arrived from the east coast, and had already checked in when we arrived.  Eric and I dropped our bags in our room, then the four of us ventured out onto the strip of bars, cafes, and restaurants along the beach.  It was Friday night, and the strip was hopping.  We found a table at a nearby cafe, and had a few drinks while planning the weekend ahead.  We retried early to the hotel, in hopeful preparation for an early arrival of the bachelor the next day.  A few images from the night:
 
The Barbizon Hotel
Showing my support for the hotel room

Saturday April 10th - Miami Beach
Greg and his Erie friends finally touched down at 10:30am.  They met us at the hotel, and went to their rooms to quickly unpack before hitting the beach.  MC - had prepared all of Greg's belongings for the trip, from toothbrush to underwear to "going out" clothes.  In her preparations, MC did not try to hide her intentions to keep Baker honest for the weekend - she had included only black t-shirts with the message "I Love MC", and other modest (and boring) clothes, like long-sleeve flannel shirts and jeans.  Greg quickly bought himself some more appropriate beachwear at the nearest store.

We spent most of the afternoon at the beach, except for a lunch at one of the beachside cafes.  The weather was perfect - temperatures in the 80's and clear blue skies.  We decided to get sushi for dinner that night, a first-time experience for many people in the group.  Everyone performed quite well, and managed to at least try a little from the assortment of raw fish at the table.  After dinner we headed back to the beachfront to investigate the bar scene.  We picked one of the larger bars that had a swimming pool as its centerpiece.  The live band started up shortly after our arrival, and eventually everyone made it out to the dance floor for at least a few minutes.  We managed to befriend a group of women celebrating a bachelorette party.  They were down from the northeast and were staying for the weekend only - our perfect female counterparts!  Despite our attempts to merge the two groups, we were unsuccessful in producing anything more than a little conversation.  We had too many married or otherwise committed men in our group to really be dangerous.

We returned to the hotel after getting our fair share of dancing and enjoyment.  It had been a long day for most of the group, who had gotten only a few hours sleep in Pittsburgh the night before.  A few images from the day:
 
The bachelor group
Baker doing a shot?  Doubt it!

Sunday April 11th - More Beach, and Return to Houston
We were up early on Sunday - certainly far ahead of the other party-goers from the previous night.  Despite the significant sunburns that were evident from the previous day, we went straight to the beach for more torture.  We had lunch at a different beach-side cafe, and spent another afternoon on the beach enjoying perfect temperatures and clear blue skies.  Most of the group would stay in Miami through Monday evening (which lessened the blow from the first night in Pittsburgh), except for Eric and I who had to return to Houston for work on Monday morning.  Eric and I said our good-byes in the late afternoon, gave our best wishes to the bachelor, and headed for the airport.  We departed ontime at 7pm, and returned to Houston with no delays.  It was a great bachelor weekend, and marked the second of my eleven Penn friends to tie the knot!

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